Summary
The Royal Enclosure is the one part of Royal Ascot you cannot simply buy into. Membership is closed: a first-timer needs two existing Members, each with at least four years' attendance, to sponsor them. What you get for it is a hand-written badge, your own gates, the enclosure lawn and the best view of the Royal Procession. And the dress code is the strictest on the racecourse: morning dress for men, formal daywear and a proper hat for women.
Royal Ascot has four enclosures. Three are open to anyone. The fourth, the Royal Enclosure, is not for sale at all: you join it, or you come as a Member's guest, and there is no other way through the gate. It is the oldest part of the meeting, and the strictest, the one place where simply getting in is the achievement.
It runs on sponsorship, not sale. That is what keeps it small, and it is worth understanding even if you never set foot in it, because the rules are the whole character of the place.
How membership works
You get in by being vouched for. Two existing Members have to sponsor a newcomer, and not just any two: each needs four years of their own attendance behind them, though those years do not have to be back to back. A couple at the same address cannot both put you forward. Numbers are capped each year, so when the places run out the rest go on a waiting list. Once you are in, the badge is yours alone. It is written by hand in your name, changes colour with the day, and pins to your clothing. You cannot lend it, sell it or pass it on. The point of all of it is to keep the room full of people who have been before, and who will answer for whoever they bring.
What the badge gets you
- Your own gatesA separate set of entrances, away from the public turnstiles.
- The enclosure itselfThe Royal Enclosure lawn, the terrace and the parade-ring side of the course.
- Its restaurants and barsOn a separate booking system from the rest of the course.
- The Royal ProcessionA view of the royal party arriving by carriage, from inside the enclosure.
- Two guestsThe right to bring up to two guests on Wednesday through Saturday.
There are limits. It does not get you into the Royal Box, which the monarch's office invites to on its own terms. It does not reach the parade-ring rope either, which is kept for owners, trainers and the winning connections. And on the Tuesday you cannot bring anyone at all, because the first day is Members only.
The dress code
The Royal Enclosure has the strictest dress code at Ascot, and the gate enforces it. For men it means a morning coat in black, grey or navy, worn with a waistcoat, a tie and a top hat. No substitutes, and definitely no brown. For women it is formal daywear: straps an inch wide or more, a hem no shorter than just above the knee, and a proper hat or hatinator with a base of at least four inches. A fascinator on its own will not do. Trainers, denim, leggings and shorts are barred across the whole of Ascot, and nobody is getting them past this gate. We go deeper in the dedicated guides:
A short history
The enclosure goes back to 1822, when George IV had a railed-off Royal Enclosure and Royal Box built to keep the monarch's party apart from the rest of the course. The dress code is older again. The morning coat traces to Beau Brummell, friend of the Prince Regent, who decided men of fashion should turn up in waisted coats and white cravats. Two centuries later it is recognisably the same outfit. The Royal Box, confusingly, sits inside the Royal Enclosure but counts as a separate room with its own invitations from the monarch's office, and a Royal Enclosure badge does not get you into it.
Who isn't admitted
A couple of things catch people out. Children under ten are not allowed into the Royal Enclosure on any day, and nor are buggies, which surprises families who assumed a midweek afternoon would be easier. The Royal Enclosure Office can also turn down or revoke a membership at its own discretion, a relevant criminal record being the obvious reason.
The other way in
For most people, none of this is the relevant way in anyway. The Queen Anne and Village enclosures see the same races and the same Royal Procession, and hold you to their own smart dress codes. What they do not hand you is that particular badge and that particular room, and whether that matters is entirely your call. Those enclosures are the ones we arrange, and a day at Royal Ascot is well within reach without four years of someone else's attendance behind you.
Emma Harrod
Managing Director of Leicester Sales
Managing Director of Leicester Sales at Imperial Corporate Events. She gets to know what suits you, then makes the day happen without the fuss.
