If there is one thing normally guaranteed to put a smile on her face, it is the sight of horses everywhere and she certainly refused to let the wet weather dampen her spirits. In a waterproof khaki coat, she chatted to friends with animated facial expressions and hand gestures. The annual show, held over five days in Home Park, part of the 950-year-old royal residence’s grounds, is now in its 76th year. The Queen has attended every year since it began as a Second World War fundraising event in 1943.

She usually enters several of her own horses in the events.

Competitors take part in a range of events including show jumping, dressage, and crowds watch displays from military troops and pony clubs.

This year the show has been embroiled in controversy because one of its sponsors is Coworth Park, the Ascot hotel owned by the Sultan of Brunei.

Last month his country pressed ahead with plans to punish homosexuality with death, prompting an international boycott of Brunei’s businesses.

But on Sunday the Sultan suspended the death penalty for those convicted of gay sex.

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