Queen's Golden Jubilee plans unveiled

Plans to stage an equestrian extravaganza to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee have been unveiled.

The event - which will involve 1,000 horses and a celebrity cast of about 2,000 - is one of several events being planned to celebrate the Queen's accession to the throne 50 years ago.

Financed by big business, at no cost to the taxpayer, "All the Queen's Horses" will be staged at the 2002 Royal Windsor Horse Show against the backdrop of Windsor Castle on 16, 17 and 18 May next year.

The BBC is understood to be on the brink of signing a deal to screen the show.

Director of the event, Simon Brooks-Ward, said: "It's more Broadway than horse show. It will celebrate the Queen's lifetime interest in horses.

"It will not be a procession but will instead combine music and fashion from periods throughout the Queen's 50-year reign together with a celebration of equestrian achievement."

Grand finale

The finale of the show will recreate the 1952 Coronation procession, which will feature the Gold State Coach pulled by eight grey horses.

A £200,000 weather-proof surface will be laid to create the arena and the 4,000 spectators will be covered by a clear PVC stand.

The show's producer, Major Sir Michael Parker, who also produced the Queen's 1977 Silver Jubilee celebrations and the Queen Mothers 100th Birthday Tribute, said:

"It's going to be full of action and full of movement. There will be every kind of horse from a Shire to a Shetland and many well-known faces from the world of horses."

Organisers of the event have learnt valuable lessons from the ill-fated horse extravaganza which was meant to take place to mark the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's 1997 Golden Wedding.

The event had to be cancelled because of a waterlogged ground.