IT CAN ONLY BE ASCOT. A SHRIEKING SOPHIE, CLOWNING HARRY AND ONE TATTOOED LADY
...and the fashion devotees who let it all go to their heads
HER anguished face said it all. Sophie, Countess of Wessex, was plunged through the whole gamut of emotions as she watched the Queen’s horse fight a close-run race at Royal Ascot yesterday.
The tension in the Royal Box was palpable from the start as she gripped her elaborate hat in excitement.
Moments later, she shed her reserve to cheer the runners on frantically, growing ever more animated as they neared the finish of the Gold Cup.
But her face became a mask of horror as the Queen’s Estimate came second to Leading Light. Former footballer Michael Owen’s hotly tipped Brown Panther came in fourth.
The countess, in a dark dress by Emilia Wickstead and Jane Taylor hat, quickly collected herself and stood supportively by her mother-inlaw, offering a sympathetic glance.
Her Majesty, elegant in turquoise with a hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan, could not hide her disappointment as her horse, last year’s winner, was beaten into second place. It was in stark contrast to her ecstatic reaction last year, when she grinned in delight as she accepted the trophy. After breeding racehorses for six decades, she was the first reigning monarch in 207 years to win the Gold Cup.
Perhaps anticipating his grandmother’s reaction, Prince Harry grimaced as victory slipped out of her reach.
He was on typical form yesterday, larking about with an umbrella in the parade ring, and was later pictured bursting out laughing when jockey Frankie Dettori dropped his trophy after winning the Norfolk Stakes.