For the Queen it was one of the favorite dates of the year: from 20th to 24th June the famous horse race takes place at Ascot.
A few days after the “Trooping the Color” birthday parade for King Charles III. (74) is already waiting for the next highlight. With Royal Ascot, the horse race of the year is just around the corner. Charles will also be attending the biggest, if not the biggest, social event in England, although unlike his mother he doesn’t know much about horses.
That being said, he will of course inherit from his mother Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) at Ascot and attend race week (20-24 June) as monarch. With routinely warm participation, so that the British media can report: “The King was very amused!” That’s all there is to royal enthusiasm.
A royal origin story
On the other hand, the king is expected to do the same in England, after all, Royal Ascot is not only the most glamorous horse race in the world, but also a royal invention. On August 11, 1711, on the initiative of Queen Anne (1665-1714), incidentally the last monarch of the House of Stuart, the first races took place in Ascot/county of Berkshire west of London, just twelve kilometers from the royal residence Windsor Castle. Seven horses saddled with a weight of 76 kilograms had to gallop over a distance of 6,437 meters.
Under the patronage of the British royal family, this has developed into a five-day event with the most important horse race in England and probably also in the world. A total of 35 races will be held from Tuesday to the following Saturday at a British Crown-owned site.
The highlight on Thursday is the Ascot Gold Cup for animals four years old and older over a distance of 4,023 meters. The world’s best horses and jockeys compete. The Irish stallion “Yeats”, who won the Gold Cup race four times in a row from 2006 to 2009, became the absolute Ascot champion. Most successful rider: the Englishman Lester Piggot (1935-2022), who won the Gold Cup as a jockey eleven times between 1957 and 1982.
The Queen and her passion for horses
Queen Elizabeth II was the most dedicated Ascot patron of all the royals, spending as much time as possible with her animals and only missing Ascot once since 1945: That was in 2020, when the races were without spectators due to the corona pandemic took place.
Already as a small child, the enthusiastic horse lover was in the saddle at the age of three, she made her last ride at the age of 96 just a few months before her death. Without the dynastic constraints of succession to the throne, she would have loved to have become a veterinarian or horse trainer.
The Queen’s riding stables, which at times owned more than 100 horses, were correspondingly ambitious. He was considered one of the best in Britain. In 2008 her stallion, Free Agent, won the Chesham Stakes race for two-year-olds. And five years later, her mare “Estimate” galloped to first place in the Gold Cup. It was the first time a Crown horse had won the supreme discipline of Ascot.
Last year, the queen also had to pass, her health was already too bad. She was first represented by her son, Crown Prince Charles, a task he carried out with his usual affability.
King Charles was a passionate polo player
Now Charles is the new patron as king. He is said to have a certain aversion to horse racing, but of course he will be present at Ascot. Charles used to be a passionate rider who had to pay for his passion with a number of broken bones. He was particularly fond of polo and played in high-goal tournaments for over 40 years. He also met his future wife Camilla (75) while playing polo in the 1970s. After falling off his horse at a polo match in 2001 and being unconscious for a short time, he gave up the sport and horseback riding altogether in 2005, “with dignity, but with regret,” as he put it. His injured back left him no other choice.
There was speculation that Charles would also forego Ascot. These rumors were mainly fueled by the news that the king had auctioned 14 broodmares from the horses he had inherited from his mother, including the two well-known animals “Just Fine” and “Love Affairs”. Action house Tattersalls told the BBCthat the auction is not unusual. “They sell horses every year… You can’t keep them all,” explains a Tattersalls spokesman. The sale does not mean that the royal family wants to turn its back on horse racing.
To be seen and to be seen
So King Charles will open the racing days with his entrance, which means that he and his wife Camilla drive in the open Landau carriage from Windsor Castle to Ascot to the racecourse. He had made these appearances brilliantly last year – in a perfect outfit, which was already defined in 1800 by the legendary dandy George “Beau” Brummell: The gentlemen wear “morning dress”, an ascot-grey or black cutaway and top hat, black Shoes, waistcoat, white shirt and tie. Scarves or bow ties are not allowed.
For women, “respectable” dresses are required, knees, waist, stomach and shoulders must be covered, headgear is mandatory. That’s the rules. But there are no limits to the imagination. This is where all of the 70,000 who make the pilgrimage to Ascot every day want to shine.
For the ladies, this means elaborate dresses in candy colors and even more elaborate hats. You won’t find more creative headwear anywhere in the world, not even at the Rio Carnival. The highlight is the hat parade on “Ladies Day” on Thursday, which also hosts the Ascot Gold Cup. Motto: The more conspicuous, the better.
The champagne flows freely
The relaxed handling of high-quality drinks is also striking. The organizers expect consumption of 180,000 bottles of champagne, over 120,000 bottles of wine and around 15,000 bottles of Pimm’s. The latter is a spicy, slightly bitter liqueur that is mixed with lemonade or ginger ale and served with cucumber, apple, mint or orange slices.
That can pack a punch, as evidenced by images that repeatedly show women whose legs have been knocked out by alcohol. Local residents grumble that hordes of drunken ladies make the heathland unsafe in the morning, especially on “Ladies Day”.
Already years ago the “Westdeutsche Zeitung” reported about “beating scenes”, who have overshadowed the “dignified coexistence”: “Men in fine threads threaten each other with bottles of rosé champagne by Laurent Perrier, fists fly, top hats tumble, and finally blood spills.” That’s why security guards with alcohol measuring devices should ensure at the entrances that drunk visitors don’t even come onto the site.
Another strict rule was abolished years ago: For a long time, divorced members of society officially had no access to the Royal Enclosure. Only invited guests have access to this closed visitor area after prior application by naming guarantors who are already authorized to enter. Because of the numerous divorces within the royal family, this provision was dropped.