The Duchess dazzles: Kate and William bring a touch of glamour to charity gala

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


Simply stunning: All eyes were on the Duchess of Cambridge as she she made her way inside the gala dinner


The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made a dazzling entrance at a charity gala dinner at Kensington Palace this evening.

Looking stunning in a Jenny Packham gown, accessorised with LK Bennett shoes and a clutch bag, Kate brought her usual touch of simple elegance to the Duke and Duchess's first official public engagement as a married couple.

The couple are attending the 10th annual Absolute Return for Kids (Ark) Gala Dinner.


Dazzling: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arriving at the Ark Gala Dinner at Kensington Palace


Kate's style has been scrutinised since officially becoming a member of the Royal family following her wedding to Prince William in April.

With her recent appearances meeting the Obamas at Buckingham Palace - and watching the horse racing at the Epsom Derby at the weekend - she tested the sartorial water with simple but chic pieces.


Star attraction: William and Kate didn't disappoint on their first official public engagement as a married couple


However, the Duchess pulled out all the stops for this evening's glamorous event.

William and Kate are attending the reception with 900 other guests at Perks Field and will later sit down to a private dinner before the prince gives a speech.

Musician Mark Ronson and his band will perform for the royals and guests.

The Duke and Duchess are attending on behalf of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry - a body which raises sustainable funds for charitable grants.


Glowing: Kate's beautiful gown was teamed with LK Bennett shoes and a clutch bag


The gala dinner was held in an enormous luxury marquee which appeared more like a small building.

As the guests arrived, a troupe of divers entertained them by diving acrobatically into a specially constructed pool.

When the royal couple's Jaguar limousine pulled up, they were greeted by calls from banks of photographers asking them to pose for a picture.

Financier Arpad Busson, co-founder of the organisation, warmly welcomed them before they climbed a few steps to the entrance of the building before posing and smiling for the waiting cameras.

Outside the banquet hall was a covered reception area with two champagne bars and stalls serving sumptuous canapes from the Mediterranean and Far East where guests gathered before dinner was served.


Hot ticket: The couple's presence at the gala will shine a spotlight on work carried out by the charity


The Duke and Duchess mingled with some of the more prominent figures or chatted to associates of their host, Mr Busson, known as Arki to his friends.

William and Kate were the centre of attention with people crowding around them to get a view of the newlyweds or take their picture on camera phones.

Mr Busson has two sons with his former partner, model Elle Macpherson, and in recent years has dated actress Uma Thurman.

The royal couple chatted to his sons, Flynn Busson, 13, and his eight-year-old brother, Cy, laughing and joking with them.

After about 45 minutes, they made their way into the circular banqueting room which was filled with almost 100 oval tables.


Meet and greet: From left to right, financier Arpad Busson, Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Ian Wace, also a co-founder of Ark


Among the guests seated on the Duke and Duchess's table were Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth, actress Liz Hurley, socialite Jemima Khan and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup.

Elizabeth Murdoch, the daughter of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, also had a place, as did William's private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, and Baroness de Rothschild.
Anish Kapoor, the British-based, Indian-born sculptor, who won the Turner Prize in 1991, was another guest with a seat close to the Duke and Duchess.

Kate sat between Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, a distant relative of William, and Mr Busson, while her husband was opposite her with socialite Countess Debonaire von Bismarck on his left and Princess Marie of Greece on his other side.

Wrapped around the edge of the room was a multi-coloured dot-matrix display which would later be used to show the bidding for charity lots that included a stay on the Maltese Falcon - the world's largest sailing yacht - or a Kenyan safari at a luxury lodge.


Captivating: Kate seems to have taken to public life with ease as she chats with Matthew Freud


On the tables were tiny consoles to allow the wealthy guests to place their bids and around the room were swings for performers to use to entertain the guests.

Musician Mark Ronson and his band were due to entertain the diners later and a mystery band - rumoured to be the Kings Of Leon - were also performing.

The £10,000-a-head dinner will also feature auctions to raise donations for Ark, which has projects helping disadvantaged children around the globe.


In the UK it sponsors a number of academy schools and runs other projects like Teaching Leaders and Future Leaders.

Ark was co-founded in 2002 by the financier Arpad Busson, who now acts as a trustee of the organisation.

