The Queen will attend the Mars Badminton Horse Trials (8-12 May) this week.
Her Majesty will watch the final showjumping phase on Sunday, 12 May and then present the prizes for the winners.
The Queen at Badminton Horse Trials: royal history
Badminton celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and the event has long had ties with royalty, with members of the royal family frequently spectating there.
Both the Princess Royal and her daughter Zara Tindall have been placed at Badminton. Zara will ride at the event this year on Gleadhill House Stud’s 15-year-old chestnut Class Affair. Zara’s father Mark Phillips, then the Princess Royal’s husband, won Badminton in 1974 on Queen Elizabeth II’s Columbus.
Queen Elizabeth ll presented the Badminton trophy at the event’s 50th anniversary running, in 1999. The winner on that occasion was five-time British Olympian Ian Stark.
This week’s event has been given an extra edge by Oliver Townend’s victory at Kentucky Three-Day Event last month as he is now in the running to claim the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, a big-money bonus given to any rider who can win Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley Horse Trials consecutively. Having taken the Burghley title last year, Oliver will win the Grand Slam if he triumphs at Badminton this week.
How to watch Badminton Horse Trials
If you are interested in watching the live action from Badminton Horse Trials from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. To sign up, visit watch.badminton-horse.tv – click the “Sign Up” link in the top right corner of your screen, then follow the instructions. An annual subscription to Badminton TV costs £19.99 via the website and gives you 365 days of access to all of the content in the Badminton TV library, the ability to watch the action live, and the option to replay all of this year’s action later. Find out more…
Enjoy the best of Badminton with Horse & Hound
To ensure you keep up to date with all the breaking news, behind the scenes insight, and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limits on how much you can read, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now. And don’t miss our bumper 22-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from top names, in the issue of Horse & Hound dated 16 May.
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Oliver Townend names his sole Badminton ride to target Grand Slam of Eventing
‘I asked for a different colour’ – breeder of Laura Collett’s Badminton-bound chestnut mare shares her story
‘If I stopped sucking my thumb, I could have a pony’: meet the Badminton first-timer who has come a long way since her early days
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