Ridden by officers wearing the famous red tunics and stetsons, the four horses will lead the extraordinary ceremonial procession from Westminster Abbey to Hyde Park Corner. Fittingly, one of the quartets is called Elizabeth (after the Queen Mother) and was given to the Queen as a gift in 2012. Horses of honour: Superintendent Kevin Fahey on Sir John, Sergeant Scott Williamson on Darby, Constable Justine Rogawski on Elizabeth and Constable Katy Loisel on George of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will lead the Queen’s funeral procession. Elizabeth, 17, will march alongside George, a 22-year-old horse ridden by King Charles at Trooping The Color ceremonies since 2009, and Sir John, a 14-year-old charger currently ridden by Princess Anne. The last member of the quartet, aged 16, is called Darby and has toured the world with the Musical Ride – a show troupe of 32 horses carrying riders with 7ft lances, performing intricate maneuvers. Riding the horses in the procession will be Superintendent Kevin Fahey, Sergeant Scott Williamson, Corporal Justine Rogawski and Constable Katy Loisel. Their trained police are expected to cope well with the crowds likely to line the route along Whitehall and The Mall. Captain Williamson, who will ride in Derby tomorrow, said last night that it was “incredibly humbling” to be given the honor of leading the funeral procession. “The relationship we have with Her Majesty is very special and it is fair to say that it has even become very personal. “It’s hard to describe everything I’m feeling right now. I have personal feelings of sadness and grief. Obviously there’s a lot of pressure right now. “We are on what we would call a ‘mission without fail’ right now, and that is to represent the strength and great people of this country during this ceremony.” The Queen’s deep affection for the RCMP began when the Mounties presented her with a horse named Burmese in 1969. The stunning black mare quickly became one of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite horses, which she rode in Trooping The Color for 18 years between 1969 and 1986. Queen Elizabeth I riding her favorite Burmese horse in 1969 at the Trooping of the Color Burma came to public attention in 1981 when a teenager at the ceremony shot six blanks from a gun. Although the Burmese were initially silent and moved forward, the Queen, an accomplished rider, quickly regained control, to cheers from the crowd. The following year, Queen Elizabeth was photographed in Burma during a walk with US President Ronald Reagan in Windsor. When her beloved horse was retired in 1986, the Queen refused to ride a replacement and chose to take part in the parade by carriage. Burma, meanwhile, enjoyed a pampered retirement at Windsor Castle and was grazed in fields where the Queen could see her on her visits. The Burmese died in 1990 at the age of 28 and was buried in the grounds of Windsor. “He rode Burma for 18 Trooping The Color and that was the start of a special relationship we have built with Her Majesty,” added Sergeant Major Williamson. Standing 16 hands tall and with a calm temperament, the mare Elizabeth seemed to have captured the Queen’s heart in recent years the way the Burmese once did. After receiving the horse as a gift, Her Majesty pledged to repay the RCMP’s generosity by breeding him and returning his first foal to them. Queen Elizabeth II inspects a detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Windsor An initial attempt with a stallion called High Spirits was unsuccessful, so the Queen sent the mare to Germany, where success was found with a stallion called Viscount. The next foal, named Victoria, made history in 2016 when it was the first non-thoroughbred born at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate. The Queen kept her promise to Orides and presented Victoria as a gift to celebrate the country’s 150th anniversary. The mare Elizabeth had a second foal, named Aphrodite after the Queen’s granddaughter, Lady Louise Windsor.
