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Queen Camilla looks frustrated at Royal Ascot Ladies’ Day with King Charles
The royal couple was accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire in their carriage
Queen Camilla joined racegoers on the third day of Royal Ascot for Ladies’ Day but appeared disgruntled as she watched the event.
Her Majesty, elegantly dressed in a white wrap dress, arrived at the annual racing event in a carriage alongside King Charles, who seemed in high spirits. The royal couple was accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire in their carriage
Upon entering their royal enclosure, Charles, sporting a traditional top hat, and Camilla were observed. The Queen was captured looking frustrated while watching the race through binoculars.
Also wearing a white ruched hat with a large flower design and Queen Mary’s emerald brooch, Camilla was seen looking animated, raising her arms in the air and pointing ahead.
Charles, in a grey tail suit paired with a baby blue waistcoat, was also papped pointing towards the racecourse. Reports suggest they were reacting as their horse Gilded Water lost The King George V Stakes. In other photos, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, who wore a white shirt dress with a watercolour floral print, is seen talking to Camilla in the royal enclosure.
Also in attendance from the Royal Family was equestrian Zara, 43, also also wowed in a baby blue ensemble while her husband Mike, 45, donned a pale grey tail suit also. Zara’s mother Princess Anne – also an Olympic Equestrian – was at the event with her husband, Sir Admiral Timothy Laurence.
The daughter of billionaire Aga Khan, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, joined the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh in another carriage. And Princess Margaret’s children, the Earl of Snowden and Lady Sarah Chatto, also joined the royal procession.
The King and Queen are set to present trophies to the winners in the feature race of the week, the Gold Cup. The couple, who took on Queen Elizabeth II’s racing horses, have a thoroughbred entered in the King George V Stakes and will be hoping for their first Royal Ascot win of 2024.
It comes as Camilla stepped out yesterday at the races in royal blue, where she was joined at the occasion by her son-in-law, as Charles held a series of audiences at Buckingham Palace instead. Queen Camilla and Prince William arrived in a carriage alongside the Earl and Countess of Halifax.
Princess Kate, who joined the royals at Trooping the Colour on Saturday, is not expected at Royal Ascot this week.
The Prince of Wales and his mother-in-law were also joined by royals including his cousin Princess Eugenie, who joined the carriage procession with her husband Jack Brooksbank, as well as Zara Tindall and her husband Mike, and Princess Beatrice as well as his wife’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.
Carole sported a light blue floral dress from Self Portrait while Michael wore the traditional top hat and tails.
The event was founded by Queen Anne in 1711 after she declared Ascot ideal for “horses to gallop at full stretch”, and has today become a major social event as much as a sporting attraction. Writing in the official programme, Charles and Camilla wished the racegoers the “best of luck” in chasing the “thrill of a Royal Ascot winner”.