Queen Elizabeth’s Frequent Equine Companion, PH Keston, Has Died

The go-to horse, who frequently pulled Queen Elizabeth, has died, and the MetTaskforce, which contains the Mounted Branch of London’s Metropolitan Police, has posted a message to say goodbye to the “fan favorite,” PH Keston.

Town & Country says that the MetTaskforce shared the message on their Twitter account on Wednesday.

“It’s with the greatest of sadness to announce that PH Keston has passed away. PH Keston regularly escorted HM The Queen on various state events and other high profile occasions. He was a real crowd pleaser with people around London. Thank you for your service Keston. Rip.”

Accompanying the tweet was a selection of photos of Keston at work patrolling the Churchill Gardens area and other places that attract tourists around the city. Keston can also be seen in photographs of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but if you look closely at images of horse-drawn wagons where the queen or the Prince of Wales are being transported, it was usually Keston and a partner doing the heavy lifting.

Keston had become a celebrity in his own right, as his photos at work and at play were often posted on the Twitter page. A tweet from 2017 shows Keston laying in his stall enjoying some hay, and it was captioned “breakfast in bed!”

This horse had quite the bond with #QueenElizabeth https://t.co/tzyf8nRA6d

— Closer Weekly (@closerweekly) January 4, 2019

Queen Elizabeth has always been an animal lover, and horses and Welsh Corgis seem to be at the top of her list when it comes to animal friends, so she is certainly mourning the passing of Keston. Even at the age of 92, the monarch is still known to ride weekly, despite the fact that her husband, Prince Philip, has given it up after his hip surgeries.

Express says that Keston passed away over the Christmas break, less than three months after her last Corgi, Whisper died, ending an 85-year tradition of Pembroke Welsh Corgis at the side of Queen Elizabeth II.

The queen was given her first horse at 4-years-old as a gift from her grandfather, King George V. It was a Shetland mare named Peggy, which is in many of the photos from her youth.

Royal sources say that Queen Elizabeth II is a patron of many animal welfare organizations.

“The 92-year-old Queen has become throughout the years the patron of many organizations focused on horses, including the British Horse Society, the Fell Pony Society, and the Highland Pony Society.”

Queen Elizabeth and the police force are receiving a wide variety of condolence messages following the death of Keston.