A spokeswoman for the charity said: 'Over the past 10 years, Ark's programmes in the UK, Southern Africa, eastern Europe and India have transformed the lives of more than 200,000 children.

'In tackling access to healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa, improving educational opportunities in the UK, US and India, and giving children the chance to live in a caring and nurturing environment in Eastern Europe, Ark is helping to overcome some of the most severe blights on children's lives.








Star quality: Liz Hurley, Sophie Dahl and Jemima Khan arrive at the gala

source: dailymail

New parents Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch dote on their baby daughter Sophia on pre-wedding holiday

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Daddy's little princess: It looks like Crouch is revelling in his newfound role of fatherhood as he feeds little Sophia


They're set to get married in a matter of weeks, but it looks like Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy couldn't be more relaxed about their upcoming nuptials.

The couple have jetted off to Sardinia for their first family holiday with their 12-week-old daughter Sophia.

Staying in a four star hotel by the sea, the pair looked completely besotted with their little girl.

It was difficult to believe the Liverpudlian model, 25, had even had a child as she looked tanned and toned in a £178 Vix Monaco two-piece, which she teamed with a chiffon sun jacket.

And her future husband, Tottenham Hotspurs player Crouch complemented her with white swimming shorts.

After arriving at the Italian island last night, the couple were keen to soak up the sun today.


Happy family: Crouch and Clancy took baby Sophia for a boat ride as they holidayed on the Italian island of Sardinia


And after enjoying an alfresco breakfast of boiled egg and toast, the couple were seen lounging by the pool.

At one point, the tactile couple shared a lounger between them and started snuggling under a towel.

It also looked like they were hoping to enjoy some watersports after making inquiries at a kiosk on a nearby pier.


Hungry? Abbey lifts Sophia out of her pushchair as they enjoy an alfresco breakfast at their hotel


The trip marks their first family holiday since Sophia was born in London's exclusive Portland Hospital on March 14.

The vacation comes just three weeks before the couple are expected to wed following a two year engagement.

The Mail On Sunday's Katie Nicholl column told how the pair will tie the knot at the Stapleford Park hotel in Leicestershire on June 30.


Snuggle up: Clancy soon got bored of being on her own lounger and jumped onto Crouch's for a cuddle


A friend said: 'They sent out wedding invites with details engraved on a candle.

‘The ceremony will be at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in the grounds of the country house, followed by a reception in the Grand Hall.

‘Abbey has booked a band, she’s looking for a magician, and there will be some karaoke later in the evening.’

Since becoming a mother, Clancy has spoken about how much she was enjoying parenting.
She wrote in Now magazine: 'Being a mum is amazing! I've turned into one of those women I hate because I'm always talking about the baby.

'She's so pretty - I was surprised she's a girl because I was convinced I was having a boy.


Doting mother: Like many mothers, Clancy found her breakfast interrupted as she tended to her baby


'I'm excited to be back at work, although I'm not getting any sleep!'
The couple have holidayed in Sardinia for the past two years and it was where Crouch popped the question in 2009.

Their relationship was rocked just two days after they returned from their Sardinia break last summer, when it was alleged Crouch had paid for a night with prostitute Monica Mint on a stag weekend in Madrid.

source: dailymail

The Queen's club: Glowing Pippa Middleton gets caught in the rain at tennis match

By MAYSA RAWI

All smiles: Pippa Middleton and friend George Percy attend the EGON tennis championship at Queen's Club


Pippa Middleton was all smiles today as she attended Queen's Club to watch the tennis.

Catherine's sister spent the day at the tournament with ex-boyfriend, friend and current boss George Percy.

The pair took time out from work to watch Andy Murray, who competed with Janko Tipsarevic during day four of the EGON championship.


All white: Pippa wore a denim jacket, pretty broderie anglais dress and matching wedges


Before heading over to the exclusive member’s only club, the Duchess of Cambridge's sister was spotted shopping in Chelsea.

She wore a denim jacket and white broderie anglais dress, matching cork wedges and an L.K. Bennett handbag.

Pippa, who is currently dating former cricketer Alex Loudon, has been working for George, whose father is one of the richest men in Britain, after he set up the business last year with ­mining magnate Algy Cluff, who owns gold mines in war-torn Sierra Leone.


