“It was really great when the Queen came to visit,” a local told me on my last visit to Djakovo. “Apart from seeing the Queen, Tito built an asphalt road just for her visit, so locals were VERY happy that she came.”
The Queen, accompanied by husband Prince Philip and daughter Princess Anne, visited the famous Djakovo Lipizzaner Stud Farm as part of an official 5-day visit to the Republic of Croatia in what was then Yugoslavia. A keen horse-lover, the British monarch was give a tour of the equine pride of Croatia, before continuing to Zagreb. She also visited Pula, the Brijuni Islands and Dubrovnik on the official visit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bwgp-ltXmw
There is some rare footage of the trip on YouTube, including one of Djakovo and Zagreb together above. while the video below contains both photos and video of the time, as well as the recollections of several locals who witnessed the visit of the royal entourage.
You can also find more photographs of the visit on the Facebook page of the stud farm.
First mentioned in 1239, the Djakovo Stud is a national Lipizzaner horse breeding stud farm in Osijek Baranja County. Its official origins date back to 1506, when it was recorded that Bishop Mijo Mesaric ‘owned a stud farm of 90 Arab horses’ on his estate.
For more stories from Djakovo, follow the dedicated TCN section.
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