Royal Ascot's most memorable moments: From Edward VIII's indiscretion to the Queen winning the Gold Cup... historian IAN LLOYD reveals all

18/06/2024

They call it the Sport of Kings and with some justification.

Horse racing has attracted British monarchs for centuries and King Charles III is likely to continue the trend this week - if his health allows him to attend Royal Ascot.

If he again leads the famous Royal Procession, he will be following in the footsteps of the greatest racing fan of them all - his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.

In her 70-year reign, the Queen missed the annual jamboree on only a handful of occasions.

And, as I reveal below, there have been some very special moments in Royal Ascot's 300-year history.

The late Queen became the first reigning monarch to have a horse win the Gold Cup

The royal party at Ascot in 1929. The Duke of York, seen talking to the Marchioness of Anglesey and the Duchess of York , next to Lady Mary Lygon in 1929

1. Under starter's orders

Ascot racecourse was founded at the start of the 18th Century by another equine loving monarch – Queen Anne.

Charles plans to attend Royal Ascot as he tells aides: 'I want to honour the late Queen's memory'

While out riding near Windsor Castle she came upon an area of open heath and decided it would be an ideal place for 'horses to gallop at full stretch.'

The inaugural event was Her Majesty's Plate, which was worth 100 guineas. Seven horses took part, but the winner's name has been lost to history.

According to a contemporary source: 'The Queen, with a brilliant suite, drove over from Windsor Castle to Ascot Common on 11 August 1711, to inaugurate Ascot races and attend Ascot again on the following Monday.

'Her Majesty proceeded along the common with her train of courtiers and other attendants.'

Anne's part in the history of the racecourse is commemorated today with the Queen Anne Stakes, which is run in her memory on the opening day of the meeting.

Ascot racecourse was founded at the start of the 18th Century by another equine loving monarch – Queen Anne

2. The Royal Procession is born

It was George IV who instituted one of Ascot's best-loved traditions – the Royal Procession.

The first formal one took place in 1825, when the King led a procession of carriages along the Straight Mile.

The diarist Thomas Creevey recorded in a letter to a friend: 'Contrary to his former practice [the King] drove up the course to his stand, in the presence of everybody – himself in the first coach and four, the Duke of Wellington sitting by his side.

'There were three other carriages and four, and a phaeton after him, and I s'd [sic – short for should] think 20 servants in scarlet on horseback.

King George IV took a keen interest in horse racing. Above: George, then the Prince of Wales, depicted making his way to Ascot in around 1810

As Prince of Wales, George had taken a keen interest in the turf and had his first winner at the course in 1785, when his four-year-old bay filly Rosetta won a two-mile race.

In 1822 he asked his favourite architect John Nash, (who transformed Buckingham House into a palace and built Clarence House), to design a new Royal Stand for Ascot.

It was built in just five weeks and The Times described it as 'a light tasteful building, with fluted pilasters of composition supporting the roof, in imitation of a Greek portico.'

Like today's Royal Enclosure, admittance was strictly limited with invitations subject to the King's agreement, even for his own family.

King George IV and the Duke of York depicted watching proceedings at Royal Ascot from the Royal Stand

3. Victoria has a smashing time

In 1854, a 35-year-old Queen Victoria was so excited by the neck and neck finish of the New Stakes that she leapt forward suddenly at the window, clearly forgetting it had been closed due to the rain.

Although she smashed the glass with her head, she was unhurt, and The Times reported the injury 'produced a great deal of merriment in the royal party.'

Queen Victoria had forgotten the window had been closed due to the rain and smashed the glass with her head but was unhurt

Queen Victoria arriving by carriage to Ascot in 1840

Victoria's first appearance at Ascot was as a fifteen-year-old princess and she loved it from the off.

She rode in the carriage procession with her half-sister Feodora and noted in her journal: 'The races were very good and there was an immense concourse of people there.'

In June 1838, to mark her first Ascot as monarch, Victoria inaugurated a new race run over one and a half miles, with a gold vase worth £200.

It is now known as the Queen's Vase.

Despite her clear affection for Ascot, the royal meeting was another casualty of Victoria's overwhelming grief following the death of Prince Albert.

After he died aged just 42 in 1861, Victoria never returned.

4. Black Ascot

One of the most memorable royal meetings was in June 1910, held a month after the death of King Edward VII.

While the race course management felt that the King would have wanted the Royal meeting to go ahead, racegoers were instructed to wear either full black or a mixture of black and white.

There was no royal procession, no member of the royal family attended, and the royal pavilion was shuttered and isolated.

One of the most memorable royal meetings was in June 1910, held a month after the death of King Edward VII. Racegoers were instructed to wear either full black or a mixture of black and white. Above: Lady Knaresborough and her daughter, the Honourable Helen Moysey-Thompson and Mr Miller Mundy, wearing mourning clothes at Black Ascot

According to one press report: 'Everybody wore deep mourning and the effect of hundreds of people all in unrelieved black in the Royal stand and on the lawn was rather depressing.'

There was one bright note half a century later. Royal photographer and designer Cecil Beaton used this unforgettable scene as the inspiration for the black and white costumes he created for the Ascot scene in the 1964 Audrey Hepburn film My Fair Lady.

