ROYAL ASCOT

Royal Ascot is five days of flat racing held in the third week of June, and the fixed point of the English summer. Thirty-five races are run across the week, eight of them at the highest grade in the sport. The Gold Cup is run on the Thursday.

It is also the most closely governed social occasion in Britain. What a person may wear depends entirely on which enclosure they hold a badge for, and the badge is decided months in advance.

The History

Queen Anne rode out from Windsor Castle in 1711, found a stretch of open heath she thought would suit horses at full stretch, and ordered a racecourse. The first meeting was held that August for a purse of a hundred guineas. The oldest of the four enclosures still carries her name.

The Royal Procession has opened each afternoon since 1825. Shortly before two o’clock the royal party comes down the straight mile in horse-drawn landaus, and the crowd stands. Nothing about it has been modernised.

The Enclosures

There is no single dress code at Ascot. There are four, and each is enforced at the entrance to its own enclosure rather than at the gate to the racecourse. A person may buy a Queen Anne badge, walk the length of the course, and be turned back at the Royal Enclosure rope.

The Royal Enclosure is the lawn between the Parade Ring and the grandstand, with a clear line of sight to the Procession. It is not sold. Admission is by application, and a first application must be sponsored by someone who has attended before. The rules are strictest here, and they are read closely at the rope.

Queen Anne is the next, and asks for formal daywear without the morning dress. The Village is newer and more relaxed. Windsor is the most informal of the four and the most forgiving.

The code tightens as one moves from the rail toward the Parade Ring.

The Dress

In the Royal Enclosure, gentlemen wear morning dress: a black or grey morning coat with tails, waistcoat, striped or grey trousers, a collared shirt and tie, black shoes, and a top hat. Coloured waistcoats have been accepted for several seasons. The hat may come off inside the Royal Box or a restaurant, but is worn on the lawns and in the Parade Ring.

Ladies wear a hat or headpiece with a solid base of at least four inches. A fascinator below that measurement is turned away at the rope. Dresses and skirts fall just above the knee or longer, straps are at least an inch wide, and midriffs are covered. Strapless, off-the-shoulder, halter and one-shoulder styles are not admitted. Full-length jumpsuits and matching trouser suits are.

Four things are refused everywhere on the course, whatever the enclosure: trainers, denim, shorts, and anything carrying a slogan, a logo or a novelty pattern.

What to Know

The Thursday is the Gold Cup, and the most photographed day of the week. Anyone who wants to be seen goes on the Thursday. Anyone who wants to watch the racing goes on the Tuesday.

Rain is likely and umbrellas are permitted in plain colours. A morning coat in wet weather is a lesson.

The walk from the car parks is long and the ground is grass. Heels sink.

The mistake that marks a newcomer is not the clothing. It is arriving for the first race and leaving after the last, without once walking the Parade Ring or standing for the Procession. The racing is the reason for the day, not the whole of it.

The Court

Royal Ascot is not the Court’s own. Badges, entry and seating are sought on a member’s behalf, and the Court arranges the whole of the day: getting there, where to stay, and the table afterward. A first application to the Royal Enclosure requires a sponsor, and this is among the reasons members ask.