Throughout 2012, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We are celebrating, as well, by following Her Majesty through the rhythms of the Royal Year.
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Summer Comes Racing In
Windsor Castle
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©GREG BALFOUR EVANS/ALAMY
CLOSE ON THE HEELS of Trooping the Colour, Her Majesty returns to Windsor for one of the busiest weeks of the year. It’s Royal Ascot Week. This is the season of strawberries and cream.
The Monday of Royal Ascot Week is Garter Day; this year, that’s June 18. Since it was inaugurated in the 1340s by King Edward III, the Most Noble Order of the Garter has been England and Wales highest order of chivalry. Apart from members of the Royal Family and a few other “supernumerary” knights and ladies, membership in the Order is limited to 24 Knight Companions. The Garter knights’ spiritual home is St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, where each Companion has a stall in the choir emblazoned with their arms.
Membership in the Garter lies strictly in the gift of the Sovereign, who appoints knights to any vacancies on St. George’s Day (April 23). On Garter Day, the Knight Companions assemble at Windsor Castle for the investiture of new knights in the Garter Throne Room. Following an appropriately posh luncheon, knights and ladies don their blue velvet mantles with red hood and black soft hat garnished with a plume of white feather and process to St. George’s Chapel led by the Queen for an ancient service of thanksgiving and dedication. The day is a much-anticipated public event and crowds gather in the lower ward of the castle to witness the colorful procession.
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©ROYALPRESS NIEBER/DPA/CORBIS
Then, it’s off to the races. Racing at Ascot has been part of the royal routine for 300 years—since Queen Anne had the racecourse laid out in Windsor Great Park back in 1711. Queen Elizabeth II has attended Royal Ascot every June since 1945. Of course, Her Majesty’s interest in horse racing is well known. She maintains her own racing stable of more than three dozen horses and has enjoyed many successes herself at Ascot over the years. The royal racing colors of purple and scarlet are well known in the racing world.
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HARRY PAGE/REX USA
The five-day race meeting is one of the highlights of the British social calendar, and one of Her Majesty’s favorite weeks. Throughout the week, the Queen entertains guests and family at Windsor Castle. After lunch, the Queen and her guests travel over to the racecourse. At a spot in the Great Park, there is “the changeover,” where the Royal party abandons their cars for horse-drawn carriages in which they make a ceremonial arrival at the course and the Royal Enclosure. If they haven’t left town to avoid the press of the crowds and the traffic, locals pack up a picnic lunch and gather in the park to watch the change-over.
Gold Cup Day, familiarly known as “Ladies Day,” is the meeting’s third day, June 21, and the week’s traditional highlight. Though fashion is a hallmark of the entire week, this is the day that makes the news footage for its designer dresses and outrageous hats. The Gold Cup race itself is unchallenged as the long-distance world championship—a race of stamina over a course of two miles and four furlongs. Every day of Ascot week brings its own highlight races, and members of the Royal Family to enjoy the crowds and the horses.
Her Majesty doesn’t have much time to relax after a busy spring and the exciting week at Windsor. Soon she will be off to Scotland. The Royal household packs up at the end of June and heads north for Holyrood Week in Edinburgh.
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