The Queen reveals the worst day of her life

From terror attacks to world wars and heartbreaking family losses, Queen Elizabeth II has endured many dark days throughout her sixty-six years on the throne.

However, it has been revealed that the IRA’s 1982 attack on London was "the most ghastly" day of her reign.

The tragic event, which saw two bombs detonate in Hyde Park and Regent’s Park on 20th July, killed 11 military personnel and injured 50 civilians. Seven horses also lost their lives.

Andrew Parker Bowles, who oversaw the royal household cavalry on that fateful day, has revealed for the first-time how her Majesty reacted to the attacks.

"It was a nice, sunny day and suddenly one heard this explosion one heard all the time in Northern Ireland," he told The Express. "One of the barriers opened and someone said, 'They’ve blown up the Guard'. So we ran down to where the smoke was rising."

The first bomb exploded during a Changing of the Guard ceremony in Whitehall, killing four soldiers and the seven horses.

"The first horse I saw was Sefton. He had a bloody great hole in him but he managed to pull through."

A couple of hours later, a second bomb went off under the bandstand at Regent’s Park where the British Army’s Royal Green Jackets played to 120 people. The blast killed seven members of the band, and wounded several others.

Parker Bowls, who was married to Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall at the time, recalled a conversation he had with the Queen in the wake of the attacks.

"She said to me it was 'the most ghastly day of my life'."

In October 1987, Gilbert McNamee, then 27, from County Armagh Ireland, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the Hyde Park bombing.

Fellow IRA member, John Downey, was also charged with four counts of murder in relation to the attack, but his trial didn’t eventuate.