Queen Elizabeth, who was unable to attend the usual formal inauguration of parliament earlier this week due to illness, returned to the public eye on Friday to attend a horse exhibition near her house.
Because to “episodic movement issues,” Elizabeth, 96, was unable to attend the elaborate set-piece ceremony at parliament on Tuesday.
She hasn’t been seen in public since being admitted to the hospital for a night in October for an unidentified ailment and told to rest by her physicians. She’s been doing her job either remotely or in person at her Windsor Castle home since then.
However, she was seen beaming gleefully from the front passenger seat of her Range Rover car on Friday as she watched several of her horses compete at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which is held in the castle’s private grounds.
She eventually took a seat in the stands, walking with a stick, to the delight of the throng.
The four-day festival at Windsor, which began on Thursday, includes “A Gallop Through History,” a celebration to the queen’s 70 years on the throne that features more than 500 horses and 1000 performers.
The finale will take place on Sunday, with actors Tom Cruise and Helen Mirren among the British and worldwide celebrities anticipated to attend. The media has also predicted that many of Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren will appear.
It marks the start of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which will last for four days beginning June 2.
A lemon and Swiss roll amaretti trifle was voted the winner of a “Platinum Pudding” competition on Thursday, beating out over 5,000 other submissions.
