<\/p>\n
King Charles and Queen Camilla will continue a centuries-old
\nroyal racing tradition next week after confirming plans to attend
\nthe Betfred Derby at Epsom Downs.<\/p>\n
The Jockey Club announced on Thursday that Their Majesties will
\nbe present on Derby Day, Saturday 6 June, to watch one of the most
\nprestigious races in world horseracing.<\/p>\n
The King and Queen, who became joint patrons of the Jockey Club
\nin 2024, are expected to join racing fans at Epsom for the 247th
\nrunning of the Derby, a race first staged in 1780 and widely
\nregarded as the premier test for three-year-old thoroughbreds.<\/p>\n
Their appearance underlines the royal family\u2019s enduring
\nconnection to British racing and follows in the footsteps of Queen
\nElizabeth II, whose devotion to the sport was unrivaled.<\/p>\n
The late Queen attended Derby Day almost every year throughout
\nher reign, missing the famous race only twice before the Covid-19
\npandemic \u2013 once during a state visit to Sweden in 1956 and again in
\n1984 while attending commemorations marking the 40th anniversary of
\nD-Day in France.<\/p>\n
As joint patrons of the Jockey Club, Charles and Camilla
\nsucceeded Queen Elizabeth II following her death in September 2022.
\nShe had held the role for an extraordinary 68 years.<\/p>\n
The Derby remains one of the crown jewels of the British
\nsporting calendar and is the richest race run in Britain, sharing
\nthat distinction with a prize fund of \u00a32 million this year.<\/p>\n
Jim Allen, General Manager of Epsom Downs Racecourse, said
\neveryone connected with the venue was delighted by the royal
\nvisit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are honoured and thrilled that The King and Queen will be
\njoining us at Epsom Downs on Derby Day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir Majesties show great enthusiasm, interest and support for
\nhorseracing in the UK and their attendance next week will be a
\nproud moment for all of the team here and everyone connected with
\nthe racecourse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen added that royal attendance had become inseparable from
\nthe Derby\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerby Day provides joy and entertainment to millions of people
\naround the world as one of Britain\u2019s most famous and iconic events,
\nand Royal attendance has been synonymous with the meeting for
\ngenerations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The King\u2019s passion for racing stretches back decades. Appointed
\nan honorary member of the Jockey Club in 1980, he has long been
\ninvolved in equestrian pursuits, including amateur riding and
\npolo.<\/p>\n
Queen Camilla, who became an honorary member in 2015, has also
\nmaintained close links to the sport and has served as patron of the
\nNational Stud since 2018.<\/p>\n
Together, the King and Queen have continued the late Queen\u2019s
\ncelebrated racing operation and enjoyed a memorable Royal Ascot
\nsuccess in 2023 when Desert Hero won the King George V Stakes.<\/p>\n
The royal couple\u2019s attendance comes amid growing excitement for
\nthis year\u2019s Derby, which forms part of Britain\u2019s five Classic races
\nalongside the 2,000 Guineas, 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger.<\/p>\n
Despite Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s remarkable record as an owner, the
\nDerby was the one British Classic that eluded her. Her closest
\nattempt came in 1953 when Aureole finished second during her
\nCoronation year.<\/p>\n
Only one reigning British monarch has ever owned a Derby winner.
\nThat distinction belongs to King Edward VII, whose colt Minoru
\ntriumphed in the race in 1909.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalcentral.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" King Charles and Queen Camilla will continue a centuries-old royal racing tradition next week after confirming plans to attend the Betfred Derby at Epsom Downs. The Jockey Club announced on Thursday that Their Majesties will be present on Derby Day, Saturday 6 June, to watch one of the most prestigious races in world horseracing. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2436920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2436919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/King-Charles-and-Queen-Camilla-make-major-announcement-as-they.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2436919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2436921,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436919\/revisions\/2436921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2436920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2436919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2436919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2436919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}