Book Review - Julian Muscat's 'Her Majesty's Pleasure'

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Book Review

Julian Muscat - 'Her Majesty's Pleasure'

Of all the subject matter to be approached with trepidation surely there is little doubt that ‘the Queen’ must rank pretty highly in the ‘treat with caution’ category. Even more galling for any would-be royal writer must be the prospect, which seems fairly likely given that racing is the Queen’s greatest passion, that ma’am herself will have a read of it.

Julian Muscat must, therefore, have had mixed feelings when he approached the task of chronicling the Queen’s involvement in racing during her 60 year reign. In addition, there are several controversial issues pertaining to that involvement that no assembler of the royal racing story could reasonably overlook. Even more reason for Muscat to eye the Tower of London nervously in the run-up to publication date.

I suspect he needn’t worry too much about royal approval. He has condensed Her Majesty’s 60 years of racing pleasure into just over 250 pages (roughly 4 pages per year if you want to look at it that way), while cramming in an amazing amount of detail and background. The book will satisfy not only those looking to gain a fuller appreciation and insight into the detail of the Queen’s personal involvement, but also fully engage the racing fan for whom the Queen’s racing story is perhaps more about the horses and the racing people she has encountered along the way.

Despite the classic winners and the host of good horses she’s owned over the years, the Queen’s racing involvement contains its share of bad luck; trainer Ian Balding describes her as the unluckiest owner he has ever encountered. Those twin threads of success and disaster give Muscat rein to delve into the characters and events associated with the critical moments which have punctuated the royal racing timeline.

The book starts with a passage detailing some Richard Hannon anecdotes, selected, one assumes, for their suitability in establishing how relaxed the Queen is when in the company of racing people and how normal (‘human’ is the word used in the book) she can be when distanced, through her absorption in her passion for racing, from her royal duties. Muscat’s selection of stories and anecdotes cleverly and engagingly paint a picture of a monarch truly in love with the sport of racing. Not in love with horses (although that too) but in love with everything about the game.

Anyone interested in the history of racing in the second half of the twentieth century will find this book indispensable. It contains a huge amount which is of interest and, such is the weave that racing makes as time wends its way across the decades, a glance at the comprehensive index reveals the names of almost every person of significance during that golden period for the sport.

Whether it is Hannon complaining loudly (and in vulgar terms) that he can never get into his own toilet before the door opens to reveal you-know-who emerging, John Warren seeking advice from Lester Piggott on how best to handle Carlton House’s draw in the 2011 Derby (‘not ideal’ says a droll Piggott) or Clare Balding’s account of the Queen’s brush with Frankel in the paddock before the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes last Autumn – ‘she could barely take her eyes off him’ - Muscat cleverly pieces together strands that leave us in little doubt that racing provides an invaluable sanctum for the Queen.

Like all stories, it is the people with whom she shared those 60 years in racing that provide the life-blood of the tale, and it was a particularly human story that engulfed the Queen and the royal household in controversy at the end of the 1980’s as the saga over the end of Major Dick Hern’s tenure at West Ilsley played out. Time can sometimes be kind as events can take on a different hue when coloured by the passage of years, but the circumstances surrounding that episode still seem raw.

Muscat outlines the facts surrounding the West Ilsley episode diplomatically. He doesn’t avoid the issue but neither does he delve beyond what is already known. Lord Caernarvon (the Queen’s racing manager at that time), portrayed as the villain in most accounts, is treated sympathetically, Muscat suggesting that Caernarvon was guilty of acting with too much haste rather than anything malevolent and that he had portrayed a lack of ‘mental agility’ in dealing with the media. He also suggests that Caernarvon felt unable to tell the whole of his side of the story. Intriguing stuff.

Whether you want to immerse yourself in the horses and people that have shaped the modern day face of racing in this country or whether you want to simply understand a little better the ‘human’ side of the Queen, a side that racing is able to shed a light on more effectively than almost any of her other public pursuits, this book, comprehensively and beautifully illustrated with a selection of captivating photographs, is highly recommended.

Cormack15

'Her Majesty's Pleasure' by Julian Muscat is published by Racing Post & Raceform
ISBN: 9781905156863


Click here to buy for only £15 (rrp £20)