It was, in the end, the greatest show on turf. Not the Derby, the classic flat race which is one of the highlights of the equestrian calendar, but the joyous family day out enjoyed very publicly by the Queen at Epsom Racecourse Saturday. The biggest gathering of the Royal Family since the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge rendered the disappointing third-place finish of her much-fancied colt Carlton House almost trifling. Kate dazzled in a collarless off-white jacket over a diaphanous white frock which showcased long legs shod in this season’s nude platform shoes. On her head she wore a Forties-style cappuccino-coloured hat with her hair rolled tightly to the nape of her neck. She was on the arm of her husband Prince William, resplendent in top hat and tails, accompanied by a similarly-clad Prince Harry. Their appearance alongside Prince Andrew with his daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Princess Alexandra and Prince Philip at a private rather than a public occasion, underlined the astonishing sense of renewal within the Firm. (Curiously, Kate’s mother Carole Middleton, a member of a racing syndicate, also had a horse running yesterday. It said much about the ease with which Kate has joined the Firm that she carried out her role with such aplomb while her mum mingled with the crowd.) But if it was a regally united front, it was also a charmingly relaxed one.
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