Royal Ascot 2025: Rare sight in King Charles’ carriage as Marchioness of Salisbury whips out her mobile phone

By Victoria Ward

For the Marchioness of Salisbury, such a grand arrival at Royal Ascot had to be captured for posterity.

No matter that she was travelling alongside the King and Queen, the Marchioness could not resist whipping out her mobile phone to photograph the moment.

The Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury joined the King and Queen in the first carriage of the royal procession on Thursday, the third day of the racing spectacle.

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As their carriage sailed onto the Berkshire course, the Marchioness plucked her phone from her handbag and held it aloft to capture the cheering crowds.

If their Majesties were surprised, they did not show it, waving happily at delighted racegoers as their guest documented the moment.

The Marquess is Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 78, who worked in banking before being elected Tory MP for South Dorset in 1979.

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As Viscount Cranbourne, he became leader of the Lords in 1994 and later, Lead of the Opposition in the Lords, when he negotiated with Tony Blair’s Labour Government to retain a certain number of hereditary peers.

He was knighted in 2012 and in 2019 was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Garter. He and his wife, Hannah, 81, also joined the King and Queen for lunch at Windsor Castle, followed by the traditional Garter Day procession and service on Monday.

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The couple have five grown up children and live at the family seat, Hatfield House in Hertfordshire.

Following swiftly behind them in the second carriage were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, who are celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary, alongside the Princess Royal and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

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In the third carriage was Princess Beatrice with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, elder daughter of the late Aga Khan, and William Haggas, a horse trainer.

Zara and Mike Tindall, who have attended every day this week, were in the fourth carriage alongside, William Parente, only grandson of William “Chopper” Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland, and his wife, Alison Swan Parente, founder of the School of Artisan Food.

The royal tour de force on Gold Cup day – otherwise known as Ladies’ Day – at the Berkshire course, came after the Princess of Wales pulled out of a planned appearance on Wednesday at the last minute.

The carriage list, published at 12pm, listed the Princess alongside the Prince of Wales in the second carriage of the royal procession.

However, 20 minutes after it was released, a Kensington Palace source said she would not be attending as she continued to prioritise her recovery following cancer treatment.

The Princess had made three public appearances within the last week, at a solo engagement at the V&A Museum in east London last Tuesday, at Trooping the Colour on Saturday and then at the Garter Day service in Windsor on Monday.

She was said to be disappointed to miss out on Ascot but her absence was seen as a reminder of the complexities of “the cancer journey”, which she acknowledged last September was “scary and unpredictable for everyone”.

The King and Queen were left disappointed on Wednesday when their horse, Rainbows Edge, slumped to a seventh place finish in the Kensington Palace Stakes, just a day after their first runner, Reaching High, bred by Elizabeth II, came in ninth place in the Ascot Stakes.

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They will now be pinning their hopes on Purple Rainbow, their runner in the Sandringham Stakes on Friday and The King’s Falcon, in the Golden Gates Stakes Handicap on Saturday.

© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2025