The Royals Spent The Day At The Royal Ascot Races
Even though Duchess Meghan wasn’t there to scream “move your bloomin’ ass” from the stands or make some other gauche faux pas like she did at Trooping The Colour, there was still plenty of excitement to be had at the opening day of the Royal Ascot horse race. The annual event which, according to People began in 1711, was attended by Her Royal Highness THE QUEEN, Duchess Kate, Prince William, Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice as well as those clog shuffling, french fry dipping, dyke plugging royals King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. In other words, every duke and earl and peer was there, everyone who should be there was there. And that folks, is your My Fair Lady deep cut for the day.
The event kicks off with the royal procession as it has since 1852. This year Liz rode with the queens of the House of Maxima and her son the Duke of York. Kate and William rode with Charles and Camilla.
The procession sees Queen Elizabeth and her guests make their entrance to Ascot in a number of Landau carriages every day at precisely 2 o’clock. The Queen‘s carriage leads the procession, with others following behind. Only invited guests of the Queen are granted seats in the carriages.
Kate wore a cornflower blue Elie Saab dress looking like she just floated out of a BBC period drama, and poor Princess Eugenie got caught on the back foot wearing the Designer Imposters version of the same dress.
As per tradition, hats were the order of the day. No seriously, Prince Philip gets to take you out back and shoot you with a vintage WWI rifle if you don’t wear a hat. And that includes the horses! It’s a mess and a real hassle but tradition is tradition. Gentlemen are required to wear a top hat in the Royal enclosure, but and the ladies are allowed free reign when it comes to head wear. (via Royal Ascot)
Hats should be worn; however a headpiece which has a solid base of 4 inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat. Fascinators are not permitted.
That means these unusual “hats” are not only allowed, they’re tolerated!
Pic: Wenn.com