Royal rocking horses

Two-year-old Prince George, the son of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was photographed on 22 April 2016 sitting on a hand-made rocking horse. The rocking horse was a gift to Prince George from the People of America in 2013 when he was born on 22 July.

The artisanal rocking horse has the presidential seal imprinted on the saddle. The White House (the State Department) contacted rocking horse maker, Jackie Wilson, to create George’s rocking horse. It is a glider design (safety stand) with an English-style saddle. The glider is actually an American patent. P.W. Marqua of Cincinnati, Ohio, invented it in 1880, but it is commonly known as the Wilson glider.

In the royal family there is a stable of rocking horses owned by various members of the family. Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, Princess Margaret, had rocking horses when they were children, including the one below, which was exhibited at Buckingham Palace in 2014.

Twin brothers, Marc and Tony Stevenson, established a rocking horse business in England in 1982 in Kent. The Queen owns five Stevenson rocking horses. The Stevenson models were presented to the Queen for her Golden and Diamond Jubilees (photographed below).

President of the United States, Barack Obama, and First Lady Michelle Obama were visiting England on 21-23 April 2016 to commemorate the 90th birthday of the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, on 21 April. The Obamas also met Prince William, Catherine, and George, while Charlotte – their daughter – was asleep. Prince George was photographed on his birthday present, the rocking horse.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markewing/2015/06/29/rocking-horses-for-royals-8000-toy-ponies-for-prince-george-queen-elizabeth-and-president-obama/#28ef1a52621e

MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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