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With its sleek, lean horses and marvellous millinery, jockeys in bright silks and roaring crowds, Royal Ascot is one of the most colourful and popular events of the British summer season.
This famous week of horse racing is held at Ascot Racecourse near Windsor Castle in the third week of June each year. This year's meeting will be held from Tuesday 17 June to Saturday 21 June. But how did Royal Ascot come about, and what happens at the event today?
The history of Ascot Racecourse goes back nearly 300 years. It was Queen Anne who first saw the potential of a racecourse for Ascot, which in those days was known at East Cote. Whilst out riding she came across an area of open heath, not far from Windsor Castle, that seemed an ideal place for "horses to gallop at full stretch".
The racecourse was built in 1711 on the orders of Queen Anne and the first race meeting was held there on Saturday, 11 August that year. Her Majesty's Plate, worth 100 guineas was the inaugural event, open to any horse, mare or gelding over the age of six. The plate prizes were reputedly paid for using money from the secret service fund.
The contest bore little resemblance to racing seen at Ascot today. The seven horses were all English Hunters, quite different to the speedy thoroughbreds that race on the flat now. Each horse was required to carry a weight of 12 stone and seven runners took part. The race consisted of three separate heats, each four miles long, so the winner must have been a horse with tremendous stamina.
Regular meetings continued until Queen Anne's death in 1714. George I was not interested in racing and Ascot did not again become popular until the Duke of Cumberland, George II's son, took a special interest in it. By the time George III came to the throne racing at Ascot was the focal point of fashion for people at all levels of society.
In 1813 Parliament passed an Act of Enclosure. This act ensured that Ascot Heath, although property of the crown, would be kept and used as a racecourse for the public in the future.
The Royal Enclosure at Ascot - where the Royal party and many thousands of Royal Enclosure patrons watch the races today - came about in the 1790's, when a temporary stand was established during the Royal Meeting. Entrance to this exclusive area was strictly by invitation from George III himself.
The Royal Enclosure was originally established to provide the Royal Family and their selected guests with privacy and security, allowing them to enjoy their day. This was judged essential following an incident in June 1832, when William IV was hit by a stone thrown by an ex-sailor called Dennis Collins.
Queen Victoria in her earlier years thoroughly enjoyed racing. She is said to have won a horse in a bet with her uncle William IV and once apparently became so excited watching a race at Royal Ascot that she broke the window of the Royal Box in her effort to see the finish.
Members of the Royal Family remained regular attendees until 1861, when Court mourning for Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, prevented any royal appearance. Queen Victoria never went to Ascot again, since after Prince Albert's death in 1861 she foreswore public pleasures for the rest of her life.
Victoria's eldest son, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), enjoyed racing very much and set the pattern for Royal Ascot week which continues today.
The Queen has attended Ascot for many years. She paid her first visit in May 1945 as a 19-year-old wearing ATS uniform, just after the end of the Second World War in Europe, and has attended every year since. When in 1955 Royal Ascot was cancelled because of a railway strike, she went privately to the July meeting instead.
Today The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh traditionally attend with other members of the Royal Family on each of the four or five days of the Royal Ascot meeting. It's a semi-private occasion for them to relax, entertain guests and support a sport in which the Royal Family has long taken a keen interest.
Ascot is also an occasion for pageantry. On each day of the meeting The Queen and her guests leave Windsor Castle after lunch and drive in cars to Windsor Great Park.
There they transfer to open landaus for the drive down the course to the Royal Box, giving spectators a chance to see The Queen and members of the Royal Family. The carriages used in the procession are the five Ascot landaus with basket-work sides kept at the Royal Mews, Windsor Castle. The procession was begun by George IV in 1825.
Members of the Royal Family usually watch the races from the Royal Box. As the owner and breeder of racehorses herself, The Queen takes a keen interest in the races. Sometimes one of The Queen's own horses is in the running.
Jockeys riding Her Majesty's horses can be distinguished because they wear The Queen's racing colours. These are the same as those of King Edward VII and George IV as Prince Regent - purple body with gold braid, scarlet sleeves and black velvet cap with gold fringe.
The Queen's horses have won races at Royal Ascot on a number of occasions. There was a notable double on 18 June 1954 when Landau won the Rous Memorial Stakes and a stallion called Aureole won the Hardwicke Stakes, and in 1957 The Queen had four winners during Ascot week. Her most recent winner was in 1995, when Phantom Gold won the Ribblesdale Stakes (Group II). In total The Queen has had 19 wins during Royal Ascot week.
The Queen traditionally presents the Gold Cup, which, along with the Royal Hunt Cup and The Queen's Vase, are made by Asprey & Co. These three trophies are made every year and presented to winners to keep. Challenge Trophies, many of which are antique, are presented to the winners of the remaining 27 races, and are returned after the year to be presented to the next winners.
As well as the pageantry, Royal Ascot is known as an enormous catwalk for fashion, especially hats. It is traditionally an occasion on which all race-goers wear their best clothes, although only women attending the Royal Ascot Enclosure are required to wear a hat with their day dress. Gentlemen in the Enclosure wear morning dress or service dress, or the national dress of their country - similar to the clothes that guests wear to The Queen's garden parties.
The so-called Ladies Day is the Thursday of Ascot Week, although all days at Royal Ascot follow the same pattern and the racing is of the same high standard on each day. Ladies Day has traditionally been the day on which women wear the most flamboyant millinery confections.
Organisation for Royal Ascot starts months in advance, and is carried out by the recently newly formed Ascot Authority (Holdings) Ltd. The Authority is run commercially, and it is not part of the Royal Household. The freehold of the Ascot property is leased from the Commissioners of Crown Lands.
Royal Ascot is not the only race meeting at Ascot. Since 1945 the number of fixtures has steadily increased, with the introduction of National Hunt fixtures (racing over jumps, rather than the usual flat racing) during the winter months. In total Ascot stages 27 days of racing throughout the year, with around 500,000 race-goers passing through the gates each year.
It may be the sport of kings, but Ascot holds a strong appeal for almost everyone - whether they are interested in horses or hats!
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