Royal Groom Reveals Queen Elizabeth II's Heartbreaking Last Wish: "I Promised the Queen..."

During her final days, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed one of her favorite pastimes— horse riding. Royal stud groom, Terry Pendry, revealed on the Rosebud With Gyles Brandreth podcast that the late queen's request was to ride her beloved pony, Emma, during her last days. He said, "She came down for a chat and a final goodbye to Emma. I had an inkling that was probably the last time I was going to see her. When I used to lift her off her pony she was getting lighter and lighter and frailer and trailer." 

According to the UK Express, Pendry continued, "Whether she was kind of thinking about things...I don't know...but she looked at me and said, 'You were very rude to me yesterday.' I said, 'Your Majesty, I'm awfully sorry, but what do you mean, rude? If I was, I apologize profusely– it wouldn't have been intentional and I apologize. Was it something I said?" "'Yes,' she said, 'it was.' I said, 'Well, what was it?' She said, 'You said my age,' and then she burst into fits of laughter. That was just her. Last time I ever saw her." 

He further shared that the late queen had asked him to walk alongside her. "I was on my feet walking round with her, and she looked down to me and said, 'This hasn't happened to me since I was a princess.' I said, 'What?' She said, 'Someone walking alongside me like this.' And I said, 'If you want me to step away I'll step away, or I'll go and get another pony and I'll ride with you.' She said, 'No, no, just walk with me.'"

As per The UK Mirror, Pendry also disclosed the painful pledge he made to the Queen. "I promised the Queen that I will bury Emma. Her ashes will go between Burmese, who was the last horse she rode on Trooping the Colour, and the last horse that she ever rode, which was a dear horse, Sanction." 

Talking about the unique bond between the Queen and Emma, the royal groom shared, "Emma sort of had a sixth sense with her. It's a gift, without a shadow of doubt. She just had that way, the Queen, with her hands. When you gather your reins, she had hands that were silk-like. She just connected with her straight away." Carltonlima Emma was purchased by the monarch in 2004. 

Thomas Capstick, who died in 2015, is known to be her breeder. The horse was bred at the Cumbrian farm Murthwaite Stud. When the Queen began riding her, she was only eight years old. Pendry deemed Emma "a wonderful servant to Her Majesty." At her passing, Her Majesty was ninety-six years old, and her pony was twenty-six. Pendry said that he recorded their last moment with a picture for the Queen's scrapbook.