Sophie Wessex and her husband Prince Edward, both of whom are royal vice presidents for Royal Windsor Horse Show, participated in a virtual interview with the show’s commentator Nick Brooks-Ward. In a short clip of the interview that was shared on the Twitter account of the Royal Windsor Horse Show, Sophie is seen making a rare comment about the Queen Elizabeth II’s love for horses and ponies.
We can’t wait to watch the interview with our Royal Vice Presidents, Their Royal Highnesses The Earl and Countess of Wessex, on Virtual Windsor tomorrow afternoon. Here’s a short clip for you to enjoy in the meantime! @RoyalFamily #VirtualWindsor pic.twitter.com/ZPVWI1YjIN
— Royal Windsor Horse Show (@windsorhorse) May 16, 2020
“Going back to the Queen’s winners, I mean certainly I think for her, but also as a family and also anyone that comes it’s in her garden and the home team are taking part just as much and she absolutely adores,” the 55-year-old said about the queen.
The Countess of Wessex revealed that the 94-year-old royal “loves all her horses and her ponies and loves to see them being shown,” and also takes “such a personal interest in them.”
Sophie also shared that the queen always has a “huge smile” on her face when her horses earn a spot. “We’re always really hoping, whenever we bump into her, it’s a question, sort of, you know, ‘how many winners?’ and she always has a huge big smile on her face when she’s had a place, which is fantastic,” the mother-of-two shared about the monarch.
The Royal Windsor Horse Show, launched in 1943, takes place annually on the grounds of the queen’s Windsor Castle. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s event was closed for the public and instead streamed online from May 13 to May 17. It was also the first time that the queen couldn’t see the popular show in person.
A number of royal events have been cancelled for the first time in Britain’s history as a result of the pandemic. The annual Maundy Service before Easter where the monarch hands out Maundy money was replaced by royal mails, while the Order of the Garter service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle was also cancelled.
The annual Trooping the Colour parade scheduled for June has also been postponed, and the VE Day earlier this month was marked quietly instead of a grand celebration. The celebrations planned for the queen’s 94th birthday last month were also cancelled.