Lisa ARMSTRONG
The pomp, the dress code and, of course, the races have returned – with a few differences. Lisa Armstrong reports from the festival’s heart: the Royal Enclosure
Out bobbed the hats, like a victory flotilla. After 16 months of jogging pants and “pyjama chic”, the dress-up inside the gates of Royal Ascot seemed almost surreal. The sun helped. Colour was the order of the day, from a cerulean sky and the hundreds of fluttering Union Flags to the bird-of-paradise hues of the dresses. And, glory be, no masks, even inside. “It feels odd,” said Isabella Charlotte Poppius, who hasn’t yet been vaccinated, “but liberating”.
Even the men had a brighter than usual time. Royal Ascot has finally permitted navy morning suits this year. Good call. Navy looks much softer and more subtle in bright sunlight than black, and those wearing navy tend to accessorise with cream waistcoats and polka-dot ties, rather than the more lurid patterns that wearers of traditional black morning suits sometimes feel compelled to wear.
So, fun as usual, then. Except not quite. Instead of the hordes with their champagne hampers and loud hilarity boarding the trains at Waterloo and Reading, the journey to
Ascot station was a far quieter affair, with only the occasional top hat in view to reassure that I was on the right train. The concourse was (relatively) tranquil, too.
All the indoor and outdoor restaurants are open, and the musical entertainment is poised for lift off, but Royal Ascot 2021 is all about the data: 12,000 spectators a day compared with the normal 60,000. One insider told me the organisers were awaiting the outcome with bated breath – will it seem funereal without the throngs?
I think it makes for a much more pleasant event. I wonder if the Queen would agree. Until recently, she attended every single day of Royal Ascot, arriving in her landau in front of the stands – a sparkling bit of pageantry that always stirred the crowd. Yesterday she forwent that formality and attended in an unofficial capacity; she had a horse running in one of the races.
It was left to Charles and
Camilla (in pale blue) to be the public face of the Firm. It may be calmer once you get there, but the same can’t be said of the preparations. Royal Ascot 2021 is participating in the Government’s Events Research Programme. Cue Covid tests galore. Several days before attending you have to remember to click the links provided by Royal Ascot to receive your Covid-19 PCR tests (you’ll need to complete two of these). You must also apply for your lateral flow tests (one for each day you’re attending, within a 36-hour window). You’ll be required to fill out a consent form to Ascot’s organisers for I can’t quite remember what. Then you’ll have to download your ticket. You may want to make a spreadsheet. Don’t forget to pack a spare pair of shoes either, because the ones you think are 100 per cent grass-and-bunion proof won’t be. Lower heels were more abundant than usual – a legacy of our 16 months in trainers. Temperature-wise, it’s all over the place. You needed a fan and somewhere to stash ice cubes yesterday. Tomorrow you may be reduced to huddling under an umbrella. I arrived not with the neat little clutch that all fashionistas recommend, but a tote bag to hold all my “just-incase” items.
Royal Ascot has always been as much about the spectators as the races. It’s the definition of an event made infinitely more significant and, for many attendees, more enjoyable because of its formality. Why else would the organisers go to so much trouble every year to publicise and occasionally update the dress code? Why does it even have rules if not to create talking points about what to wear? Fascinators out, trouser suits in. Cleavage and bare shoulders disallowed (in the Royal Enclosure), one-inch straps encouraged. And, this year, vintage and rental (thank you, Carrie Johnson) much welcomed.
All this fretting, conferring and phoning a friend to check what they’re wearing contributes massively to the anticipation. Last year, Royal Ascot went ahead with the races, but without any members of the public, and obviously without the Queen, which stretches the definition of Royal Ascot. In a bid to keep at least some of the spirit alive, the organisers held a competition, inviting the public to submit photographs of themselves in their finery, in their back gardens or on their sofas watching the races on TV. They were stunned to receive more than 4,000 entries worldwide.
So while there are doubtless some serious horse breeders, trainers and members of the Socialist Workers Party who considered last year’s public-free fixture a vast improvement on the usual run of things, it created a gaping hole in summer schedules of thousands of enthusiastic and happy spectators who have a thoroughly good-to-raucous time there each year.
On a more serious note, Royal Ascot’s absence ruined the businesses of scores of skilled milliners and occasion-wear designers. It accounts for 50 per cent of Edwina Ibbotson’s millinery business. Suzannah Crabb, whose bespoke dresses and suits are a favourite with royals and fashionistas (she lent me a dress and an Emily of London hat for the day), told me with relief last week that, thanks to Ascot and a rash of weddings, her workrooms were finally back to full force. “Shirt dresses have been a particular hit,” she said, “because
You needed a fan and ice cubes yesterday. Tomorrow you may be under an umbrella
they’re more understated and relaxed than a traditional chiffon or fitted dress and coat, but very elegant, and that seems to be the combination that many women are looking for”. She sold me on one.
The emphasis on the Royal Enclosure, which is meant to be more exclusive and harder to enter than heaven (the place beyond the clouds, not the nightclub in Charing Cross), and all the rigmarole about what to wear can seem anachronistically elitist and snobbish. But there are three other enclosures which are more inclusive, with more relaxed dress codes.
The funny thing is that whichever enclosure or “ring” spectators are
bound for, they’re almost all dressed up to the nines. It adds to the sense of occasion. I had wondered whether the swagger might have been toned down this year, but the vibe so far definitely isn’t sackcloth and Prada ashes. Audrey
Ascot is infinitely more significant and enjoyable because of its formality
Hepburn in full-length monochrome Cecil Beaton in My Fair Lady’s Ascot seems slightly mousy next to some of the sights. I spied one couple in matching Day-glo deckchair stripes.
Generally, pretty dresses and small hats and bands embellished with flowers or bows are the order of the day. While the non-doms are mainly absent, there are plenty of international guests for whom a day at Royal Ascot remains one of life’s goals. Whatever you think of it, Royal Ascot is part of our soft power – so British, with its brass bands, acres of flags and royalty, you almost couldn’t make it up.