Queen attends Royal Windsor Horse Show

The Queen has arrived at the Royal Windsor Horse Show after missing the State Opening of Parliament earlier this week.

The 96-year-old was driven on to the showground in a Range Rover.

On Tuesday, she missed the annual reading of the Queen's Speech for the first time since 1963.

She was last seen in public in March, when she attended a service commemorating the life of the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey.

The Queen has mobility problems and has had to cancel a number of recent public appearances.

On Friday morning she was seen sitting in the front passenger seat of her Range Rover, which pulled up near the parade ring so she could watch her animals.

She was smiling and laughing as she spoke to a small group through the open car window.

Inside the parade ring, horses were put through their paces as classical music played over a public address system.

The monarch is well-known for her love of horses and the Royal Windsor Horse Show is reported to be one of the Queen's favourite events of the year.

The show opened on Thursday, runs until Sunday and traditionally attracts thousands of equestrians and enthusiasts to the grounds of Windsor Castle.

It was first staged in 1943 and hosts international competitions in show jumping, dressage, driving and endurance.

In 2016, the Queen won a Tesco voucher at the event when her horse won a competition.

Earlier this month, Buckingham Palace announced other members of the Royal Family would stand in for the Queen when the traditional garden parties return this summer.

The Prince of Wales stepped in for the monarch at the Maundy Service in April.

Last October, the Queen spent a night in hospital and over the following three months was under doctors' orders to only conduct light duties.

She has been using a walking stick in public since she attended a service marking the centenary of the Royal British Legion last October.