Her Majesty the Queen has departed Newmarket after unveiling a bronze statue in her honour and conducting a tour of the new £15m National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art.
The Queen arrived by helicopter on the western side of Newmarket around 11am and attended the statue in Birdcage Walk.
Designed by two separate sculptors, the bronze statue of the Queen with a mare and foal sits on a Portland stone plinth and was paid for by the Queen’s friend Sheikh Mohammed.
She was presented with a posy by eight-year-old Thomas Cotton, from Great Whelnetham, near Bury St Edmunds, who underwent brain surgery in 2012 after he was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy.
After unveiling the statue and meeting Thomas, Her Majesty proceeded in her Bentley down the High Street where schoolchildren and adults waved flags and welcomed her to the town – a place for which she holds deep affection due to her love of horseracing and lifelong dedication to the thoroughbred horse.
Around 11.30am, she arrived at the £15m National Heritage Centre where she unveiled a plaque and met several major donors.
She was given a tour of the new building as well as Palace House just over the road.
She has visited Newmarket many times over the years but visiting the town in her 90th year took on an extra significance as she opened the town’s previous National Horseracing Museum in 1983.
Council leader James Waters said: “After many years of hard work, sweat and tears, the centre has been delivered and recognised at the utmost level.”
Before the visit, the town’s mayor Andy Drummond said: “Newmarket will be representing Suffolk and we want everyone to be part of this very special day for our town and make it one that we will all remember for many years to come.”
Her Majesty departed around 12.30pm.
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