A gentle giant from Pembrokeshire has been busy training for an important role in the King’s coronation next weekend.

Dyfed shire horse Major Apollo, or Ed as he was known on the farm in Eglwyswrw, joined the Queen’s Household Cavalry in 2019.

He followed Celt Mercury Drumhorse and after him the farm’s Willa Rose was the first ever mare to be selected for the regiment.

It is understood that he will lead the cavalry in the parade.

“It is an honour for us,” said Shire Horse farm founder Enid Cole. “We are very proud.

“It is quite an accolade. We are only a small business in the sticks but we have sent three horses to the Royal Household in London.

Major Apollo, who the farm bought as a yearling in 2016, made his debut with the Queen’s Household Cavalry at Royal celebrations during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend in May 2022.

He also took part in her majesty’s funeral last September.

On his selection for the household cavalry the farm’s Mark Cole said: “Ed is the most calm, laid back and relaxed of the gentle giant breed. We know that he will go on to do great things in London.”

He had his first brush with royalty back in 2018, when he pulled a cart carrying the now Queen Consort around Dyfed Shire Horse Farm, not flinching when she took the reins and drove like a pro.

The King’s Procession, accompanied by The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, will depart Buckingham Palace through the Centre Gate, on Saturday May 6.

It will then proceed down The Mall, passing through Admiralty Arch and south of King Charles I Island, down Whitehall and along Parliament Street.

The King’s Procession will travel around the east and south sides of Parliament Square to Broad Sanctuary to arrive at the Sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, where the Coronation Service will begin at 11 o’clock.