King Charles III has made a special trip to a Sandringham stud farm to inspect the late Queen’s beloved racehorses.
Now belonging to him following his mother’s death in September, the trip marks his first visit to the royal residence in Sandringham since becoming monarch.
A total of 60 racehorses and 38 brood mares resides on the property, the newly minted King making a keen effort to inspect every one that he could, alongside a dedicated trio of estate staff.
King Charles riding alongside his sister Anne in their youth.
(Image: Getty)After visiting the horses, Charles scaled back the number of royal livestock and sold a total of 14 horses for more than £1 million at Tattersalls auction house in Newmarket.
”It’s nothing out of the ordinary. Every year they would sell horses,” Tattersall’s spokesman Jimmy George told the BBC.
”The Queen had brood mares of her own, she would breed them and sell them. You can’t keep them all.
”Every year owners sell stock. His Majesty is just doing what owners do,” he added.
The queens favourite pony Emma paid a special tribute to her former rider at her funeral. cue the waterworks.
(Image: Getty)King Charles was an avid polo player in his youth, his passion for horses surely influenced by his own mother’s deep love for the sport of racing and racehorses.
The late monarch was a committed equestrian for her entire life, having had her first riding lesson at the age of three, and continuing to ride well into her 90s.
She also made history in 2013 as the first reigning monarch to win Royal Ascot’s Gold Cup.
In a recent interview for ITV regarding Royal Ascot, Queen Consort Camilla praised the late monarch’s impressive breeding knowledge.
”She can tell you every horse she’s bred and owned, from the very beginning, she doesn’t forget anything.
”I can hardly remember what I bred a year ago, so she’s encyclopedia about her knowledge,” Camilla said.
Even in death, Queen Elizabeth’s favourite horses – George, Elizabeth, Darby and Sir John – paid their tribute to her, leading the Queen’s coffin procession from Westminster Abbey during her State Funeral.
And in what is sure to tug at heartstrings, her favourite riding pony Carlton Lima Emma, was even at Windsor Castle, watching from the sides to say goodbye to a rider she loved dearly.
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