FactualNew to ITV1
Strictly Embargoed until 00.01 Tuesday 14 July 2009
Every year something rather special happens in the Queen’s back garden at Windsor - The Royal Windsor Horse Show.
In this new programme for ITV1, Alan Titchmarsh gives viewers a unique insight into the event. He goes behind the scenes to talk to the organisers and participants. He also speaks to Prince Philip and learns all about his passion for the sport of carriage driving.
The Royal Family has been taking an active part in the show since it first began in 1943. Originally conceived as a one-day event for horses and hounds, the purpose of which was to raise money for the War effort, the show has since grown to become a five-day event; the biggest outdoor horse show in the country. (Dogs were banned after the first year - according to legend, a badly behaved lurcher stole a chicken drumstick from the plate of King George VI.)
Over the five days over 3,000 horses and 70,000 people converge on the Queen’s private lawns at the castle.
The Queen and Prince Philip can be seen each day at the Horse Show wandering informally in the grounds.
“It’s right here, in the back garden,” Prince Philip says.
He believes that sport is a great leveller, telling Alan: “If you’ve got a common interest, nobody cares a damn where you come from or who you are.”
Alan meets Mickey Flynn who was part of the Prince’s team who won the bronze medal at the 1984 World Carriage Driving Championships. He is now the Prince’s Head Coachman and tells Alan: “I’ve been with the boss for 16 years and can honestly say – hand on heart – never had a bad word.”
Prince Philip chats to Alan about his love of carriage driving and explains how he started: “I gave up polo when I was 50 - and then this started and I thought, ‘Well, you’ve got horses and carriages, why don’t I have a go?’ So I started in 1973 and it’s been going on since then. These were carriage horses from London – they’d never been through anything bigger than a puddle. I made a little crossing - a stream, and had to bribe them across. I sent my groom across the other side with a jar of sugar - and they decided to get their feet wet!”
Prince Philip’s fellow carriage driving enthusiasts, George Bowman and his son George Junior, and sisters, Karen and Pippa Bassett (the only British women who compete internationally) explain the addictive nature of the sport.
“It’s as addictive as heroin and ten times as expensive,” says George Junior.
Karen tells Alan about the unusual way she funds her passion – by driving a horse drawn hearse for a funeral director. She offers Alan the chance to ride with her in a carriage and he says: “The feeling of power in front of you is amazing – horse power, literally!”
Alan visits the Household Cavalry as they practise their Musical Ride, which will be performed each night of the Show during the Royal Tattoo. The Household Cavalry first performed the musical ride in 1882 and the routine and the dress is still exactly the same today. Alan wonders how hard it can be and decides to have a go. The horse he is given to ride is Waterford, who turns out to be a bit lively. Alan tells Terry Pendry, the Stud Groom at Windsor, about the horse.
Terry says: “Waterford? They didn’t let you canter on him did they? That horse has got five legs! I guess the boys were playing with you.”
“Rotten lot!” laughs Alan.
Tobias Obeng-Frimpong (known as “Obe”) is hoping to win the coveted Richmond Cup for best turned-out trooper, to be presented by the Queen at the Horse Show. He tells Alan it takes 72 hours just to get one pair of boots ready, and Alan appreciates the amount of hard work involved as he has a go at polishing a belt. Alan asks: “How does this prepare you to be a fighting soldier?” Obe replies: “If you can clean kit and a rifle to immaculate standards you’ll be able to look after yourself, your rifle and maybe even your friends around you, which in the long term serves you well.”
Obe faces a meticulous inspection to see if he will be presented to the Queen. Six senior officers inspect every horse and rider for well over an hour. And then he faces a wait to see if he’s made it through to the final eight.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force have travelled from Canada with a gift for the Queen to be presented in a special ceremony at the Horse Show. George is a parade horse, the great-nephew of Burmese, one of the Queen’s all-time favourite horses, presented to her in 1969 by the Mounties. The Queen was riding Burmese in 1981 at Trooping the Colour when six blank shots were fired at her. She quickly brought Burmese under control and continued with the parade.
Prince Philip stopped competing at the age of 85 but he still takes an active interest in the sport. When he’s at Windsor he likes to drive every day. A gentle drive around Windsor is one thing – taking part in competitions quite another. At the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1994 the Prince had a spill whilst taking part in the hazard section, resulting in his being thrown from the carriage, but he got straight back on. Alan asks Prince Philip about the dangers of the sport.
The Prince tells him: “If you’re playing billiards you can stick a cue in your eye. There’s a bit of luck in it but it’s not all that serious. I had a stupid accident here for instance – I was going into the water obstacle and there was a post and rails and they had cut a bush down but they’d left a stump sticking out and the wheel went over it. I got pitched out completely over the top and I ended up lying on my back on the floor with the carriage on one side and one of the horses hooves beside me. But that’s sheer bad luck. You can’t blame anybody for that.”
He tells Alan that one aspect of competitive carriage driving that he doesn’t miss is learning the obstacles. He says: “There are eight of them and up to six gates and my memory is not up to that anymore and my legs aren’t up to that. They go round for hours!”
As the Royal Show draws to a close Alan catches up with Alan Curtis, the Tattoo’s House Manager as he prepares for the Tattoo’s big night, which includes ensuring that the red carpet is fit for a Queen.
He tells Alan: “What is special about tonight is that it is the Queen’s night. The final performance of the Royal Tattoo in the presence of Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh.” He adds: “It’s a delight when the car arrives and she steps onto the carpet. The Queen, when she’s here at Windsor, always has the most wonderful smile on her face.”
Alan is the compère for the final night’s show, enjoying the spectacle of the evening and the chance to meet the Queen afterwards.
He sums up the atmosphere at the show: “On the one hand you’ve got the pomp and the regal feel of it all, this enormous tattoo that involves the Household Cavalry, but on the other it’s got this great village feel about it. It’s a village fête, come horse show, come everything else show really, country men and women mingling with the Royals in this amazing amalgam of everything that’s best about Britain.”
Last edited: Monday, 6 July 2009
