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Queen Elizabeth II has a head start on her birthday celebrations.
The Royal Family’s official Instagram account on Wednesday shared a picture of the Queen standing between two of her fallen ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale.
“Ahead of the Queen’s 96th birthday tomorrow, the Royal Windsor Horse Show has released a new photograph of Her Majesty with two of her fallen ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale,” the caption began.
Queen Elizabeth opened her birthday party early Wednesday. (AP/Scott Heppell, file)
“The photo, taken in the grounds of Windsor Castle last month, is the fourth in a series of photos released by the Royal Windsor Horse Show, following images celebrating the Golden Jubilee, Platinum Jubilee and 90th Anniversary Her Majesty celebrated.”
PRINCE HARRY’S MISSION NOW IS TO ‘PROTECT’ QUEEN ELIZABETH AFTER TRAVELING BACK TO THE UK: ‘IT WAS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU’
“First performed in 1943, The Queen has attended every single Royal Windsor Horse Show,” the caption concluded.
Queen Elizabeth has always had a fondness for horses and was gifted a Shetland pony when she was just four years old. Apparently, she passed her love on to her daughter Princess Anne, who became the first British queen to compete in the Olympics at the 1976 Montreal Games.
Princess Anne took part in the three-day horse show and her daughter Zara Tindell competed in the 2012 Olympics and received a silver medal when she competed as a member of the Great Britain Eventing Team.
Queen Elizabeth II rode Balmoral Fern, a 14-year-old fur pony, at Windsor Home Park over the weekend in late May 2020.
Early Wednesday morning, the Queen’s grandson Prince Harry revealed he was “trying” to let his children visit Queen Elizabeth amid “security issues”.
The Duke of Sussex, who is in the Netherlands for the Invictus Games, met Hoda Kotb for the Today show on Wednesday. The 37-year-old told the TV presenter he was unsure if he would travel to the UK for the Queen’s platinum jubilee in June, partly due to security concerns.
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“I don’t know yet,” Harry admitted. “There are many things: security issues and everything else. So I’m trying to make it possible that I can get my kids to meet her.”
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle returned home last week for a visit with the 95-year-old monarch to Windsor Castle ahead of the start of the Invictus Games in the Netherlands.
“It was great. It was really nice to see her,” said the prince. “Seeing her in an element of privacy was nice.”
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex participates in the indoor rowing event during the Invictus Games on April 20, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)
“We have a very special relationship,” he continued, while discussing his bond with the Queen. “We talk about things that she can’t talk about with anyone else.”
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When Kotb, 57, asked Harry if he missed his family back home in the UK, he replied: “Yes, I think, especially in the last two years. Why don’t you miss your family?”
Queen Elizabeth II, as well as William, 39, and Charles, 73, have not met Harry’s daughter Lilibet, who was born last June.
Fox News’ Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.