A rather unusual guest will be at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in London on Monday: Monty Roberts. Monty Roberts, an American horse trainer who has a 100-acre ranch in Solvang, California, will be present at a ceremony that will be attended by an estimated 500 heads of state and dignitaries and members of royal families from all over Europe.
Monty Roberts is considered a close friend of Queen Elizabeth II, USA Today reported.
"I wouldn't want to be the one to characterize our friendship. She had at least 50% of it," the 87-year-old trainer said on his friendship to the Queen, adding, "But if you ask me, we had an extremely close relationship."
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Queen Elizabeth II's love for horses is widely known and that fondness for the animal was one of the major reasons that she became friends with Monty Roberts.
Over the last three decades, Monty Roberts made about a half-dozen trips each year to Britain to advise the queen about her horses. The monarch also sent him to more than 40 countries in Africa, Asia and South America to spread his methods.
“She called me on the phone directly a few times. Though most of the time I called her. That was the arrangement. I called about 200 times. Not one was rejected,” Monty Roberts said.
{{/usCountry}}“She called me on the phone directly a few times. Though most of the time I called her. That was the arrangement. I called about 200 times. Not one was rejected,” Monty Roberts said.
{{/usCountry}}For the funeral, Monty Roberts will be wearing mourning clothes, as requested by the palace.
The UK's longest-serving monarch died last week on Thursday after reigning for 70 years.