When Grandpère and I visited England for the first time in 1982, we had the great pleasure of attending the Trooping the Colour parade in honor of the Official Birthday of the reigning monarch, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth still rode her horse, Burmese, in the parade. As we were lined up waiting, just before the parade began, a light rain began to fall. We asked a couple nearby if the parade would be cancelled. The English woman replied, "Indeed not! We would be very upset if the parade was cancelled." And not long after, there came Her Majesty, riding in the light rain, looking not the least bit dismayed. The year before, in 1981, a man fired blank shots at the Queen during the parade, frightening Burmese, but HM quickly brought the horse under control. I realize my story has not much to do with the Diamond Jubilee Celebration, but it does demonstrate the Queen's pluck and devotion to duty which have been evident time and again over the 6o years of her reign.
The photo is not mine, although I have a picture somewhere, hidden away in my multitude of photo albums, not all of which are labeled.
Burmese was a gift to HM from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and was bred right here in Saskatchewan. There is a statue of HM mounted on Burmese in front of the Saskatchewan Legislature, erected in 2002 as part of the Golden Jubilee.
ReplyDeleteI served on the province's advisory committee on the Golden Jubilee. During our very first meeting, someone's cellphone rang. It was the chairperson's - none other than the provincial Director of Protocol. And he answered it.
Turns out it was Buckingham Palace - the Queen's staff advising that she had agreed to the statue.
There are only two statues of HM. She is of a mind that statues should be of dead people, apparently, but she has allowed two exceptions. The other is in Ottawa, and she is moutned on her previous favourite hose, Centenial - also a gift from the RCMP and also bred in Saskatchewan.
Malcolm, I learned on Facebook that Burmese was a gift to the Queen from the RCMP. Thanks for the added information on the statues.
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