The royal highness Queen Elizabeth II allegedly requested a $63,000 gift from Germany in exchange for her royal visit to the country in 1978. The Queen had sent over a ‘wish list’ to the Germans demanding certain gifts which included a very expensive request for two horses.
Queen Elizabeth’s “Excessive” Request
It is no secret that the former monarch of the UK was a die-hard equestrian. According to The Telegraph, the Queen of the UK demanded two horses, one to pull her carriages and the other for Prince Philip to compete in events. The demand was raised in return for her royal state visit to Germany in 1978. Without a doubt, the expensive request did raise a lot of eyebrows. As per reports, the two horses would cost Germany approximately $63,000.
It was revealed in the archives published by Spiegel that one of the horses had to be a Holsteiner of around 17HH with a coat which was not too light and “under no circumstances too dar”. The other horse had to be grey and “not too dirty” in complexion.
While there were a lot of reservations from German officials for such an “excessive” request by the Queen, the German president obliged. Walter Scheel, who was the German president during that time, agreed to the request in order to make the royal visit “as comfortable as possible for both sides”. Upon reflection, it clearly indicated that President Scheel made the right decision as the Queen visited the country a total of five times during her over 70 years reign.
Although, the German officials made it clear that they will not be the ones to accept each and every demand that Queen Elizabeth II put forward. During the royal visit in 1992, the royal highness requested to address the German parliament which would’ve been a first for a republican monarch. However, Helmut Kohl, who was the German chancellor back then, personally intercepted this plan. It was reported that the proposal was returned with “nein” written in red ink by the German chancellor.
Queen Elizabeth’s Love For Horses
Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in history and was well-known for her love for horses. The monarch was often seen looking after her horses, visiting them in the stables, and spending her free time riding them around the castle. She was known to own over 100 horses during her lifetime. Her love for horses began when she received a pony from her grandfather, King George V, for her fourth birthday. The pony was named Peggy.
There were horses present at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral as well. Four horses were gifted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police named Elizabeth, Darby, Sir John, and George. The four horses led the late Queen’s funeral procession at Westminster Abbey.
