It’s one of my favorite times of year for royal watching, when the entire royal family descends on Royal Ascot (pronounced “Ass-cuht”), the famous horse racing event that takes place over five days every June. Ascot Racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711, and has since received the patronage of a further eleven monarchs. The Ascot summer race meeting officially became a Royal week in 1911, and is one of the biggest events on the British social calendar. Remember the famous scene set on opening day in My Fair Lady?

The Queen maintains an active stable of horses, and has had 23 winners at Royal Ascot, and typically has several horses participating in different races throughout the week. The UK is still under much stricter Covid regulations so this year the event is pared down, but typically we would see an arrival in carriages for the royals, with different family members and friends attending each day.

The reason royal watchers love it so much, is that it’s one of the few times a year that we see the royals dressed to the nines but for a mostly social purpose. We get to see them mingle and laugh, and often get the best pictures of their warm family relationship with each other. For spectators, it’s one of the best parties of the year, with 300,000 attendees consuming 56,000 bottles of champagne, 44,000 bottles of wine, 21,000 jugs of Pimm’s and 60,000 finger sandwiches over the five days.

Here’s everything you need to know about Royal Ascot:

Royal Enclosure Guest List

The adult royals all go on various days - and often bring their friends! From the Queen down we get to see the much wider social circle, all of the cousins and the extended circle - like Princess Margaret’s children and the Middletons. They attend on different days throughout the week, but we usually see them the most on the first two days, or the final day. Sometimes, they even invite other visiting royals - in past years we have seen Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark, and Queen Maxima and her husband King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. The most senior royals usually attend the first three days, but the rest of the family is seen throughout the week.

Carriages

A favorite tradition is the carriage procession, which dates back to 1825. The Queen has ridden in more than 260 royal processions at Royal Ascot, and it’s almost as much of a draw as the races for spectators. The Queen arrives at precisely 2 pm, and leads all of the carriages up Ascot’s straight mile, past the Silver Ring, the Grandstand and the Royal Enclosure, then finishing with a lap around the Parade Ring. I love to see who is riding with who, what guests got the invite this year, and get that first glimpse of their outfits.

Dress Code

The dress code is the strictest within the Royal Enclosure. Men are required to wear morning suits and top hats, while outside they just need to wear a matching suit with a tie. Only black shoes are allowed and socks are mandatory - no bare ankles! For women it’s more complicated, with skirts just above the knee or longer, straps one inch wide or greater are required (no strapless/off the shoulder/halter), matching suits and jumpsuits are allowed (Sophie was the first to wear one!), but they must be to the ankle, and hats are worn at all times, with a solid base of at least 4 inches. Fascinators are not allowed.

Some of my favorite royal outfits are from Royal Ascot, since there is a level of formality, but also room for having fun. They don’t have to be somber or respectful, and no one is worrying about what each outfit means. It’s simply the kind of classic British fashion that most Anglophiles aspire to have a reason to wear someday. You also see certain royals, like the York girls or Zara Phillips, really turn it out!