Tilly Bishop.Photo: Alyson Krueger
More than 6,000 soldiers of the British Army took part in thehour-and-a-half processionfollowingQueen Elizabeth’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday. But there was one trooper who stood out.
Bishop is a member of the Household Cavalry known as the King’s Bodyguards. It is made up of two of the oldest and most senior regiments of the British Army. The Life Guards, a unit that originally protected Charles II, and the Blues and Royals, the army of Oliver Cromwell, both date back to the 1600s.
“My dad was an officer when I was young, and he pushed me to join the army because he thinks it’s a good job,” Bishop, who decided to join the army at the age of 16, tells PEOPLE.
Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral.Carl Court/Getty
Queen Elizabeth at the WIndsor Horse Show on May 13, 2022.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Earlier this summer, during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Bishop was also positioned in a celebratory procession right behind the Gold State Coach, which has been used at royal coronations, jubilees and other events since 1762 and last transportedQueen Elizabethto her coronation 69 years earlier.
“Platinum, my horse, was amazing,” she says. “All of our horses are named when they go from training into the regiment. Each year is a new letter. We just did W, so Platinum entered the regiment when P was the letter.”
Ahead of the Queen’s funeral, Bishop, who is from Windsor, visited Windsor Castle with her family, where she broke down in tears after laying flowers at the gate of the Queen’s home.
Tilly Bishop.Alyson Krueger
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“I washed Platinum the day before, and I tried to keep him clean which is hard with a gray horse,” she shares.
“So many of the parades that we do are celebrations,” she adds. “This is a totally different thing.”
source: people.com
