The ceremony took place two years ago.
Queen Elizabeth II was known for her sense of style, her secret-message-sending handbags, and her expansive collection of silk scarves. And, during her funeral (which took place two years ago today), her fell pony, Emma, paid tribute to the late monarch in the most chic and fitting way.
As the ceremonial procession made its way down the road in front of St George's Chapel in Windsor, Elizabeth's longtime groom, Terry Pendry, brought Emma to stand in the grass along the path and pay homage to the late queen as her coffin passed. It was, without a doubt, an emotional moment that any pet owner can understand, but it was the pony's accessory that was the most touching tribute to Elizabeth. Pendry draped one of the queen's favorite Hermès silk scarves across Emma's saddle.
In a recent interview on Gyles Brandreth’s “Rosebud” podcast, Pendry reflected on his decision to have the beloved pony at the ceremony.
"I didn't dare tell anybody," Pendry explained, noting he was afraid someone would have stopped him. "I wasn't going to have any of that."
The only person he told was the queen's senior dresser, Angela Kelly, in order to coordinate getting "one of the queen's scarves."
Elsewhere during the podcast, the queen's stud groomer of 28 years recalled their last outing together before her death on September 8, 2022. Pendry shared that the queen had still been riding up through July of that summer.
"The very last time with her wasn't a ride, I walked," he remembered. "The very last day that she rode was the 18th of July, she rode on the 16th in the riding school. She was very, quite frail. She could go onto the mounting block and step on to Emma, but I always used to have to lift her off."
"She got on to Emma, and I was on my feet walking around with her," he added. "She looked down to me [and said], 'This hasn't happened to me since I was a princess…Someone walking alongside me like this.'"
During the ride, Pendry stopped to capture a photo of the momentous occasion. "I said, 'Your pony is 26, you're 96, that has to be a record!,'" he joked at the time, to which Elizabeth responded, "'I suppose you're right.'"