Kate Middleton queen of Ascot (despite horse allergy)

Horses, fru fru hats and a lot of worldliness: Royal Ascot 2022, the coolest horse racing event in the United Kingdom, has always come to life and has always seen the participation of members of the royal family. Also among the guests on the fourth day Kate Middleton and the prince Williamwho had hitherto been kept away from the racecourse for a number of other public engagements.

THE Dukes of Cambridge arrived by carriage, as usual for the most illustrious guests, together with Arthur Vestey, third son of Baron Samuel Vestey, and his wife Martha Beaumont. In the second carriage, behind them, Peter Phillipsson of Princess Anna, and his partner Lindsay Wallace, that after the debut at the Trooping The Color it is now the fixed presence of every real event; with them, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford.

The presence of Kate and William in Ascot is never taken for granted, especially for the Duchess, who unlike the other members of the royal family does not have a good relationship with horses. “I’m allergic”, she revealed in 2009 to Australian writer Kathy Lette, who asked her if she played polo like her husband. Two years later the wife of Wesley Ru, president of the Santa Barbara Polo Club, told a People that the Duchess had decided to overcome the problem by spending a lot of time in close contact with the horsescertain that this strategy would help her overcome her condition.

Kate Middleton would learn to ride and the symptoms would lessen over time; horseback riding, however, is certainly not her favorite activity. Occasionally, however, some sacrifice in this sense is required of her. To the Trooping The Color she marched in a carriage, together with her children and Camilla of Cornwall, and she could not escape even the recent parade of the Order of the Garter. The Duchess always travels in the direction of travel, something that allows a greater distance from the horses and that does not hurt in terms of discomfort: the carriages, you know, are not exactly the best in terms of stability.

For the rest, make the best of a bad situation. Noblesse obligealways.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

• Princess Anna and Zara Tindall, complicity (and similarities) between mother and daughter
• Kate Middleton leads her first round table discussion with British politicians
• Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, the tribute five years after the Grenfell Tower burning

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