Royal Ascot – the Royal Procession, the dress code and five days in June

Queen Anne founded Ascot in 1711 after spotting a stretch of heath near Windsor that looked ideal for galloping. Today Royal Ascot is the highlight of the British summer social calendar: five days in June, a royal carriage procession every afternoon and a dress code dating back to Beau Brummell.

Royal Ascot is the five-day race meeting held each June at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, about 40 kilometres west of London and ten kilometres from Windsor Castle. It is the centrepiece of the British summer social calendar, with more than 350,000 spectators over the week and around 500 horses. It is also the most dressed-up week in British sport, with a dress code for each enclosure.

01Queen Anne's racecourse since 1711

Out riding from Windsor Castle, Queen Anne came upon an area of open heath that looked, in her words, “ideal for horses to gallop at full stretch”. Her plans for a race meeting were announced in The London Gazette in July 1711, and the first meeting was held on 11 August 1711, with the Queen driving over from Windsor to watch. Her gift to racing is still marked every year: Royal Ascot opens with the Queen Anne Stakes over the straight mile. The racecourse covers 72 hectares leased from the Crown Estate, and in 1813 an Act of Parliament ensured that Ascot Heath would remain a public racecourse.

The racecourse is run on behalf of the Crown by His Majesty's Representative. Queen Elizabeth II first attended in 1945, aged 19, and went to every Royal Meeting from her coronation in 1953 to 2021. In 2013 her filly Estimate won the Gold Cup – the first time the race had been won by a reigning monarch. The present grandstand was built between 2004 and 2006 in a £220 million redevelopment, the largest single investment in British racing.

02The Royal Procession and the Gold Cup

Each of the five days begins with the Royal Procession at 2pm, when the monarch and members of the royal family arrive down the Straight Mile in open landaus, to the National Anthem and the raising of the Royal Standard. Guests in the Windsor Enclosure, east of the grandstand, see it first. The Gold Cup is the feature race of the third day, traditionally the busiest of the week and the day high fashion takes centre stage, colloquially known as Ladies Day. Ascot as a whole hosts 13 of Britain's Group 1 Flat races, including the St James's Palace Stakes and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in July.

03The enclosures and the dress code

The dress code goes back to the early 19th century, when Beau Brummell decreed that men of elegance should wear waisted black coats and white cravats with pantaloons to the Royal Meeting. Today each enclosure has its own rules. The Royal Enclosure is the most exclusive, and first-time applicants need sponsorship from someone who has attended it for at least four years. The Queen Anne Enclosure is formal but more relaxed, and its guests sing around the bandstand after racing. In the Windsor Enclosure women wear formal daywear and a hat, and men wear a jacket, full-length trousers, a tie and socks covering the ankle. In the Village Enclosure, on the Heath since 2017, there is no formal dress code but smart daywear is encouraged.

04How to plan a day at Royal Ascot

Choose your enclosure first, because it decides your dress code, then book tickets and travel well in advance. Arrive in time for the Royal Procession at 2pm and stay for the singing at the bandstand after the last race. Many visitors base themselves in London; start with VERA PI's London guide, explore the West End in VERA PI's street files for Piccadilly and Jermyn Street – the place for a new shirt and tie – or find more city guides among metromode.co's destinations.

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