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Queen Camilla arrived at the Badminton Horse Trials on Friday in a dark pantsuit, a notably practical departure from her more typical royal wardrobe of skirt suits and coat dresses, for a day centered on equestrian sport and charity. The Queen also toted a navy quilted Chanel vanity bag she was recently seen carrying at a horse farm in Virginia on the final day of the U.S. state visit last week.
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Queen Camilla arriving at the Badminton Horse Trials
Camilla, who serves as the Royal Patron of the British Equestrian Federation, spent the morning with members of the Ebony Horse Club, a Brixton-based charity that uses horse riding to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Founded in 1996 and marking its 30th anniversary this year, the organization was named the official charity of this year’s Badminton Horse Trials, a prestigious, five-day equestrian competition.
The event takes place in May each year at Badminton House, the seat of the Duke of Beaufort, in South Gloucestershire, England. (A popular filming site for TV shows and movies, Badminton House also doubled for Mr. Darcy’s fictional home of Pemberley in Britbox’s The Other Bennet Sister.)
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Queen Camilla seen talking with TV host Clare Balding.
Queen Camilla was seen speaking with BBC Sport broadcaster Clare Balding. According to Hello, Camilla said she “was so moved” when she first discovered the club “quite a few years ago.” The Queen has served as the club’s president since 2009, a role that has included hosting supporters at Clarence House and officially opening the Ebony Community Riding Centre in 2011.
Among those she greeted at the reception was six-time Badminton winner Lucinda Green and Camilla’s former husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she has remained close friends. Incidentally, Parker Bowles recently stepped in for Princess Anne, also a close friend and a former romantic partner many years ago, at a thanksgiving service for Balding’s father, Ian Balding. Ian was Queen Elizabeth’s former racehorse trainer.


Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.