The King and his wife hosted guests in the royal box and alongside the Devil Wears Prada actor and his wife Felicity Blunt were the Princess of Wales’ parents Carole and Michael Middleton and the Princess Royal and her daughter Zara Phillips.
Camilla said “I love it” when asked by ITV Racing about the enduring appeal of world-famous Berkshire meet but lamented her luck on the track after seeing two of her horses well beaten earlier this week, saying “you can but hope”.
Royal Ascot racegoers were a riot of colourful hats as they celebrated Ladies’ Day with a display of weird and wonderful designs.
Ostrich feathers, pipe-cleaner flowers and even a miniature chair were some of the creations worn on the heads of racing fans.
The Queen praised the sartorial elegance of the female racegoers, when quizzed about Royal Ascot’s charm: “Well it’s the best of British really, isn’t it.
“I mean it doesn’t matter whether you love horses, don’t know much about horses, you come here for a really good day to experience a bit of fun, the best racing in the world, the best horses – the elegant women.
“And I think, the world we live in, it’s wonderful just to get away and enjoy yourself and that’s what Ascot does. You get the pageantry and the procession – I love it, it’s five days of pleasure.”
The royal couple have taken on the late Queen’s role as racing’s most high-profile supporters and are expected to attend every day of the five-day meet.
They have continued to race the late Queen’s stable of horses and have become enthusiastic and passionate horse owners and enjoyed their first Royal Ascot win in 2023 when their thoroughbred Desert Hero won the King George V Stakes.
When offered good luck for her remaining runners, Camilla replied: “Oh goodness me we need that, a long shot today but maybe tomorrow, you can but hope.”
But her long-shot horse, Golden Orbit, was well beaten in the Ribblesdale Stakes later in the afternoon.
Among other celebrity guests at the Berkshire race course were singer James Blunt and presenter Holly Willoughby.
Ladies’ Day traditionally sees female racegoers pull out all the fashion stops and Angela Menz, was wearing a hat shaped as a bouquet of flowers made from coloured pipe cleaners, complete with paper-like wrapping.
Ms Menz, an Australian milliner and designer who had flown from Melbourne to attend Royal Ascot, said: “My inspiration was to take something ordinary and make something special from it because in millinery the materials can be really expensive.
“I love the pomp and formality of the day, that’s what attracts me to Royal Ascot. I’ve been a few times and I love coming here, we’ve got the Melbourne Cup and you’ve got the Gold Cup.”
Hat designer Odette, real name Joan Ma, one half of couture milliners Odette and Elliott created a hat in the form of a miniature chair that looked as if it was about fall off the model’s head.
She said: “A lot of the times I think there are so many hats that are decorated with flowers I just wanted to try something different.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bracknellnews.co.uk ’
