Huge pageant kicks off Queen’s jubilee

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Hundreds of horses and 1,000 performers from around the world staged a glittering pageant in Britain in a stirring start to the major celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee.
Troupes from India’s Dancing Marwaris to the Chilean Huasos displayed their mettle in a rare gathering of global horsemanship in the royal town of Windsor on Thursday evening, as festivities to mark the queen’s 60 years on the throne began in earnest.
In a tribute to the monarch’s more than 250 Commonwealth and state visits, some 550 horses and 1,200 performers from 17 countries defied rain showers to perform against the backdrop of a 45-metre replica of Buckingham Palace.
The queen will watch an extended version of the show on Sunday, featuring Scottish singer Susan Boyle.
But the royal family was represented on Thursday by the monarch’s daughter Princess Anne, a former competitive eventing rider.
She saw Italy’s Carousel of the Carabinieri re-enact an 1848 battle in a whirl of feathers and swords, before riders from Russia’s Kremlin Riding School formed a human pyramid on galloping mounts in a daredevil show of horseback acrobatics.
Between the horseback performances were bursts of song and dance, among them a didgeridoo performance, a Maori haka, Inuit throat-singers and a mariachi band.
The robed Royal Cavalry of Oman thundered in on 100 Arabian steeds in clouds of frankincense, watched by a packed audience including the queen’s daughter Princess Anne, a former competitive eventing rider.
New South Wales’ mounted police gave the troop drill an Australian twist, performing to songs such as Waltzing Matilda as medieval Windsor Castle loomed behind them.
The 86-year-old queen’s own racehorses staged a mock race, and her Household Cavalry joined all the performers in a grand finale recreating her coronation.
Bringing in 550 performing horses by air, road and sea was a once in a lifetime logistical feat, Sheila Duckworth, director of equestrian transport firm Shelley Ashman, said.
The horses from Oman were flown over in two planeloads, while a team from Azerbaijan drove to Windsor in a 17-day road trip. So far there have been no mishaps, Duckworth said, adding: “Horses tend to be happy as long as they’ve got their friends beside them.”
This pageant is close to the queen’s heart: she was given her first pony at age four and remains a keen rider, as well as an owner and breeder of racehorses.
“We have a lot of pride that we got the invitation,” said Inspector Kirsten McFadden, commander of the New South Wales Mounted Police.