French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would make a present of a horse to the Queen, to mark the celebrations of her 70 years on the throne.
The Elysee said Mr Macron decided to give the Queen, a known horse lover, a seven-year-old grey gelding belonging to the largely ceremonial French Republican Guard named Fabuleu de Maucour. It was to be delivered to Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
The horse was trained to carry the standard-bearer of the Guard. It paraded on Paris’ Champs-Elysees avenue on May 8, ahead of the presidential cortege, for the ceremony marking the anniversary of the victory of the Allied forces over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
Mr Macron will pay a formal homage to the Queen on Thursday during a flame rekindling ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe.
He will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in the presence of British Ambassador to France Menna Rawlings.
Both the British and the French national anthems will be played, the Elysee said.
