In pictures: Queen unveils Windsor's bronze horses

A pair of beautiful horses will guard the main entrance to Windsor forever after being unveiled by the Queen in front of the Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of Cambridge on Monday.

The bronze horses are sculpted in the likeness of Daniel and Storm, two Windsor Greys who draw the Queen's carriages.

They took more than a year for sculptor Robert Rattray to create and 'stand guard' on the massive King's Road/Osborne Road roundabout.

A crowd of 400 people watched and cheered as the Queen - accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and her grandson William, the Duke of Cambridge - whisked away the plush purple sheet to reveal the horses.

She studied it closely, chatting intently with Mr Rattray as they stood on the roundabout.

Afterwards the proud sculptor said: "We talked about how the statue was created. It had to be done in segments and she was interested in the technical side of it all. I was determined to capture the character of each horse."

Earlier the Queen and her family stopped off at nearby Brigidine School in King's Road, where veteran Windsor resident Rosemary Ussher - who initiated the £200,000 scheme to build the statue - thanked the Duke of Cambridge for his support as fundraising patron.

William brought the house down by saying to 76-year-old Mrs Ussher: "You twisted my arm."

Mrs Ussher told guests: "Everyone in this room has made a contribution to this wonderful statue." 

They included the team from the foundry where the statue was cast and the builder who put in the foundations that will keep the statues solid and upright.

Mrs Ussher's 13-year-old grandsons got in on the act. Peter presented the Queen with a posy while George presented William with a specially made booklet about the statues.

View a slideshow of Monday's unveiling below.