The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II is an international celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries. The 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations will center on an extended weekend from June 2-5, 2012.
Queen Elizabeth 2010
Queen Elizabeth's lifelong love of horses will be at the heart of a major exhibition at the British Museum during the Diamond Jubilee celebration.
Queen Elizabeth,, accompanied by senior members of the Royal Family will mark the beginning of the four-day Diamond Jubilee weekend on June 2, 2012, with a day at the Derby.
The Derby is the only one of the five Classics - the flat-racing season’s most pretigious races which include the Newmarket 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Oaks and Derby and the Doncaster St. Leger - that she has never won with one of her horses.
In addition, Queen Elizabeth's lifelong love of horses will be at the heart of a major new exhibition at the British Museum during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The Queen is loaning several of her treasured possession that reflect her passion for horses to the exhibition.
They include a silver Fabergé sculpture of Persimmon, a race horse owned by the Queen’s great-grandfather Edward VII, which won the 1896 Doncaster St. Leger and Epsom Derby.
That year’s Derby was one of the earliest horse races ever filmed and Persimmon became a global star when the newsreel coverage was shown around the world.
Originally bought by Edward VII in 1908, the silver figurine is normally kept in private quarters at Windsor Castle.
The Queen, who will be Royal Patron of the exhibition, will also loan a rarely-seen painting by George Stubbs, the English painter often acclaimed as the greatest ever horse artist, which usually hangs in the private rooms at Windsor.
Laetitia, Lady Lade, painted in 1793, depicts the wife of Sir John Lade, the racing manager to the then Prince of Wales, later George IV, who commissioned the painting to hang in his London home after developing what has been described as an “obsession” with his racing manager’s wife.
Another painting that will be loaned from the Royal Collection is The Godolphin Arabian by Thomas Butler, painted between 1750 and 1755, which hangs in private rooms at the Royal Mews.
Named after his owner, Francis Godophin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, the horse was one of three Arabian stallions imported to Britain during the 18th century from which almost all modern thoroughbred horses are descended.
A set of the Queen’s famous racing colours - scarlet and purple silks with a gold brocade and a black velvet hat with a gold fringe, will also be on display.
The horse: from Arabia to Royal Ascot which opens at the British Museum next month, will chart the history of horses in the Middle East from their domestication in around 3,000 BC to the present day, the emergence of the Arabian horse and its introduction to Europe.
The exhibition’s highlights will include the Furusiyya manuscript, a rarely-displayed manual on horsemanship which will be on loan from the British Library.
Made in Cairo in the 14th century, the intricately illustrated manuscript accompanied by Arabic text, features instructions on advanced riding techniques, weapon handling and military formation manoeuvres.
The manuscript, which also features guidance on how to care for horses and depicts hunting scenes, is believed to have been studied by Mamluk cavalrymen.
The exhibition will also include one of the earliest known depictions of a horse and rider - a terracotta mould found in Mesopotamia (Iraq), dating from circa 2,000 - 1,800BC.
Pre-historic rock sculptures of horses from al-Maqar in Saudi Arabia will also be on loan from the National Museum of Saudi Arabia.
John Curtis, the curator of the exhibition which the Queen is expected to visit in the coming months, said: “The Queen has a well-known interest in equestrian matters and so with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year, it is a good opportunity to stage an event exploring the history of such a magnificent creature.”