Royal Ascot racegoers were treated to the sight of the royal family attending the famous meet for the second day running.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were joined in the royal box by the Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Princess Royal.

Sophie was all smiles as she arrived at the gates in contrast to a recent BBC interview when her eyes filled with tears when she recounted a fond memory about the late Duke of Edinburgh.

Royal Ascot 2021 – Day Two
The Countess of Wessex arrives at Royal Ascot (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Punters had hoped to see the Queen but she was missing for a second day, although her racing manager John Warren has suggested if she has horses running later in the week the hope is she will attend.

Bookmaker William Hill is hoping the Queen, described by Camilla as having an encyclopedic knowledge of horses, joins the racegoers before the event finishes on Saturday.

Betting on the colour of the Queen’s hat is a popular flutter among punters and Rupert Adams says his firm William Hill has made blue its favourite with odds of 3-1, followed by yellow 9-2, green 5-1 and purple 6-1.

He said: “We still hope to see the Queen later this week and expect her to opt for blue!”

Royal Ascot 2021 – Day Two
Racegoers during day two of Royal Ascot (Steven Paston/PA)

Camilla has talked about how she has been bitten by the racing bug and experienced the thrills and disappointments of owning a thoroughbred.

She told ITV Racing she has two horses in training but said the hopes of a good runner can soon be dashed.

The duchess said: “We all know horses don’t we, we start off thinking this is the one – this is the one that’s going to go on, you know, if it’s the flat it’s going to go on and win the Derby, if it’s jumping it’s definitely going to win the Gold Cup.

“So you all start with great hope, as it goes on hope is shattered bit by bit.”

Royal Ascot 2021 – Day Two
Racegoers have been welcomed back to Royal Ascot for the first time since 2019 (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Camilla mentioned one of her previous horses Carntop, who showed initial promise: “I remember the excitement of getting him to Ascot and then I think he finished very nearly last and he went backwards and backwards.

“And then I think we sent him jumping and he started off with great aplomb and won his first two races. But if anything got near him, he panicked and didn’t want to know and dug in his toes and gave up.”