The King and Queen led the glamour as the Royal Family turned out in force for the second day of Royal Ascot on Wednesday.
Charles, 76, and Camilla, 77, took part in the traditional carriage procession – which is marking its 200th anniversary this year – as they arrived at the Berkshire racecourse.
They were joined in their carriage by the Prince of Wales and Prince Saud bin Khalid Al-Saud, a member of the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia.
It comes after the Princess of Wales has pulled out of attending Royal Ascot at the last minute as she continues to ‘find the right balance’ following her battle with cancer.
Racegoers had been hoping to see Kate as William was named as one of the figures awarding race prizes during the second day of the meet.
Ascot officials had announced at 12pm that the Princess was due to be in the second carriage in the royal procession with William, in a published carriage list.
But less than half an hour later, Kensington Palace confirmed just before 12.30pm that Kate would not be attending – and a revised carriage list was published by Ascot.
MailOnline understands the Princess was ‘disappointed’ not to be in attendance ‘but she has to find the right balance as she fully returns to public facing engagements’.
However, Kate’s mother Carole Middleton did attend today – alongside her daughter-in-law Alizee Thevenet, the wife of Kate’s brother James Middleton.
The 43-year-old Princess has been making a gradual return to public duties since it was announced in January that she was in remission from cancer.
But in the past week she has attended three high-profile events – Trooping the Colour, the annual Order of the Garter service and a visit to a V&A storage facility in London.
The King also hosted Lady Sarah Chatto, the daughter of his late aunt Princess Margaret and a favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II. She was joined on the fourth carriage with her artist husband, Daniel Chatto.
Despite her closeness to Her late Majesty, Lady Sarah is known for keeping a low profile, and while she’s attended Ascot in the past, she’s not regularly seen with the royal family, aside from a handful of key events.
The King and Queen, both fans of racing, were also joined by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Ascot, known as the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, will welcome hundreds of thousands of punters during the five-day meet.
Yesterday, the King and Queen enjoyed a day at the races as they welcomed the girlfriend of the Princess Royal’s son to the royal fold.
Charles and Camilla hosted guests in the royal box on the first day of Royal Ascot including the monarch’s nephew Peter Phillips and his partner, NHS nurse Harriet Sperling.
She made an appearance for the first time in the carriage procession the royal family make onto the famous Berkshire racecourse to signal the start of the day.
The royal procession is celebrating its 200th anniversary, a tradition begun during the reign of George IV in 1825 when the monarch was accompanied by the Duke of Wellington.
The King and Queen rode in the first carriage with Prince Faisal, a member of the Saudi royal family, and Lady Sarah Keswick, one of the Queen’s official companions.
Behind them travelled the Princess Royal with Camilla’s sister Annabel Elliot and the Duke and Duchess of Wellington and they were followed by a coach carrying Anne’s son Peter Phillips and his girlfriend.
Other royals spotted among the crowds included Princess Beatrice and her mother Sarah, Duchess of York and Zara and Mike Tindall.
The King and his wife have continued Queen Elizabeth II’s close association with the Berkshire race meet but they had no luck with the sport of Kings when their horse Reaching High was well beaten in the Ascot Stakes.
The late Queen was a passionate owner and breeder of thoroughbreds and had more than 20 Royal Ascot winners during her 70-year reign.
Charles and Camilla have taken on her stable of horses and enjoyed their first Royal Ascot winner in 2023 when their horse Desert Hero triumphed in the King George V Stakes.
Today’s racing, meanwhile, will feature the The Prince of Wales’s Stakes as one of its highlights.
First run at Royal Ascot in 1862, the race, named after the son of Queen Victoria (later to become King Edward VII), is now worth £1million in prize money and is one of the features of the week.
Auguste Rodin produced a career best performance to win last year’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes, highlighting the perfect blend of speed and stamina needed to win a race of this magnitude.
Three horses have won this race on two occasions, Connaught, (1969, 1970) Mtoto (1987, 1988) and Muhtarram (1994, 1995).
Older horses tend to struggle in this race, with only two six-year-old horses winning since 1995: Muhtarram (1995) and So You Think (2012).
Elsewhere, The Queen Mary Stakes, The Queen’s Vase and The Duke of Cambridge Stakes provide a trio of Group 2 races to savour before the Royal Hunt Cup, The Windsor Castle Stakes and the Kensington Palace Stakes conclude the second day of racing.
Over £10 million in prize money is awarded to the winners and placed horses across the week.
The minimum value for each race is £110,000 and every Group 1 contest will be rewarded with at least £650,000.