Glowing: The tennis fan won a sports scholarship to Marlborough school and often plays herself


Downpour: Pippa gets caught in the rain but doesn't let the weather dampen her spirits


The company aims to find ways of turning hot water stored underground into heat and electricity.

Along with experts from Newcastle ­University, they are drilling boreholes in ­Co Durham, and Pippa is expected to help with lobbying for a new licensing system from the government so they can go into production.

Miss Middleton and Mr Percy dated while at Edinburgh University and have been friends for nearly ten years.

source: dailymail

'It was my mom's dying wish': Man, 23, loses almost half 459lbs body weight in just a YEAR

By FIONA ROBERTS

Half the size: Alex Respess reveals his astonishing weight loss next to a cardboard cut-out showing him at his heaviest, when he weighed 459lbs


When Alex Respess's mother died after a battle with cancer, she made one last request - for her son to be happy and healthy.

And now, four years later, the 23-year-old can proudly say he fulfilled his mother's dying wish after he lost almost half his body weight in just 12 months.

He showed off his astonishing transformation on ABC's Good Morning America today, where he revealed his new 243lbs figure next to a cardboard cut-out showing him at his heaviest, 459lbs.



Before and after: Alex Respess, left, at his first weigh-in a year ago, and right, today on Good Morning America after he lost an astonishing 216lbs


The audience gasped as he held up one of his old shirts, and showed how he could now fit his whole body into one leg of a pair of shorts he wore before he shed the pounds.

Mr Respess, of Duluth, Georgia, said: 'The one thing I think [my mom] would say is she's proud of the man I've become.

'Because I'm not that kid that was overweight that she remembers - now I'm grown up.'
He added: 'Now in her memory I am happy and healthy and helping my brothers get that way too.'


Inspiration: Alex Respess pictured with his mother, Kim, who died four years ago. She told him she wanted him to be happy and healthy


Last year he was literally double the size. After a lifetime of unhealthy eating, Mr Respess, an ardent baseball fan, was too big to play, and was too mortified to go out to eat after once breaking a chair at a restaurant.

He said:' I was very introverted, I just didn't get out there, now I have the confidence to talk to anyone, to do anything.'

So, in desperation, Mr Respess wrote to personal trainer Chris Powell, who agreed to help him on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.

At the beginning Mr Respess was so big he had to be weighed on a freight-scale, and could only enter his bathroom door sideways.


Morbidly obese: At the beginning of the programme, Alex Respess was 459lbs, and had to be weighed using a pair of freight scales


First he travelled to Los Angeles, where he began his training - and learned how to make a healthier turkey version of his favourite bacon cheeseburger.

For the next 90 days Mr Powell lived with Mr Respess at his Duluth home, staying with him for 24 hours a day to help him meet his initial target, of losing 100lbs in just three months.

At his first weigh-in, he missed his goal - and the prize of a season ticket to his favourite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves - by just three pounds.


Astonishing transformation: Alex Respess demonstrates how he can fit inside one leg of his old shorts, left, and disappears behind an old shirt, right


Strict regime: Alex Respess meets Chris Powell, who spent the last year training him. Mr Powell even moved into his Georgia house for three months


But after Mr Powell moved out Mr Respess began to struggle, and worked out less and less. He said it gave him too much time to think about his mother's death, and he was angry about his father's impending marriage to his new fiancée.

The turning point came three days after the wedding, when Mr Powell took Mr Respess to an Army base in Georgia for a 24-hour boot camp.

He said the encouragement from the other soldiers as he trained alongside them spurred him on, and he went away with a coin to symbolise his goal: 'Get to it and fulfill your mission!'


Desperate measures: Alex Respess even let the Army shave his hair off so he could attend a 24-hour boot camp. He described it as a turning point


By January, he had lost a whopping 195lbs, and was able to undergo skin removal surgery to complete the transformation.

The end of the programme shows Mr Respess attending a ceremony with all his family and friends at a baseball field where he used to play little league - the last time he thought he made his mother proud.

