The travels of Tim and Megan: Royal Ascot

On Saturday we dressed up in our number ones and took the train out to Ascot, in Berkshire (west of London) to attend the fifth and final day of the Royal Ascot race meeting. Royal Ascot is one of Europe’s most famous race meetings, and dates back to 1711 when it was founded by Queen Anne. Every year Royal Ascot is attended by the Queen and various members of the Royal Family. Apparently over 300,000 people visit the racecourse during Royal Ascot week (an average of 60,000 per day!!!), making this Europe’s best-attended race meeting.

There are three areas for guests at Royal Ascot – the Royal Enclosure, the Grand Stand Area and the Silver Ring Enclosure. The Royal Enclosure is the most prestigious area. This is where the Queen and Royal Family and other important/wealthy folk hang out. This area is by invitation only and the dress code is very strict – for ladies only a dress with hat or fascinator and for men only morning dress is acceptable. We were in the Grand Stand Area – still rather fancy and fairly formal in terms of dress code. Ladies are expected to wear a dress and, while hats/fascinators are optional, most wear them. Men must wear a shirt and tie, preferably with a suit or jacket. The Silver Ring is a far more casual outdoor area of grass further along from the Grand Stand, ideal for picnics and the like, where there is no dress code.

We arrived at Ascot around 11.30am and had a wander around the grounds behind the enormous Grand Stand. There is a lovely lawn area covered in tables and chairs and there are loads of stalls selling food and alcohol around the edges. Next to the lawn behind the Grand Stand is the Parade Ring, where the winning horses stand after the race while the owners, trainers and jockeys are presented with shiny trophies!

After exploring, we sheltered from the cold wind inside the Grand Stand and had a drink, while we perused the very handy race book and made some choices of which horses we would bet on. Then we ventured outside again to the lawn area and had a delicious hog roast roll for lunch! We were very impressed with how amazing everyone looked – everyone in our area was so dressed up and it really did look great.

Before the racing got under way, a military band performed in the Parade Ring, playing quite a few modern catchy numbers, which was followed by the Royal Procession. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family entered the racecourse in horse-drawn carriages and did a lap of the race track before riding in to the Parade Ring for a lap of that. As they pass the front side of the Grand Stand on the race track, the National Anthem plays and the Royal Standard (the Queen’s flag) is raised. All very proper and ceremonial!

We had got in early and had prime positions at the top of the viewing area, so we had great views of the Queen and co riding around the Parade Ring, and then as she got out and shook hands with various people before disappearing up to the exclusive Royal Enclosure. Aside from the Queen, Prince Phillip and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were also in attendance (see photos below).

The first race did not bring much luck for us, but we were winners for the next three races after that. Not big winners, but winners nonetheless. We even correctly picked an “Exacta”, which is similar to a quinella for us normal folk in New Zealand, but for an Exacta, you need to pick the first two horses in the correct order. It helped that the winner was a raging hot favourite! Overall for the day we each lost about £6, so it was cheap entertainment!

It was also exciting watching the winning owners, trainers and jockeys receiving their trophies after each race, as the first three races’ trophies were presented by Princess Beatrice, then former World Number 1 tennis player, Martina Hingis, and then the Queen herself.

There were six races in total and by the time the last two races rolled around, many of the well dressed guests were starting to stumble and stagger and suddenly it looked very wrong. Legless drunk in a pretty dress and hat is still legless drunk… It was also very cold, as the icy wind ripped through the racecourse. We had another win on the final race of the day and then we managed to make a quick escape and got seats on the first train back to London – bonus! We had a fantastic day out and we are so glad we went. Melbourne Cup aside, it was probably the best day of racing you can get!