1. Ascot Racecourse has been in operation since 1711 when Queen Anne rode out from Windsor Castle and declared this area of East Cote the perfect place for her horses to run full stretch
1. The King's Representative at Ascot in the early 1900's, Viscount Churchill, would sift through applications for the Royal Enclosure, marking each of them "certainly", "perhaps" or "certainly not". Actors and actresses were not considered to be eligible!
2. The tradition of the Royal Ascot picnic is one that can be traced back to the very earliest race meetings. With the arrival of the motorcar at Ascot in 1912 came the more modern tradition of the picnic in the car park
3. Butlers, candelabra and silver service are still in evidence at picnics in Number One and Two car parks - Some berths in Number One are even passed down informally from generation to generation
4. Divorcees were banned from the Royal Enclosure until 1955, when the divorce laws were changed
5. The 2005 the Royal Meeting was held in York while Ascot was rebuilt. Everything moved north – even the bell used to tell jockeys to get ready for the next race
6. In 2010, 35,000 strawberry scones, 35,000 rounds of sandwiches, 30,000 eclairs, 1,400 lobsters and 1,400 kilos of smoked salmon were washed down by 50,000 bottles of Champagne and 8,000 bottles of Pimm's