He officially renamed a corner of the field Kim's Corner in her honour, and as he celebrated his 216lbs weight loss said: 'That number means a new life.'







sourc: dailymail

Is Ryan Giggs the new Tiger Woods? Love-rat footballer faces exodus of sponsors like shamed golfer

By JAMES TOZER

United in public: Stacey Giggs has so far stayed with the shamed footballer and the couple are currently out of the country as further revelations come to light


Reebok declines to comment if they are standing by him following claims

Rhodri Giggs could demand paternity test over possibility footballer is son's father

Brothers' aunt describes Ryan as: ‘a dirty dog’ with ‘no morals’

Ryan and Stacey cancel plush Spanish hotel break, opting to stay in private villa


Ryan Giggs could become the ‘new Tiger Woods’ as sponsors abandon him over his

alleged philandering, marketing experts believe.

They predicted that the firms which have helped amass a £34million fortune would react unfavourably to the wrecking of his family-man image.

And they warned that, unlike the golfer who still has a long career ahead of him, 37-year-old Giggs is unlikely to have enough time to rebuild his reputation before he ends his playing days.


More to come: Natasha Giggs is understood to have signed a six-figure tabloid deal following the revelation that she had an eight-year affair with Ryan Giggs, the brother of her husband Rhodri, pictured right


Giggs’s biggest deal, which has earned him £20million, is with the sportswear giant Reebok, but it declined to respond yesterday when asked by the Mail whether it would be standing by him.

The Manchester United star’s downfall came after he was revealed to have taken out an injunction forbidding reporting of an alleged relationship with former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.



Big deal: Giggs' sponsorship with sportswear company Reebok has helped to earn him £20m


Then, at the weekend, his brother Rhodri’s wife Natasha revealed that she and Giggs had an eight-year affair.

She is said to have regularly slept with the £80,000-a-week star until April this year, during which time she and Rhodri had a son who will be five this summer.


Struggle: Marketing experts have said that Giggs will find it extremely difficult to recover his image in the time he has left in his playing career


The alleged affair raises the prospect that Rhodri could now demand a paternity test to examine the possibility that his brother is actually the father of the child.

‘He looks just like Rhodri – but then the two brothers also look very similar,’ a friend was quoted as saying.

The boy was born in August 2006, two months before Ryan and Stacey Giggs’s own son was born.

DNA testing experts confirmed that there would be sufficient markers in samples from brothers who were not genetically identical twins to establish paternity.

Rhodri fled abroad yesterday after apparently telling friends that his marriage is over.

Meanwhile, Ryan was due to stay, with wife Stacey, at their favourite hotel in Spain.

But the couple cancelled their room at the plush Marbella Club and are now believed to have switched to a more private villa.

A source at the exclusive resort told The Sun: 'Their booking was suddenly cancelled. It's a shock to hear of the trouble in their marriage.'


Serial adulterer: Tiger Woods lost several sponsorship deals when his affairs came to light


It was reported at the weekend that 28-year-old Natasha decided to speak out from a sense of betrayal after Giggs took out his ill-fated injunction to keep his alleged affair with Miss Thomas secret.

Marketing experts said firms would now be loth to associate themselves with him.

Along with Reebok, Giggs signed deals to publicise the Swiss watch firms Patek
Philippe and Cyma, car manufacturer Citroen and phone company Saudi Telecom.


Fleeing abroad: A tired looking Rhodri was driven from his £170,000 terrace home yesterday by his best friend, the actor Will Mellor


‘A little like Tiger Woods, he had this untouchable air about him, almost Mr Perfect – he was seen as a model professional and a really good guy.

‘Once that image goes, he’s likely to find his whole unique selling point has gone, too.’


Before the storm: Rhodri Giggs and his wife Natasha enjoy a meal on holiday



The Giggs boys: Rhodri, left, with brother Ryan as children. Rhodri is three years younger than his brother


source: dailymail

My shameful eight-year affair with Ryan Giggs, by his brother's wife

By James Tozer and Liz Thomas


Telling all: Giggs's sister-in-law Natasha yesterday

Ryan Giggs was accused yesterday of an eight-year affair with his brother’s wife as the fall-out from his ill-fated gagging order became ever more damaging.

The Manchester United star, formerly regarded as the model professional and committed family man, found his reputation further sullied by tawdry details of the relationship with his 28-year-old sister-in-law Natasha.

He had been cheating on his wife Stacey with her before she began dating his younger brother Rhodri, a Sunday newspaper claimed.

It said Giggs slept with Natasha the day after his eight-year-old daughter was born, and again the day after the arrival of his four-year-old son. The affair was alleged to have continued until April 9.

