In mid-June, I got to experience a fantastic British tradition - Royal Ascot!
Ascot Racecourse is just a bit outside of London to the southwest. Royal Ascot is just one of many horse racing events that take place during the summer. It has been around since the early 1700's and was founded by Queen Anne.
Royal Ascot is a highlight of the British social calendar (with an emphasis on high society). Queen Elizabeth attends every year, sometimes every day throughout the week. Many other members of the royal family attend as well. The Queen arrives in horse-drawn carriage at the start of each race day.
For those counting, this was my second Queen sighting in just one week!! Probably a record never to be surpassed. We were a little disappointed not to see any of the younger royals the day we attended.
The guests at Ascot are divided into three "enclosures." The entire grounds and grandstand are divided by the enclosures and your ticket determines where you have access during the day. There are no assigned seats, just the enclosure level and within that enclosure, the seats are first come, first serve.
The highest enclosure is the Royal Enclosure. To gain access you need to be a member of Royal Ascot. I can't tell you exactly what that means because its a little hazy, but I think you need to have money and be important in society, or something like that. So how did I get in? You don't think I have money and prestige? Ha ha ha!! You are right. I was able to apply for entry through the US Embassy here in London. They reserve spots for foreign nationals because I guess that looks good to have nice foreigners in the Royal Enclosure? I have no idea why, but that was my ticket in!
After a couple of rounds of forms and paper-work, here was my "badge" that arrived in the mail. The badge was my ticket to the Royal Enclosure and I had to wear it throughout the day.
I attended with are three other Americans and one Swede. We hired a car to drive us to Ascot in the morning. You can take a train, but they are notoriously crowded during Ascot (like you might not get a seat and have to stand for the hour ride!). Also, the economics of buying five return train tickets wasn't much cheaper than the car.
Now for the best part of the day. Ascot has a dress code according to the enclosure you are in. The Royal Enclosure is the fanciest and here is a summary for women: modest day dresses, must be at least to the top of the knee. No strapless and straps must be at least 2 inches wide. You can wear a pantsuit, but it must be matching. Most importantly - you must wear a hat with a four inch base and it cannot be a fascinator. A HAT!!! The men had some rules too, like a morning suit with tails and a top hat.
My little group of friends discussed our hats and dresses for months leading up to this thing. It was hilarious and we had a GRAND time planning. Because hats are worn for fancy events quite often in the UK, you can buy one at department stores. Or you can hire a milliner to create one for you bespoke. We felt if we have the chance to wear a hat again, we may not want to wear the same one twice. Buying doesn't make much sense. So we found a great shop that rents them! We paid about the same to rent as you would to buy a department store type of hat, except ours were very nice designer-made ones.
Monika and I didn't plan to look like a catalog page with our coordinating colors, it just worked out that way! She had originally planned to wear a black and cream dress with her cream hat, but changed to this bright green dress the week before.
What did we do all day at Ascot? Mostly just observed the crowd all around us! Seriously though, the Queen's arrival took up about an hour. We then had champagne at the cocktail bar. Followed by several rounds of horse races. You can place bets on the horses (and other things, like the color the queen will be wearing!). I played in for about 10 quid all day and didn't win a thing. Ah well!
The main events ended around 6pm. Because we were there on Saturday, which was the last day, there was an after-party in the Royal Enclosure gardens. We stayed on for some appetizers and one more round of champagne. It was great people-watching! But admittedly the food was a little meager so we made a stop for some real food once back in London. At McDonalds. In our hats. I failed in not getting a picture of that because we were so fancy!
My favorite picture of me and my hat. I miss my hat - it was special. Can't wait till next year and I can pick out a new one!!
