Queen Consort Camilla has had to give up a favourite activity due to her age. Photo / AP
Queen Consort Camilla has had to give up a favourite activity due to her age. Photo / AP
Queen Consort Camilla has revealed she is “too old” to ride horses.
The 75-year-old royal confessed to schoolchildren that she is no longer able to ride horses due to her advancing years on her state visit to Germany with her husband King Charles earlier this week, even though her latemother-in-law Queen Elizabeth rode well into her 90s.
According to the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Camilla told youngsters in Hamburg: “I used to have horses I rode but sadly I don’t ride any longer.
”I think I’m too old but I have racehorses. Last night I watched on my screen one of the foals being born, which was very exciting.”
Camilla, who is due to be crowned alongside King Charles next month, is known for her love of horses and has taken over the day-to-day running of the late Queen’s stables as her husband does not share her enthusiasm for horse racing.
John Warren, the racing advisor to Queen Elizabeth, previously hinted that it was Camilla - rather than Charles - who had the greatest passion for the sport.
He said: “He has always followed it, but it has been his mother’s interest so it has been at arm’s length. He owns a few horses himself, in particular with the [then] Duchess of Cornwall. She is absolutely besotted by racing.”
Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that the royal had commissioned a play in the style of Jane Austen.
Camilla is keen for the production to showcase the Pride and Prejudice author’s “brilliant sense of humour” and it will be performed at her charity’s first literary festival.
Vicki Perrin, chief executive of Camilla’s Reading Room, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper about the play, billed for a June 11 performance at Hampton Court Palace: “Her Majesty’s title for this performance will be revealed on the day, but I can tell you that it reflects her great love of Austen, as well as her unique and brilliant sense of humour.”
