Could the Queen Miss an Ascot Afternoon?

The British newspaper The Guardian reports:

Racegoers at Royal Ascot next week can look forward to the Queen being in attendance as usual, despite speculation on Monday that she might be forced to miss at least one of the first four days of the meeting if the state opening of parliament is postponed from Monday to later in the week.

The Queen has been an enthusiastic owner and breeder throughout her long reign and the royal meeting at Ascot in June is said to be the first engagement that goes into her diary each year. Officials at Ascot believe she has not missed a single day's racing at the meetings since her coronation in June 1953.

The five-day meeting begins on Tuesday and any one of the first four days could now be the new date for the state opening of parliament, when the Queen's speech to both houses of parliament, setting out the government's plans for the new session, is the centrepiece of the ceremony.

Ascot racecourse never comments in advance on any issues that concern the Queen's attendance. However, there is an obvious precedent for next week's possible clash of engagements, as the state opening of parliament took place on the second day of the royal meeting in 2001. The Queen attended a rehearsal for the state opening on Tuesday and then delivered her speech the following day, before travelling to the racecourse by car and arriving in time for the first race.

The royal procession down the middle of the course in horse-drawn carriages, which normally takes place about half an hour before the first race at 2.30pm, did not take place on either afternoon as the horses involved had taken part in the ceremonies at Westminster. However, this year's state opening is due to take place without the horse-drawn carriages, so a mid-morning slot for the Queen's speech, which is in any case expected to be shorter than normal, could allow her to perform the ceremonial duties in the morning and a more recreational role in the afternoon.

At present the Queen has only two horses entered at next week's meeting: Call To Mind, an outsider, in the King Edward VII Stakes on Friday and the strongly fancied Dartmouth (main picture with Ryan Moore unsaddling after the York Cup victory), who is priced at around 9-2 to win the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes on Saturday's closing card for the second year running.

 

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