The Duke of Beaufort hosted the 70th Badminton Horse trials at his beautiful estate in Gloucestershire in 2019.
The weekend events certainly attract the most visitors, who also make the most of the fabulous shopping opportunities at the many retail outlets and the wonderful variety of eating and drinking choices.
Our royal family don’t just turn up to watch the worlds premier 3-day event, both the Princess Royal and her daughter, Zara Tindell, have both competed
at Badminton as part of their incredibly impressive equestrian careers. The Badminton Estate has a strong royal heritage and many Kings and Queens
have visited Badminton over the centuries. Charles II stayed in the house, as did William of Orange on his return from the Battle of the Boyne. Our
Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary the wife of George V, stayed at Badminton for much of World War II, as a guest of her niece, the Duchess of Beaufort.
The Badminton Estate can boast of another rather wonderful sporting connection. The origins of the sport of badminton are understood to date back to the
games of battledore and shuttlecock played in ancient civilisations in Europe and Asia. It is thought that army officers in 1873 played a derivative
of these earlier games at Badminton House, and perhaps this is how the sport became commonly referred to as badminton. The Entrance Hall reflects the
dimensions of a modern Badminton Court, although one is not encouraged to try it for size.