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Wednesday April 24, 2024

Harry and Meghan light up Royal Ascot

By AFP
June 20, 2018

ASCOT: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, as she has done for over 60 years, led the Royal Procession down the finishing straight on Tuesday to get probably racing’s most famous carnival Royal Ascot under way.

The greatest cheers, though, were reserved for newly-married couple Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who are appearing together at the historic meeting for the first time. Harry and Meghan — who were in the third of the four carriages — are also to present a trophy later in the day for the prestigious St James’s Palace Stakes.

The Queen for decades has favoured the more sedate carriage to bring her, members of the Royal Family, and guests to the meeting — almost as famous for its fashion than for its racing — compared to when in 1960 she galloped up the course on a racehorse. The Queen — whose passion for the meeting is reflected by her not having missed a single one since her coronation in 1953 — was wearing a strking yellow ensemble with her yellow hat adorned by a blue flower.