All the Queen's Horses And all the Queen's Men

A grand day out!

Tucked away, behind high brick walls between Hampton Court Road and Bushy Park, ( near Kingston upon Thames, West London) is an area of some 54 acres, not open to the public, called The Royal Paddocks.

This is where the Queen breeds the horses used to pull her carriage in Royal Processions, known as the Windsor Greys, along with the Cleveland Bays that pull the other carriages.

The Queen also breeds little black Fell ponies and the gentle Highland Ponies here.

It is where all the ceremonial horses from the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace come for their summer holidays.

This is the view of the stables and house from the drive, and it is absolutely stunning.

Today I was lucky enough to be invited to a private viewing of the stables and horses organised by Sugar Daddy*

Afterwards we had lunch at Hampton Court and then a behind the scenes tour, led by the Superintendent of the Royal Collection at Hampton Court. We were able to view some of the masterpieces by famous artists that are currently in the store, as opposed to being exhibited and to see some works undergoing restoration.

The Royal collection includes tapestries, ceramics, arms and armour as well as paintings and was set up in 1992, following the fire at Windsor Castle, in order to raise funds for its restoration.

A mind boggling day - in the best possible way. What a lucky lady I am! We were requested not to photograph within the Palace - shame, there were a lot of wonderful potential blips!!

*Sugar Daddy is the nick-name, bestowed upon my elderly neighbour, by my friends. We go on jollies together