Royal Ascot is back and if you are one of the lucky 12,000 racegoers that are allowed to attend this year you will also have an eye on the weather forecast in case you need an umbrella, but more pertinently to see if that horse you suspect has been plotted up for a handicap has his ground.
With everything prepared there’s only one thing left for speculation. What will be the colour of the Queen’s hat on opening day at the Royal meeting?
A huge televisual audience and thousands of the on-course racegoers strive to get a first glimpse of the Royal Family with Her Majesty’s hat of particular interest.
Royal observers and fashion experts debate her outfit colour on ITV with their footage broadcast around the world.
With the exception of 2020 the Queen has attended every day of the meeting for the past 64 years, with the last time she missed a moment of the event being her own coronation in 1953.
In 2017 there were fears that she might miss the second day of the meeting due to her duties at the state opening of Parliament. It was a close call but her entourage made the journey from Westminster to the Berkshire racecourse with minutes to spare.
What Goes into an Outfit Choice for the Queen?
It’s no surprise that the Queen stands out in a crowd, but she does enjoy making a bold splash. She once said that if “she wore beige, nobody would know who I am”, so it’s no surprise that in recent years she has made some bold choices that do respond very well to bright sunlight.
With horse racing being her favourite sport, she likes it being portrayed in a positive light.
One thing is very clear from some deep trawling of the world wide web – Her Majesty loves yellow. She wore it on the opening day in 2016, and also wore it in 2018.
The year before she wore green, perhaps as a nod to the commemoration of the Grenfell tragedy when there was a minute’s silence before racing began.
A notable trend is that there are plenty of repeat colours. Her Majesty wore the same-coloured outfit in 2014 as she did in 2017, and in 2016 as she did in 2018.
There can sometimes be a left-field answer here too – there are many different colours available to her Majesty and that can often mix things up here when it comes to the exact payout. Peach and orange, yellow and gold, grey and silver are easily confused.
Queen’s Hat Colour at Royal Ascot History
- 2019 – Blue
- 2018 – Yellow
- 2017 – Green
- 2016 – Yellow
- 2015 – Pink
- 2014 – Green
- 2013 – Peach
Queen’s Hat Colour Trends?
The Queen has topped off her Royal Ascot outfits with more pink and blue hats than any other colour, and both of those shades are popular for today’s opening day of Flat racing’s most high-profile event.
In all of the above years her hat has matched her overall outfit colour. She has not worn the same colour back-to-back for a few years, but certain colours do also recur with regular effect.
In 2015, Her Majesty came to Ladies’ Day in pistachio outfit, which meant that bookmakers ended up paying on multiple fronts; Bet365 declared both green and blue – two well-backed options – as winners, while William Hills paid out on white, blue, green and turquoise.
In the aftermath of the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, it has been noticeable she has leaned towards darker colours with purple and burgundy (red) being popular with her.
It may be a form-pointer and with her rarely wearing red at Ascot, but it may be that she’ll pick either mauve or purple for the opening day of Royal Ascot.
The Queen’s hat colour for the first day of Royal Ascot:
- Blue 3/1
- Green 4/1
- Pink 5/1
- Purple 6/1
- Yellow 6/1
- White 7/1
- Grey 8/1
- Red 10/1
- Orange 14/1
