Queen Elizabeth enjoyed a horse ride in Windsor Castle on one of the hottest days of the year.

Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth

The British monarch was seen taking a ride on her beloved pony in the grounds of the royal residence with a male companion whilst her husband Prince Philip, 96, was seen taking a carriage - pulled by two horses - out in another part of the grounds.

The Queen wore her usual patterned headscarf and kept her skin protected from the blazing sun in a lightweight beige jacket and gloves.

Prince Philip has previously spoken about the "sheer pleasure" of carriage driving, adding: "I have no intention of giving up while I have a team of willing ponies."

And in another interview, he shared: "I started driving because I'd been playing polo, and I decided I'd give up polo when I was 50. I was looking round to see what next, I didn't know what there was available.

"And I suddenly thought, well, we've got horses and carriages so I thought why don't I have a go ... And the second competition I ever took part in was the European Championships. I came in not quite last, but very nearly."

The Queen is known for her love of horses, after having her first riding lesson at age three. She was given her first horse, a Shetland pony called Peggy, by her King George V on her fourth birthday and her love for the four-legged creature only grew from there.

When she was 12, she told her riding instructor that if she wasn't the Queen, she would "like to be a lady, living in the country with lots of horses and dogs".