'The Crown' shows Queen Elizabeth visiting Kentucky. Here are the real trips it's based on

Emma Austin | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Colman: 'I don't blame' the royals for not watching 'The Crown' Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter discuss playing real life British royals in the third season of "The Crown" and how the show is not trying to be a documentary. (Nov. 18)

'The Crown' shows Queen Elizabeth II visiting Kentucky in its latest season

The episode titled "Coup," plays on the queen's love of horse racing

The queen has visited the Bluegrass State five times in real life and has kept horses in the state

Queen Elizabeth II is known for her love of horse racing, and Netflix's new season of "The Crown" showcases that love in an episode featuring a visit to the U.S. state best known for the sport: Kentucky.

Many of the show's storylines are based on true historical events, including the Kentucky trip. However, while the episode takes place sometime during late 1967, the queen's visits to Kentucky didn't start until the 1980s.

During those visits, she stayed at Lane's End, a farm in Versailles owned by her friend William Farish and where she stabled horses. Farish met Prince Charles while playing polo and was introduced to the queen at a polo game she sponsored in England. Farish later served as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2001 to 2004.

In "The Crown," episode five of season three, titled "Coup," features the queen on a journey that takes her through Kentucky as she seeks to learn modern methods of the horse industry and revitalize her own horse racing operation.

In real life, she spent time during each of her visits looking at stallions as breeding potential for her mares, some of which she boarded in Kentucky, according to news reports from those times. Her press secretaries often described the trips as vacations — a time for the queen to relax and stay out of the public eye.

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In all, Queen Elizabeth has visited the commonwealth five times. Here's a look at each of those trips.

1984

She visited Kentucky for the first time in October of 1984 to celebrate the inauguration of the race named in her honor, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland. The Courier Journal reported at the time that it was her first visit to an American racetrack.

The cup was a $100,000 race for 3-year-old fillies. Today, it's $500,000. The queen reportedly expressed delight at the victory by Sintra, a Kentucky-bred horse.

Seth Hancock, one of the half-owners of Sintra, told a reporter, "The queen's a regular person, just like my mother and all the other classy ladies I've known in my life." The other half-owner, Renee Lickle, was more starstruck after her interaction with the queen.

"My hands were shaking so hard I couldn't even hold my binoculars straight," Lickle told The Courier Journal afterward, adding that she was speechless when the queen told her, "Good show."

After the race, Keeneland personnel simulated a yearling auction, using look-alike horses to re-create the sales of yearlings that went on to become prominent race horses in Europe.

Tom Hammond, the man who announced horses' pedigrees, told The Courier Journal afterward that the queen had asked him whether applause in the sales pavilion scares the horses and whether bid-spotters have trouble detecting who made which bid. Hammond said he answered "yes, sometimes," to both questions.

"She didn't seem stuffy at all," he reportedly said. "She seemed very gracious."

Aside from her race, the queen visited several Kentucky horse farms during the trip to view mares and stallions.

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1986

The queen returned to Kentucky in May 1986 for a "low-key" stay, according to The Associated Press. Before she arrived, The Courier Journal reported she was not planning on visiting any other part of the country during the trip.

About 200 people were at the airport to witness her arrival, including Gov. Martha Layne Collins, who greeted the queen and later sent matching silver mint julep cups to her at Lane's End as "a gift from the people of Kentucky."

Security was tight, and Queen Elizabeth only made a few public appearances aside from her arrival and departure.

She attended a service at St. John's Episcopal Church, though the service itself was limited to the church's members. Reporters were allowed access during her viewing of horses at Lane's End, when she got a "first look" at one of her mares and its foal.

1989

British officials reportedly described her visit in 1989 as a "working holiday," and all her activities were private.

She visited about a dozen Central Kentucky horse farms to look at thoroughbreds, including a few mares she boarded. She was looking at stallions and considering them as possible sires for her royal horse-breeding operation.

British Embassy spokesman Francis Cornish told The Courier Journal in 1989 the queen was returning to Kentucky for two reasons: because Kentucky is unrivaled in its reputation as a horse-breeding state and because she "thoroughly enjoyed herself" during her previous two visits.

"She's enjoyed seeing the stallions," Cornish said. "She's enjoyed discussing horse breeding and she's very much enjoyed meeting the people who run these farms and own these farms."

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1991

Queen Elizabeth stopped again in Versailles in 1991 for a private visit with Will and Sarah Farish at Lane's End. It was the end of her two-week official tour in the United States at the invitation of President George H.W. Bush.

She examined three stallions on the morning of May 24, according to a Courier Journal article describing the visit. She was again looking for stallions to breed with her mares for the following year and toured several other horse farms that day.

At Lane's End, she apparently was most impressed with Alysheba, the 1988 Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year. Farm manager Mike Cline said she was commenting about how "refined" he was.

Will Farish said at the time that the queen's stay at Lane's End was "a real vacation for her" after a formal state visit.

Since the visit occurred during May, the announcement of her tour ignited rumors she would be attending the Kentucky Derby. Her trip ended up being after the Derby, but she did attend the famous race during her next visit.

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2007

The queen's most recent trip to Kentucky and her first time in Louisville was in 2007 when she attended the 133rd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. This time, she traveled with her husband, Prince Philip.

The Derby was her only public event during that visit, but she flew under the radar with tight security for most of the day, and sightings seemed rare.

The Courier Journal reported the next day that "for most race fans, catching a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II at Churchill Downs ... was more elusive than picking the Kentucky Derby winner." (Which was Street Sense, by the way.)

The 2007 Derby had a star-filled crowd, including sports stars Peyton Manning and Michael Jordan, actress Gabrielle Union and Kiss icon Gene Simmons. Many people interviewed at the track said they viewed Queen Elizabeth as just another celebrity guest, but track president Steve Sexton told The Sydney Morning Herald she was "certainly the most prestigious guest" in the modern-day history of the Derby.

Contact Emma Austin at eaustin@gannett.com and 502-582-4180 or follow on Twitter @emmacaustin. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.