To underline 37-year-old Giggs’s folly in taking out his notorious injunction over an alleged fling with former Big Brother housemate Imogen Thomas, his sister-in-law said it was this which spurred her to break her silence.

‘When I found out he was cheating with Imogen too, I was really hurt,’ she told the News of the World through a ‘friend’.

‘I know that sounds really strange, but he wasn’t just cheating on Stacey, he was cheating on me too. Our relationship was just about sex to him.’

Rhodri, 33 – a failed professional footballer who served a prison sentence for attacking a fan with a bottle – was yesterday said to be furious at the astonishing betrayal by both his brother and his wife.

Estate agent Natasha was pictured at a petrol station before apparently heading abroad with her two young children – after insisting that her account was ‘100 per cent accurate’. She said she was a single mother when she met Giggs at a Manchester bar in March 2003 while Stacey – then his fiancée – was pregnant with their first child. The pair enjoyed a brief fling but after they broke it off she began seeing Rhodri, who had joined them on a night out, the paper said.

That did not stop Giggs secretly resuming their relationship the following year, it alleged, and even when she became engaged to Rhodri in 2005 and was expecting his child, he continued demanding to see her.

Natasha gave birth in August 2006 and Stacey had her son two months later, but the affair was quickly rekindled, it was claimed. ‘The day after his son was born we met up and had sex,’ the paper quoted Natasha as saying through her friend. ‘Stacey was still in hospital.’

Betrayed: Wife Stacey with Ryan Giggs at an awards ceremony earlier this year


Despite rumours among their friends about the affair, and near-misses when the pair’s respective partners became suspicious of messages on their mobile phones, the couple continued their liaisons.

The paper said a falling-out between the brothers over Giggs supposedly flirting with one of Natasha’s friends meant he pulled out of being best man at her wedding to Rhodri in Las Vegas last summer.

He also failed to turn up at a celebration party in Manchester – instead, fatefully, attending a friend’s birthday event in London where he met Imogen Thomas. Shortly after his last tryst with Natasha, rumours began to circulate that he was the mystery footballer who had taken out an injunction forbidding discussion of his affair with Miss Thomas.

Betrayed: Rhodri Giggs pictured in holiday with his wife Natasha


Natasha texted him to ask if this was true. He reportedly insisted: ‘No way. It’s not me.’

The following month, however, shortly before Twitter users broadcast the truth around the world, she realised he was lying.

In a furious text message she wrote: ‘I know u may not have any loyalties towards me n my feelings, that’s fine… now I no longer have any loyalties to u!

‘Any kind of feelings or respect I may have had for u disappeared when I realized how much u have manipulated me! You’re an idiot!’

However Giggs allegedly responded: ‘What the **** u going on about? This has been the worst 2 weeks of my life!!!’

Natasha also accused the £80,000-a-week star of being astonishingly tight-fisted, the paper said. He allegedly conducted their liaisons in empty flats she was marketing and left her to pay for rounds of drinks and expensive hotel rooms.

Giggs is said to have left on a make-or-break foreign holiday with his wife and children before yesterday’s allegations appeared. His mother Lynne, who lives a few doors from his £6million mansion in Worsley, Manchester, refused to comment.

His younger brother was described as ‘in a bad way’ by a friend at the marital home, a £170,000 terrace townhouse in Bolton. Last night Rhodri changed his Facebook profile picture to a defiant quote reading: ‘Isn’t it weird how people talk s*** about you, when the only thing they actually know about you is your name?’ Rhodri combines his duties as player-manager of non-league Salford City with a day job delivering lorryloads of paper.

Max Clifford, who is representing both Natasha and Imogen Thomas, said the whole sordid saga would have remained under wraps had Giggs not obtained the gagging order, because Miss Thomas had not wanted it made public.

He added that Miss Thomas was ‘hurt and very upset’.

‘It’s a double-edged sword for her – it is horrible to find out this has been going on, but she does feel vindicated because this shows the kind of man he really is.’


source:dailymail

Kate sparkled, William and Harry looked so dapper - pity about the race!

By SARAH OLIVER

Royal occasion: The Queen with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge along with Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice in the parade ring before the start of the Investec Derby


It was, in the end, the greatest show on turf.

Not the Derby, the classic flat race which is one of the highlights of the equestrian calendar, but the joyous family day out enjoyed very publicly by the Queen at Epsom Racecourse yesterday.

