The Queen was all smiles as she arrived at Royal Ascot for the first time since 2019 and celebrated the performance of her horse in the first race.

Usually a regular at the famous Berkshire meet, the Queen has been a no-show since it began on Tuesday.

The monarch also missed last year’s race as it was held behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Queen smiles as she arrives

However, on Saturday the Queen braved the grey weather to cheer on the four horses running in her colours of purple and gold.

She arrived at the Parade Ring in a beige car at 2pm wearing lime green clothing and a matching hat to cheers and applause from the crowd.

Her horses Reach For The Moon, Tactical, Light Refrain and King’s Lynn are all set to run during the afternoon.

Reach For The Moon finished a close second during the Chesham Stakes race at 2.30pm.

The monarch was not seen in the royal box during the race, opting to watch it privately, but had the chance to inspect the colt in the Parade Ring after it crossed the finish line.

She beamed while watching the horses in the second race being paraded around the ring at just before 3pm.

Punters like to bet on the colour of the Queen’s hat and this year bookmakers had said the most popular predictions were blue and green due to the change in weather.

Action Images via Reuters

Nicola McGeady, of Ladbrokes said: “Green has been chalked up as the favourite, but red is the mover after money came earlier today.”

The Queen’s eldest grandson Peter Phillips was also seen arriving earlier in the day.

But the carriage procession that usually proceeds each day’s racing did not take place.

Environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion appeared to unfurl a banner reading “Racing To Extinction”, intended to be seen by the Queen, who was nowhere near the incident.