{"id":216161,"date":"2026-05-01T00:41:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216161\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T00:41:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:41:25","slug":"queen-camilla-feeds-horses-on-last-stop-of-state-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216161\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Camilla Feeds Horses on Last Stop of State Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated2 min read<\/p>\n

Queen Camilla was in her element today as she made her final solo appearance of her and King Charles’s State Visit to the U.S. Camilla visited Virginia thoroughbred farm Smitten Farm and described it as “a lovely way to finish off this trip.”<\/p>\n

Camilla met several horses at the farm and learned about their thoroughbred operation. “We breed thoroughbred racehorses, said farm manager Hunter Marek, who showed Camilla around alongside her three-year-old daughter Violet. “We\u2019re a very small operation here, we have about between five to ten horses we breed each year with the idea that they\u2019ll then go on to the racetrack and be successful in the future…The racing culture in England is very similar to the racing culture here. She has racehorses and I think she just wanted to see what we do here compared to what they do there.”<\/p>\n

\"KingPool\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Queen Camilla visits with Hunter Marek and her daughter Violet during a visit to Smitten Farm.<\/p>\n

A keen horserider since childhood, Camilla is now Patron of a number of equestrian charities. She and King Charles inherited Queen Elizabeth\u2019s breeding and racing stock on the King\u2019s accession in 2022. Camilla said about her own horses that she has \u201ca brilliant app on my phone where I can tune in to see them being born.\u201d<\/p>\n

After viewing the stables, the Queen fed a carrot to a horse called Blind Date. She said about owning and breeding racehorses, \u201cYou have to go with the ups and downs, there are many more downs than there are ups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loves horses,\u201d Hunter Marek observed. She described the visit as \u201cvery exciting\u201d and said there had been \u201ca lot of preparation\u201d but at the same time it was \u201cvery natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KingPool\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Camilla fed a carrot to the horse Blind Date during her visit.<\/p>\n

Camilla also spoke with Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Afterwards, Lisa said, \u201cIt was amazing. It was really extraordinary, and we were all, I think, just so delighted and flattered that she picked a horse farm and groups in horse racing to end her visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natalie Wales, who runs an organization that rehomes racehorses called the Thoroughbred Transition Project, presented the Queen with a First edition 1952 map of Virginia horse farms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh fantastic thank you very much,\u201d the Queen said.<\/p>\n

Before departing, the Queen met a group of guests representing the US Jockey Club including thoroughbred breeders, owners and conservationists. Friend of the royals Guy Pelly was also there. He chatted to Camilla and gave her a bottle of wine.<\/p>\n

Explore T&C\u2019s Snob\u2019s Guide to London\"Guidebook<\/p>\n

These Are the Ultimate London Hacks<\/p>\n

How to navigate the city like a pro, according to T&C\u2019s most in-the-know friends.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

Getty\/Michael Stillwell\"Elegant<\/p>\n

A Snob\u2019s Guide to London Hotels<\/p>\n

T&C\u2019s most discerning Anglophile editors and friends name their favorites.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

The Connaught\"Best<\/p>\n

The Best Restaurants in London<\/p>\n

You can find late-night curry on your own. This highly opinionated collection of newcomers and classics alike are for when the meal itself is the main event.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

Steven Joyce\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Town & Country Contributing Editor Victoria Murphy has reported on the British Royal Family since 2010. She has interviewed Prince Harry and has travelled the world covering several royal tours. She is a frequent contributor to Good Morning America. Victoria authored Town & Country book The Queen: A Life in Pictures<\/a>, released in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2 min read Queen Camilla was in her element today as she made her final solo appearance of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[50892,567,85243,569,83931,568,9,24,63,122,124,123,57826,85242,50891],"class_list":["post-216161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-collection-royal-family-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-ce6646f8-4d38-4d2b-8c84-02f069b5c111","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-read_time-3","tag-shorttitle-queen-camilla-feeds-horses-on-last-stop-of-visit","tag-subsection-heritage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}