The Queen was 'a fantastic lady', Henrietta Knight says

Henrietta Knight - pictured at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2014 - said she was a "very lucky girl" to have known the Queen and Queen Mother

A former champion racehorse trainer who trained some of the Queen's horses said she gave the country "magical days".

Henrietta Knight received letters of condolence from Her Majesty after the deaths of her husband, sister and brother-in-law and they take "pride of place" in her home.

Ms Knight, from Oxfordshire, last spoke to the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, for about 20 minutes in May.

She said Her Majesty was in "very good spirits" when they met.

"[The Queen] was a fantastic lady. I was fortunate enough to train a few racehorses for her," Ms Knight said.

"I knew her for quite a long time because I knew the Queen Mother very well and I used to stay with the Queen Mother because of her connections with my mother and father, who were great friends of hers.

"I suppose I have been a very lucky girl really."

The Queen's horse was a champion in a competition at the equestrian show in May

Ms Knight, who lives in West Lockinge, near Wantage, said she received letters from Her Majesty on the deaths of her husband, former jockey Terry Biddlecombe in 2014, her sister Lady Celia Vestey in 2020 and brother-in-law Lord Sam Vestey, who served as the Master of the Horse, in 2021.

"Obviously one carries on life because that's what the Queen would have wanted people to do but one watches the television, one sees what's going on and one thinks very deeply about those magical days when she was our sovereign," she told BBC Radio Oxford.

"They will never be forgotten and we are so lucky to have had a lady in our midst of her calibre."

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