They share a fondness for horses with the late Queen Elizabeth II, so it was no surprise that the King and Queen looked right at home on Tuesday as they visited The National Stud in Newmarket.
Charles, 76, and Camilla, 78, were pictured meeting racehorse Stradivarius, who has won 18 Group wins – more than any other European horse, on the centre lawn of the farm, which offers industry-leading stud services and boarding for mares, young stock, and spellers.
Upon their arrival, Their Majesties, accompanied by Lord Grimthorpe and the Stud’s CEO, Ms Anna Kerr, met members of staff, and representatives from racing charities and trusts – including ‘Riding A Dream’ and ‘Autism in Racing’.
One of the officials in the line-up praised the King’s French, telling him: ‘Compliments on your French during the State Visit – fabulous’ to which the King jokingly replied: ‘I don’t know about that. I did a lot of brushing up.’
Next, the royal couple met representatives from racing charities and trusts including Jane Buick, an ambassador for Autism in Racing who is working with the National Stud team to develop tours for neuro divergent groups and Oshane Marsh, a graduate from the Riding a Dream academy, who learned to ride at the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton which Camilla supports.
Camilla, wearing a patterned silk dress and a straw fan-shaped clutch bag, told him: ‘It’s lovely to see a graduate from Ebony’.
‘Also gathered to meet them were members of the National Stud’s and British Racing School’s Education teams.
The National Stud’s education team runs a programme of full and part-time courses and is the only provider of vocational thoroughbred breeding education in the UK.
King Charles and Queen Camilla meet racehorse Stradivarius as they visit The National Stud in Newmarket
Around 50 students complete the programmes each year, with an 89 per cent retention rate of graduates working in racing after graduation.
Camilla, who became patron of the British Racing School which is based near Newmarket earlier this year, together with Charles also met Katie Longbottom and Katie Fleming, the author and illustrator of the National Stud storybooks, which are currently in development and aim to encourage young children’s interest in horses from an early age.
The books feature an array of equine characters, including foals, stallions and holidaying racehorses, and their adventures beyond the paddocks.
Looking at some of the artwork from the books on easels, the King asked Fleming how she produced her work, and heard how she works up paintings from sketches first made on a tablet.
The King and Queen then watched a parade of the stud’s four resident stallions – Lope Y Fernandez, Bradsell, Rajasinghe and Stradivarius – the latter of which won 18 Group 1 races, often jockeyed by Frankie Dettori.
After his parade, Stradivarius was walked over to Charles and Camilla, who patted him and gave him mints.
His handler told them ‘he loves the cameras’, and Charles asked after his daily routine and whether he was ‘turned out a lot of the time’.
Told he was out for most of the day and then in his stable for ‘his dinner in the evenings,’ Camilla joked: ‘That’s the good life’.
Upon their arrival, Their Majesties, accompanied by Lord Grimthorpe and the Stud’s CEO, Ms Anna Kerr, met members of staff, and representatives from racing charities and trusts – including ‘Riding A Dream’ and ‘Autism in Racing’
Charles, 76, and Camilla, 78, were pictured meeting racehorse Stradivarius, who has won 18 Group wins – more than any other European horse, on the centre lawn of the farm, which offers industry-leading stud services and boarding for mares, young stock, and spellers
At the Jockey Club Group’s National Stud, the royal couple saw four of the group’s mares and foals before planting two trees in the grounds of the office and unveiling a plaque to mark the visit
They were also shown two retired racehorses who now live at the National Stud – The Tin Man and Lord Windemere. At one point, Lord Windermere reared up and swung round, prompting Camilla to quickly run out the way.
After seeing two of the mares and their foals out in a field, Charles and Camilla, who have some of their own horses in training in Newmarket, then met several local trainers, including Charlie Fellowes, before joining the stud’s gardener, Ian Bailey, who has worked at the stud for 46 years, by two pre-planted field maple trees.
‘Do you want me to do the digging?’ Charles asked, taking a spade and heaping some soil around the roots before tapping the trunk as his customary ‘handshake’ to wish the tree luck, after which Camilla gave the tree a drink with a watering can.
‘Don’t plant me,’ she joked to Charles, as they did the same with the second tree, which Camilla then tapped as a handshake. ‘Always got to wish it luck,’ she said.
Before leaving, they were presented with the watering can and spade as gifts by Lord Grimpthorpe. ‘Look at our going home presents,’ she said to Charles, who appeared thrilled: ‘I don’t believe it, how terribly kind.’
After their visit to the National Stud, Charles and Camilla travelled to the King Edward VII Memorial Hall on Newmarket High Street for a reception where crowds had gathered as they met members of local community groups, businesses and Mark Ashton, the chairman of Ipswich Town Football Club.
Their final engagement of the morning saw the King and Queen visit the Jockey Club Rooms to meet staff and members of the Club, of which they are joint patrons.
Accompanied by Baroness Dido Harding, chair and senior steward of the Jockey Club, British racing’s largest commercial organisation and employer which runs 15 national racecourses including Aintree, Cheltenham and Epsom, and Jim Mullen, the chief executive, they viewed artefacts from Newmarket’s National Horseracing Museum, of which Camilla is also patron.
King Charles and Queen Camilla plant a tree during a visit to The National Stud in Newmarket
Charles and Camilla also learned about the launch of The Jockey Club Patrons Scholarship, which is to be delivered in partnership by The National Stud and the British Racing School.
The new initiative will provide access to careers in racing to those from diverse ethnic communities, working with organisations such as The Ebony Horse Club in Brixton, London.
Two students will be selected each year for the next three years from the diversity recruitment pathway and trained at The National Stud and the British Racing School.
Baroness Harding said: ‘It was a great honour to welcome The King and Queen to Newmarket today. Their Majesties became The Jockey Club’s joint Patrons last year and it has been our privilege to introduce them to those working in and supporting our sport right in the heartland of British racing.
‘As racehorse owners and breeders Their Majesties are already extremely knowledgeable about the industry and today provided an opportunity to celebrate its success and pay tribute to its extensive heritage, while also demonstrating the role The Jockey Club and our industry plays in the town of Newmarket and the local community.
‘Looking to the future, the launch of The Jockey Club Patrons Scholarship provides a lasting legacy from today’s visit and offers a fantastic opportunity to those from diverse ethnic backgrounds who may not otherwise have considered a career in the horseracing industry.’
Anna Kerr, CEO of The National Stud, said: ‘The National Stud was officially opened by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1967 and it is such a significant moment in our history to welcome Their Majesties here 58 years later.
‘Our business activity is connected to all within the Thoroughbred industry – from breeders and trainers to third party providers and the industry’s colleagues of the future, our students.
‘It has been truly wonderful to celebrate that community with our Royal Patrons today and to see how Their Majesties share our own passion for a thriving Thoroughbred industry for generations to come.’
