The Royal Family enjoy day out at Royal Ascot, with Catherine and Beatrice stunning in matching blue dresses

Royal Ascot opened today (Tuesday June 18), and the Queen and other members of the Royal family were out in full force to celebrate the first day of the races.

Her Majesty looked elegant in a cornflower blue coat with a matching floral hat from her personal designer Angela Kelly.

She arrived at the iconic racing event in a horse drawn carriage, and sitting alongside her was the Duke of York, as well as King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Queen Maxima.

The pair visited the UK for Monday’s Order of the Garter ceremony, but decided to extend their visit so they could watch the Royal Ascot races.

Queen Maxima wore an extravagant floral hat in beige, which stole the show.

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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrived in a Victorian-style blue dress from designer Elie Saab, which matched Her Majesty’s suit perfectly.

Her elegant ankle-length lacy dress featured a bow-tie front and long, semi-transparent sleeves. She paired her classic, vintage look with some simple silver heels and a blue hat from Philip Treacy.

Catherine's stunning dress was strikingly similar to Princess Beatrice's, who also opted for a blue lace dress with a high-neck and front details, also complementing Her Majesty's outfit.

royal ascot

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Kate was sat next to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who was wearing a classic pastel pink dress.

Kate’s husband, Prince William, joined his father Prince Charles in wearing traditional smart attire, with both donning top hats and tails to open the famous event.

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie arrived in their carriage together, with both in blue to complement their grandmother.

Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t been kind to Royal Ascot so far, as the heavens have been opening intermittently on the event, with rain throughout the day.

Royal Ascot is one of the Queen’s favourite events of the year. She’s been attending the event for the past 64 years, only missing it for her coronation in 1953.

She and the other members of the royal family join the Royal Procession at the event at 2pm daily, which is a long tradition unique to Royal Ascot.

The event is expected to attract around 300,000 visitors over the next five days.

Lauren Hughes

Lauren is the former Deputy Digital Editor at woman&home and became a journalist mainly because she enjoys being nosy. With a background in features journalism, Lauren worked on the woman&home brand for four years before going freelance. Before woman&home Lauren worked across a variety of women's lifestyle titles, including GoodTo, Woman's Own, and Woman magazine.