While millions of soccer fans around the world crowded around screens this week, packed pubs and filled stadiums in the grip of World Cup fever, another kind of sporting ritual came to a close not far from London.
Royal Ascot, one of the last bastions of the British elite, wrapped up Saturday, offering a stark contrast to the world’s most popular sport. If the World Cup represents a mass global passion that cuts across class and culture, Royal Ascot is almost its mirror image: an annual gathering of aristocrats, royals, business figures and celebrities.
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Queen Camilla and King Charles in the Royal Enclosure
(Photo: Reuters/Toby Melville)
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The elaborate hats have become one of Royal Ascot’s most recognizable symbols and an inseparable part of the culture surrounding it
(Photo: Reuters/Toby Melville)
They come to the horse races not only to watch the noble animals gallop from the starting line to the finish, but also to be seen and to take part in a centuries-old social ceremony.
Instead of national soccer shirts and flag-waving crowds, the lawns of Royal Ascot were filled with tailored morning suits, colorful day dresses and sculptural hats that became the main attraction for photographers and fashion reporters.
As expected, much of the attention turned to Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, who each year presents a striking collection of hats. On the second day of the races, she arrived in a canary-yellow dress by Roksanda Ilincic, a look she had already worn twice in 2022.
She paired the dress with a lemon-yellow veiled hat by her go-to milliner, Jane Taylor, a piece that helped her hold the look together despite strong winds that seemed determined to ruin it.
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Kate Middleton in a Roksanda Ilincic dress and Jane Taylor hat
(Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Kate Middleton and her hat struggle the wind
While Middleton chose a vivid color, Queen Camilla remained loyal to her traditional aesthetic: conservative silhouettes, soft pastels and elegant hats that avoided any daring fashion statement.
For the opening day of Royal Ascot, Camilla wore a custom white coat dress by designer Anna Valentine with a matching wide-brimmed hat. The following day, she arrived in a pale mint dress, also by Valentine.
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Queen Camilla in a dress by designer Anna Valentine
(Photo: Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
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Queen Camilla and King Charles at Royal Ascot
(Photo: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Royal Ascot)
For her third appearance at the races, Camilla attended the closing ceremony in a simple blue dress with a relaxed silhouette by haute couture designer Fiona Clare Aldridge, who has dressed the queen regularly for many years. She added a Philip Treacy hat, with both pieces having appeared in her wardrobe before.
The British queen completed the look with a medium pearl-colored Lady Dior bag by the French fashion house, priced at about $6,000.
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Queen Camilla in a dress by Fiona Clare Aldridge and a Philip Treacy hat
(Photo: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
The fashion surprises
About 300,000 visitors attend the famous horse race each year. Founded in 1711, Royal Ascot has been held every June for more than 300 years, over five days. Over time, elaborate hats have become one of its most recognizable symbols and an inseparable part of the culture surrounding it.
In the Royal Enclosure, where the royal family appears, men are required to wear morning suits and top hats. Women must wear a hat or headpiece with a base of at least 10 centimeters, as stipulated in the dress code.
The farther one moves from the Royal Enclosure, the looser the dress code becomes. That is where theatrical hats appear, with flower arrangements, sculptural constructions and even 3D-printed designs.
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The farther from the Royal Enclosure, the looser the dress code becomes, with theatrical hats on full display
(Photo: Reuters/Toby Melville)
Among the thousands of guests this year, two Floras stood out: Daily Telegraph fashion writer Flora Gibbs and stylist Flora Macdonald Johnston, who challenged the conservative event’s dress code.
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Flora Macdonald Johnston at Royal Ascot
(Photo: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Royal Ascot)
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Flora Macdonald Johnston at Royal Ascot
(Photo: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Royal Ascot)
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Challenging the conservative event’s dress code: Flora Macdonald Johnston
(Photo: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Royal Ascot)
For the second day of the races, Macdonald Johnston chose a pantsuit by British brand Mithridate, designed by Daniel Fletcher, and a pink hat that resembled a cake mold, designed by Awon Golding for Lock & Co. Hatters, which is marking 350 years in business.
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White dress, black hat and a Frida Kahlo handbag: Flora Gibbs
(Photo: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Royal Ascot)
Gibbs arrived with a varied wardrobe that moved between contemporary style, of the kind often associated with Ivanka Trump, and 1980s retro. At times, she looked as if she had stepped out of the American soap opera “Dynasty.”
One especially memorable look combined a white dress, a dramatic black hat and a small handbag shaped like Frida Kahlo.
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A little contemporary, a little retro: Flora Gibbs
(Photo: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Royal Ascot)