The biggest gathering of the Royal Family since the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge rendered the disappointing third-place finish of her much-fancied colt Carlton House almost trifling.


Come on, Carlton House!: Kate and Wills and the Royal party watch the Queen's horse at the Epson Derby 2011



Young royals: Princes William and Harry, dressed to the nines in their suits arrive at the Epsom Derby, with Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge at their side. Always the joker, Harry performs one of his silly walks


Family affair: They made their way to the royal enclosure to show support for the Queen's horse, Carlton House


Pink lady: The Queen arrives at the Epsom Derby in high spirits - and in a bright outfit - to cheer on her horse, which unfortunately did not win.


Kate dazzled in a collarless off-white jacket over a diaphanous white frock which showcased long legs shod in this season’s nude platform shoes.

On her head she wore a Forties-style cappuccino-coloured hat with her hair rolled tightly to the nape of her neck.

She was on the arm of her husband Prince William, resplendent in top hat and tails, accompanied by a similarly-clad Prince Harry.


Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, kept things simple, in a stylish off-white outfit with a nude-coloured fascinator



Relatively sane: Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice both made a reasonable recovery after the fashion disasters at the Royal Wedding


Deep in thought: William and Kate chat to a friend while the Queen watches the track, clutching her race programme


Hats off to them: The princes minus their top hats, with Kate


Come on! Eugenie and Harry shout some encouragement during the race


Their appearance alongside Prince Andrew with his daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Princess Alexandra and Prince Philip at a private rather than a public occasion, underlined the astonishing sense of renewal within the Firm.

(Curiously, Kate’s mother Carole Middleton, a member of a racing syndicate, also had a horse running yesterday. It said much about the ease with which Kate has joined the Firm that she carried out her role with such aplomb while her mum mingled with the crowd.)

But if it was a regally united front, it was also a charmingly relaxed one.


Stylish: Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice look chic and summery in their outfits for the racing event - a far cry from the dresses they wore for their cousin's wedding



Nail-biting: The Queen looks as though her mind might be on her horse's performance as grandson Harry looks on in the background


A right royal gathering: The Queen enjoys her family's company at Epsom


From the moment the Queen stepped from her Rolls-Royce to the strains of the National Anthem played by the Central Band of the RAF at 1pm, she appeared at her ease.

At 3.30pm she strode across to the parade ground to see Carlton House, named after a historic London Royal residence, being walked around the ring by his stable girl.

She laughed and chatted with other owners, her mood doubtless reflecting the fact that her horse had been declared 5-2 favourite by the bookies.

By 4pm, it seemed that more eyes were on the Royal Box, garlanded in Her Majesty’s racing colours of red, purple and gold, than were watching her longstanding jockey Ryan Moore as he entered the stalls.


Mum's the word: Kate's mother, Carole Middleton, was also at Epsom today. Right, the young royals enjoying the racing action


Horses for courses: Mickael Barzalona riding Pour Moi (second left, blue) challenges wide and late to win the Investec Derby. The Queen's horse Carlton House is fourth from left (jockey in red and purple top) - and finished third


Champion: Jockey Mickael Barzalona celebrates winning the Investec Derby on Pour Moi


Great white: Kate dazzled the crowd in a white dress while Princess Beatrice keeps hold of her hair


The 120,000-strong crowd, excitement and anticipation rising as the late-afternoon sun warmed the Epsom Downs, did a poor job of disguising their partisan support.

But if they’d hoped to see the Queen biting her nails, they were disappointed for she remained to the rear of the Royal Balcony, perhaps unable to watch the running of the one-and-a-half-mile course with its tortuous inclines and deceptive cambers.

To the fore, Sophie Wessex covered her eyes with her hands as Prince Harry punched the air and Beatrice and Eugenie hopped with excitement.


Dazzling: Newlywed Kate, still tanned from her recent honeymoon, smiles broadly while Eugenie watches the fourth race at Epsom


Fun day out: Kate and Eugenie share a joke at the races


This sporting life: The royals, including Prince Andrew (right) gather to watch the horses in action


Glowing: Sophie, Duchess of Wessex looked smart in a champagne silk skirt suit and large feathered hat


Nice day for a flutter: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Edward at Epsom


source: dailymail