Late Queen 'rarely carried cash' - unless she was at the races, ex-aide reveals
20 June 2025, 22:23
A former aide of Queen Elizabeth II has revealed that the late Queen was known to give cash to an equerry who placed bets on her behalf at the races.
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Ailsa Anderson, Queen Elizabeth II's press secretary, said that the Queen would give cash to an equerry who would place bets on her behalf.
It has long been thought that the late Queen did not carry physical cash, apart from one banknote that she kept folded in her handbag to be given during collection at church on Sunday.
When asked if the monarch handed over cash at the races, Anderson told The Times: “Yes, absolutely. She didn’t place [the bet] herself but the race cards were there.”
Anderson said: “It would be done through the equerry.”
Anderson also said that the late Queen was so passionate about horse racing that she had CCTV cameras installed in the Royal Mews, the stables at Buckingham Palace, so she could watch foals being born from inside the palace.
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Archive footage from an Amazon Prime Video documentary released in 2022 showed Queen Elizabeth II receiving cash winnings at the horse races.
In the footage, the late monarch asked her aide: “What do I get?”
An equerry informed the Queen that she had won £16 before handing over the winnings.
The Queen, looking pleased, took the cash and said: “£16? Hah!”
Prince Philip, on the other hand, did not share the Queen's passion for horse racing, according to Anderson.
Anderson said: “The Duke of Edinburgh would be watching the cricket on the television at the back of the royal box.”
In 2013, Queen Elizabeth II's thoroughbred racehorse Estimate made history when the then four-year-old horse won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, making the Queen the first reigning monarch to have a horse win the cup in its 207-year history.
Anderson, who was in attendance at Ascot on that day, said that there was “not a dry eye in the house.”
The late Queen's passion for horse racing was longstanding. At the time of her death, the she reportedly won 566 of her 3,441 races as an owner, and it is thought she made £8.7million from her hobby since 1988.
Saturday will be the final day of this year's royal meeting at Ascot, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 32C.
Attendance this year has been higher than last year, as a heatwave has scorched England and Wales this week.
