Royal Ascot 2020: The Queen to miss the meeting for the first time in her 68-year reign

THE Queen will be absent from Royal Ascot for the first time in her 68-year reign as the meeting gets under way behind closed doors.

More than 300,000 racegoers, dressed in their finery, usually gather for the five-day sporting and social highlight which kicks off today.

But this year there will be no monarch, no royal carriage procession, no trophy presentations and no spectators amid strict Government guidelines brought in when racing resumed on June 1.

At Windsor Castle, the Queen, 94, will be watching the coverage on TV, not least of all because she has several runners.

First Receiver, ridden by Frankie Dettori in the Queen's racing colours, will feature in the Hampton Court Stakes on Wednesday.

The Queen also has Tactical running in the Windsor Castle Stakes on the same afternoon, while Punctuation is her big hope in the Queen's Vase on Friday.

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As an owner, the Queen will have access to a virtual Royal Ascot parade ring to be able to view her horses from the safety of Windsor where she has been staying for the past 13 weeks during the pandemic.

The new online Racing Hub has been set up in light of the restrictions this year, and features real time weather data and a live 360 degree parade ring camera feed.

Nick Smith, director of racing at Ascot, said: "Whilst the ultimate experience of being at Royal Ascot sadly isn't possible this year, we hope that what we are planning will make ownership at home as special as possible.

"We are particularly pleased to be able to provide owners with a feed to the Parade Ring, and to be housing all the data that all horsemen need from real time weather and going reports to post race sectionals in one, convenient place."

The Queen is known for her love of horses, and she traditionally attends Ascot each year.

In 1955, the event was postponed because of the national rail strike and held in July instead, but the Queen still attended with her sister Princess Margaret.

In 2017, the Queen had to dash from the State Opening of Parliament to Ascot when her speech in the House of Lords fell on the second day of the meeting.

The Queen has won around £7 million in prize money from horse racing over the past three decades.

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