Queen orders Ascot fillies to cover up

Too racy: strapless dresses are now banned at Royal Ascot.
Photo: AP

THE only bottom on display at Royal Ascot this year will be Swinley Bottom, the downhill bend on Britain's pre-eminent racecourse, as the Queen has outlawed mini-skirts, midriffs, cleavage and "chavs" — bogans — from her wing at the venue.
A guidance issued to the 80,000 members of the racecourse's Royal Enclosure specifies that strapless dresses, spaghetti straps and halter-necks are out. And mismatching trouser suits are a no-no. Women must wear a hat — or at the very least a "substantial fascinator" (ornate clip or head-covering). And men not wearing a top hat, morning suit and waistcoat can forget it.
Complaints by traditionalists about rising levels of flesh at the exclusive racecourse have been heard, it seems, by Ascot's governing board, chaired by the Queen's representative, the Duke of Devonshire. Those who transgress the dress code will be turned away on the Duke's orders.
"What we're trying to do is make it much clearer to (Royal Enclosure) badge-holders what constitutes respectable day wear," Ascot spokesman Nick Smith told the Daily Mail. "There won't be someone in a bowler hat checking straps with a tape measure. It is common sense. Ladies who turn up with bare shoulders will be sold pashminas before they can enter the Royal Enclosure."
The five-day race meeting in June at Royal Ascot has been a national institution for 300 years, since Queen Anne declared that the open stretch of heath near Windsor Castle would be the perfect place for "horses to gallop at full stretch". Queen Elizabeth II has attended the race every year since 1945, and has watched 19 of her own horses win it.
Given the event's noble roots, the infiltration of chavs — a derogatory term personified by the tracksuit-wearing, gum-chewing, inarticulate and unattractive Vicki Pollard in the TV comedy Little Britain — are clearly unwelcome. One badge-holder told the Telegraph: "The Duke, with the Queen's backing, is trying to keep the 'chav' factor down. I hope he succeeds. It's not been the same in the last few years. You never know quite where to look with all those celebrity girls."
But all is not lost for those wanting to show off their belly rings and tattoos: they can enter the Silver Ring, a separate area with no access to the parade ring or grandstand, which presumably protects one from the gaze of the royal fashion police.