ASC NICELY
King Charles to miss one day of Royal Ascot but be back to cheer on Royal runners alongside Queen Camilla
It's the biggest week of Flat racing all year
KING CHARLES is going to miss one day of this week's Royal Ascot - but will be back to cheer on his Royal runners alongside Queen Camilla.
The monarch had his wife by his side all five days of last year's star-studded festival at the Berkshire track.
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They roared home Royal runner Desert Hero en route to his shock 18-1 victory in the King George V Stakes.
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But King Charles will not attend Wednesday's racing this year amid his ongoing cancer treatment.
It means Queen Camilla will have someone else by her side on day two for the Royal Procession, which signals the start of racing.
The ruling couple have gone all out in their support of the sport his late mother so loved in recent months, starting at this meeting last year.
They then made an historic first trip to Doncaster last September to see Desert Hero run in the St Leger, the final Classic of the season.
And they were back at Epsom just over a fortnight ago to see star filly Treasure run in the Oaks.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have no runners from the Royal operation the King inherited from his late mother over the first two days of racing.
Their team will be headlined on Thursday by Gilded Water, a three-year-old gelding bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II, in the race they won last year.
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And the William Haggas-trained horse, who again will have top jockey Tom Marquand in the saddle, is a 10-1 fancy to win the £56,694 first-place prize.
They could also be represented by Hard To Resist in the Sandringham Stakes on Friday.
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While Desert Hero is a 10-1 pick to land the Hardwicke Stakes on Saturday, where the winner gets a cheque for more than £140,000.
The Royal couple looked to have a brilliant time at last year's meeting - even if cheeky Frankie Dettori broke protocol by kissing the Queen on her cheek.
And they recently stepped up their commitment to racing by becoming patrons of The Jockey Club.
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