Criquette Head: 'It really felt like I had lost a member of my family'

Criquette Head has led tributes from France's racing and breeding communities following the death of the Queen, describing how the news of the Monarch's passing made her feel like she "had lost a member of her family".

On Saturday, King Charles III was officially proclaimed Monarch before a special meeting of the Privy Council, during which it was confirmed that the day of the Queen’s funeral, September 19, will be a public holiday.

Tributes have flowed from every corner of the world following the death of the Queen and France has been no exception, with President Emmanuel Macron describing her as "a kind-hearted queen who has left a lasting impression on her country and her century".

As anyone who has watched the fictional Netflix series The Crown will be aware, Queen Elizabeth II was hosted in a private capacity at the Head family's Haras du Quesnay, just outside Deauville.

She also visited a number of other Normandy studs but it was the late Alec Head who most frequently hosted the Monarch, with a 1987 trip captured in part by French TV cameras.

"When I turned on the television last night at Le Quesnay and saw the news, it really felt like I had lost a member of my family," said Criquette Head. "She came twice on a private visit, staying on with us after the D Day celebrations, while there was also the more public visit in 1987.

"Papa knew her very well – he used to race a lot in Britain – and she invited him to dance on one occasion at a party in London."

Criquette Head: 'The world has lost a great woman'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Head fondly recalled the Queen's kindness, alongside her passion for horses, adding that "the world has lost a great woman".

She continued: "The Queen really was very kind with everyone and people found her easy to talk to. Of course, there was some protocol but very quickly you would be talking to her just as you would with any other person.

"I would say she had an almost playful nature, she had a good sense of humour. I was invited to tea in her box at Ascot on several occasions – when Gold Splash won the Coronation [in 1993] and also when Treve ran at the meeting in 2014 – and that's always how I found her.

"She always had such a busy life and you could tell that when she went racing, she was doing something for herself. She loved horses."

France's racing and breeding communities have felt the Queen's death especially keenly, given that royal visits to France rarely passed without time spent at either a racecourse or a stud.

Her finest hour was undoubtedly the victory of Highclere in the 1974 Prix de Diane, an occasion the Queen was determined not to miss.

The Queen with Highclere at Chantilly after the 1974 Prix de DianeCredit: Getty Images

She had first encountered French racing nearly 30 years earlier, recalled Louis Romanet, the son of a former president of the Society d’Encouragement [the forerunner of France Galop] as well as the longtime president of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.

Romanet said: "I have some exceptional memories and was lucky enough to meet the Queen on several occasions during my career and that of my father, who was one of the very rare Frenchmen to be made a Commander of the British Empire two years before Highclere won the Prix de Diane.

"She really had an attachment to Longchamp and after it was rebuilt, the Queen received an invitation from the President of the Republic to visit Paris in 1972. She insisted on a private visit at the new Longchamp be inserted in her programme for the visit.

"We named a race for her which was called the Coupe de Sa Majeste La Reine – which has today become the Prix Sandringham – and for which she presented the trophy."

Romanet, who was part of the royal carriage procession at Ascot in 1995, had a ringside seat at Chantilly when Highclere and Joe Mercer won France's version of the Oaks.

"When the Queen arrived at the racecourse she was driven up the home straight in her Rolls Royce, which is the only time that has happened at Chantilly," Romanet said. "I was in the stands behind the Queen and her racing manager, Lord Porchester, and while she was a little restrained, she still shouted encouragement for her filly. She was clearly overjoyed when Highclere won.

"Marcel Boussac presented her with the trophy and I was tasked with taking it back so that we could have her name and that of Highclere engraved.

"She said to me that she wanted to take it back with her as she planned to throw a banquet at Windsor that evening, and she told me she wanted to have the trophy as the centrepiece of the table. She assured me, 'Don't worry M. Romanet, we have excellent engravers in England'."

The royal colours most famous success may have been in the 1974 Diane, but the Queen rarely missed a chance to have a runner in France if that was the right opportunity for the horse in question.

John Hammond: 'She will be missed enormously'Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Following the lead of the Queen Mother, who won a Grand Steeple-Chase de Clairefontaine with the Francois Doumen-trained Bleu A L’Ame, Her Majesty also had a horse in training in Chantilly.

Humdrum became her last winner in France when landing a conditions race for John Hammond under Christophe Soumillon at Maisons-Laffitte in October 2011.

Hammond said: "Humdrum ran in a Listed race down at Bordeaux for Richard Hannon, who asked me to go and saddle her. Then she won a conditions race at Maisons-Laffitte for us and was sixth in a Listed race at Compiegne.

"It was great, I was very touched and felt privileged to be asked to train for her. She always knew the pedigrees of her families and all their idiosyncrasies, also she was incredibly understanding that they’re not going to win all time."

Hammond added: "The whole sense of pageantry gives Ascot a sense of being unique. I'm sure the Queen's association with racing and Ascot made a big difference to a number of the big international owners. Racing was really her passion and wasn't it lucky that was so? She will be missed enormously."