The Queen will miss the Epsom Derby for only the third time in her reign, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Friday.

       She will watch on television from Windsor Castle as she continues to suffer with mobility issues, with the Princess Royal attending instead.

       There is no question of Her Majesty missing the race altogether, for it is one of her favourite moments in the racing calendar. She would have undoubtedly seen Royal Champion win the 3.45 race at the meeting on Friday, minutes after the announcement was made that she would be unable to attend in person.

       The Queen's love affair with horses started in 1942, when King George VI took the then Princess Elizabeth to see his best two horses at Beckhampton, the base for the Royal trainer, Fred Darling.

       Even now, it is a rare day that she does not have contact with her racing adviser John Warren or fails to see the Racing Post. Each of her eight trainers telephone her in the morning before they have a Royal runner to go through its prospects and exchange with the Queen what might only be described as "racing banter".

       High points in the racing calendar like Derby day - which she first attended in 1945 - the five days of Royal Ascot, and Champions’ Day at Ascot in October, have traditionally been ring-fenced in her diary.

       Until the pandemic, she had only missed the Epsom Derby twice since becoming Queen - in 1956 when she was on a state visit to Sweden, and in 1984 when attending a D-Day memorial in France.

       But what were high hopes for a win this year were dashed after her horses, Reach for the Moon and Educator, were withdrawn.

       On Thursday, her final hope for a winner on Derby day was crushed when Just Fine, which was due to contest the World Pool Northern Dancer Handicap, was removed.

       Support for horses with royal names

       With no royal horses left, it appears punters are betting on the next best thing.

       Bookmakers are expecting a flurry of support for horses with royal names this weekend, with Changing of the Guard at 8/1 and Royal Patronage at 33/1.

       Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “We have laid a good spread of money, and come the race tomorrow, we expect plenty of patriotic support for Changing of the Guard and Royal Patronage.”