Dubbed 'Edward the Caresser' for his constant womanising, 'Bertie' had been a hugely popular figure at Royal Ascot.

He made his first visit to the course in 1863 at the age of twenty-one, a year after a new race at the meeting had been named the Prince of Wales Stakes in his honour.

Bertie and his wife, Princess Alexandra, revived the Royal Procession and in 1877 were even accompanied by their 12-year-old son, the future George V, and his elder brother Prince Albert Victor.

According to one press report: 'Everybody wore deep mourning and the effect of hundreds of people all in unrelieved black in the Royal stand and on the lawn was rather depressing'

Edward VII in the Royal Box at Ascot during the visit of King Alfonso of Spain in 1905

5. Edward VIII's indiscretion

While most Britons did not know of Wallis Simpson until the Abdication Crisis thrust her into the public eye - she and King Edward VIII had been dating for at least two years before December 1936.

But only the great and good were aware of the scandalous romance which appalled the royal family and enthralled fashionable high society.

The Prince of Wales carelessly allowed himself to be photographed with Wallis Simpson and her friends at Royal Ascot in 1935

King George V and Queen Mary with their sons, Edward, Prince of Wales and Prince Henry at Ascot in the early 1930s

At the Royal Meeting in June 1935, the then Prince of Wales carelessly allowed himself to be photographed with Mrs Simpson and her friends at the course.

With his father King George V unable to attend Ascot on doctor's orders, Edward accompanied his mother Queen Mary and the Duke and Duchess of York (who would go on to be George VI and Queen Elizabeth) in the first carriage in the traditional procession.

The eyes of all racegoers were on the charismatic and popular prince, but few realised the significance of the woman he was seen chatting to.

6. The khaki Ascot

The future Queen Elizabeth II attended her first Royal Ascot just a month after the end of the Second World War.

There was no royal procession, and few people were aware that Princess Elizabeth was even there as she mingled with the crowds wearing her khaki ATS uniform and holding a pair of leather gloves.

A keen race fan even then, the princess asked if she could see inside the weighing room, where the jockeys are weighed after the race.

It is one of the most exclusive places in the racecourse and, at the time, 19-year-old Elizabeth was one of the few women to have been allowed inside.

Princess Elizabeth stands in front of an ambulance in 1945, when she was serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service

King George VI and Princess Elizabeth viewing the racing at Ascot from the top of the grandstand, 1946

7. The private royal 'race'

During the 1950s and 1960s the Queen would have a private race at Ascot with her family before official proceedings began.

Arriving on horseback from Windsor Castle in the morning, before the crowds were admitted, they lined up under starters orders near the Golden Gates and galloped along the Straight Mile towards the finishing line in front of the stands.

Queen Elizabeth II rides down the course at Ascot with Prince Philip, Prince Charles, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, June 1968

8. Fergie finds a royal boyfriend at Ascot

In June 1985, 25-year-old Sarah Ferguson was invited by the Queen to stay at Windsor Castle as a member of the house party for the four-day royal meeting.

It was match-maker Princess Diana who had suggested the bubbly redhead to liven up proceedings.

Fergie, the daughter of Prince Charles' polo manager, got on very well with Prince Andrew.

Prince Andrew walks behind Sarah Ferguson at Royal Ascot in 1985

Sarah Ferguson walks with Princess Diana at Ascot in 1985. She became engaged to Andrew the following year

She had been dropped off at the castle by her then partner Paddy McNally, who soon found himself sidelined.

'We both knew the same idiot jokes, we both loved a good prank,' Fergie later recalled.

When profiteroles were served for dessert the dieting Sarah tried to resist but Andrew told her that refusing them would be improper etiquette.

Fergie said: 'Then when it was his turn to take his portion, he refused – "No thank you very much!". I indignantly swatted him on the shoulder with the back of my hand.'

The pair were engaged by March 1986 and married in a glorious ceremony at Westminster Abbey four months later.

Their union ended with divorce in 1996, but the former couple still live together at Royal Lodge - even as Andrew now exists as a royal outcast.

9. Queen Wins Gold Cup

In 2013, a clearly thrilled Elizabeth II made royal racing history by becoming the first reigning monarch to have a horse win the prestigious Gold Cup.

When her horse Estimate crossed the finishing line, cameras picked up the euphoric monarch looking ecstatic in the Royal Box.

Her grandson Peter Phillips told reporters: 'It's amazing, this is her passion and her life and she's here every year and she strives to have winners.

'To win the big one at Royal Ascot means so much to her.'

In 2013, a clearly thrilled Elizabeth II made royal racing history by becoming the first reigning monarch to have a horse win the prestigious Gold Cup. Above: A visibly emotional Queen seen with her racing manager John Warren as she waves at crowds after her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup

The Queen is presented with the Gold Cup by her son Prince Andrew

10. Kate delays her Ascot debut

The late Queen invited Prince William and his wife to join her in the Royal Procession every year from their wedding in 2011 - but it was a full five years before Kate made her Ascot debut.

Her appearance in 2016 was defined by her stunning Dolce and Gabbana white lace dress. She teamed the outfit with a woven gold Jane Taylor hat.

Since then, Kate has been back another four times.

However, she and Prince William are yet to buy or train a horse - perhaps a sign that they do not share a devoted interest in the Sport of Kings.