Let me tell you a story that’s equal parts heartwarming and fascinating. Picture this: an American horse whisperer named Monty Roberts finds himself in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, but he doesn’t even recognize her. “She was in the stable grooming a horse, and I thought she was a lady groom,” Monty exclusively told Closer. He went on to say, “I was talking to her for a while, and I realized that the people around were sort of acting in a different way. Then I took a hard look at her, and I realized, ‘My God, this is the queen!’”
This unforgettable encounter back in 1989 sparked a friendship that would last until the queen’s passing in 2022. Now, a new documentary titled The Cowboy and the Queen dives deep into their bond and how their shared love of animals has left an indelible mark on the world. You can catch the film in theaters now or stream it on MasterClass.
Elizabeth, a lifelong animal lover and a skilled horsewoman, invited Monty to England to showcase his techniques for training horses without resorting to whips or causing pain. “Her Majesty, it turns out, had always wanted a nonviolent way to deal with horses,” Monty explained. He began exploring alternative ways to communicate with horses as a child, partly because of his own experiences with a violent father. “That helped me to move away from violence and to become a student of the minds of horses,” he shared.
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Not everyone was thrilled with Monty’s methods. In fact, some people found them controversial and wanted them stopped. “A lot of people used violence to train horses. Their position was that if things went my way, they’d be out of business. I had a lot of enemies, but the queen advised me not to listen to the people who were against me,” Monty recalled.
A Unique Bond Built on Shared Values
Monty, an American cowboy, made every effort to respect royal protocols around the queen, sometimes to a humorous degree. “Every time she would come to talk to me, I would take my cowboy hat off,” said Monty, who is now 90 years old. He recounted that Elizabeth eventually told him it wasn’t necessary. “She said, ‘If you’re wearing a uniform, you don’t need to take your hat off.’” Monty replied that he didn’t think his Western riding attire counted as a uniform. “She tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘I dub this your uniform!’”
Over the years, Monty and the queen shared around 200 phone conversations, and she even knighted him. “She considered me to be a close friend,” Monty said. Through their friendship, Monty was able to witness a side of the queen that only her family and inner circle knew. “She was very amusing and very intelligent,” he noted, adding that Elizabeth had a knack for assessing a horse and naming it according to its personality. “They would turn out to be exactly what she named them,” he remarked.
While the world often saw Elizabeth’s stoic demeanor, there was much more to her personality. “I think most people would be surprised by her humanity and how real she was,” Monty shared. “I really admire how she aligned with me against violence towards animals.”
Elizabeth even named one of her corgis after Monty. “He was a difficult dog, and Prince Philip had me work with him every time I came over,” Monty recalled, admitting that he misses the queen deeply. “I know she’s up there waiting for me,” he said. “We had an incredible relationship for 33 years.”
