Frankie Dettori admits he’ll cry during final Royal Ascot

King Charles is set to mirror his late mother Queen Elizabeth’s passion for horse racing by attending every day of Royal Ascot this week. His wife Queen Camilla, who is set to join the King later on today for the first day of the racing festival, has previously said that Charles “likes partaking rather than watching”. However, the royal presence is expected to give everyone attending the races a boost as it marks a return to the tradition for the first time since 2019.

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Cornelius Lysaght, racing journalist and expert, said: “Commercially, the Royal Ascot brand is a massive success.

“Part of it is the top hats and the horses but the Royal family is at the centre of it and is absolutely fundamental. People don’t want to come to Ascot, they want to come to Royal Ascot.

“Inevitably, part of that brand has been the Queen but the King is a pragmatic figure. He knows that some things you do because it’s part of your role to showcase UK PLC.”

He may not be such a fan of the sport as the late Queen, however it has been said that Charles has been “trying to really learn about the whole industry”.

Upon his mother’s death the King inherited around one-third of the horses in her stables, although he has already begun selling some of them off.

He has also made Camilla a co-owner of the horses, as she is a much more devoted follower of horse racing than he is.

At the time of her death Queen Elizabeth owned over 100 racing horses and made around £10million in prize money over the course of her life, according to Paddy Power.

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Lee Mottershead wrote in the Racing Post: “It doesn’t matter if they’re besotted. What does matter is that the support of the Royal Family is there. The Queen was an aficionado and absolutely adored every minute of it but others go and still thoroughly enjoy it.

“I think the King is still pretty keen. He won’t be nipping into the anteroom to watch Homes Under the Hammer. The Queen is also very enthusiastic about it.”

Other members of the Royal Family expected to attend Ascot include Zara and Mike Tindall and Princess Anne, with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie also previous attendees.

Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales may also attend one day of the festival, due to their popularity when they were spotted there last year, however they are like Charles not such big horse racing fans.

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