Long-time lovers of hats and horses, the Royal Family are well-known Ascot aficionados with the race course being located a mere six miles from Windsor Castle, and first spotted as the perfect location for galloping by Queen Anne in 1711.
Read on for our guide to the 2021 races scheduled for the 15th-19th June this summer, including all of our top tips for avoiding those all important fashion faux pas on Ladies' Day.
Everybody can catch a glimpse of the Royal Procession as the Queen travels to the Royal Box with her guests in a glorious horse-drawn landau at 2pm each day. However, those wishing to mingle in the Royal Enclosure itself have their work cut out. Entrants must be sponsored by two members of the enclosure who have attended the races for at least four years. Not to mention the strict stipulations of the dress code...
- All skirts to be below the knee in length
- Absolutely no spaghetti straps or sleeveless ensembles
- No entry without a hat, of which the base must be greater than four inches
- Trouser Suits are welcome, but they must be full length and matching in material and colour
For extra brownie points, place your bets wisely: the Queen is always likely to have a horse from her own stable running, with Tactical winning the Windsor Castle Stakes 2020 and Estimate claiming the even more prestigious Gold Cup 2013. But whatever happens, make sure you celebrate with a glass of one of the 56,000 bottles of champagne popped at the event!