2021 in Photos: hats and highnesses at the Royal Ascot

The Royal Ascot, from June 15 to 19, 2021, was a soothing return to normal with horseraces, high-society visitors, and smiling royals - if only for a little while. After a year of lockdown and a series of tragedies in the British royal family, the Ascot race track once again became the theatre of an entertaining, sportive event.

These are the highlights of the five-day racing event - with an emphasis on aesthetics and royalty: the best hats and the most striking images of aristocrats at the Royal Ascot 2021.

The Royal Ascot drew 12,000 visitors each day, the Express reported. They came for horse races and to rekindle their relationships within the jet set.

The Queen only visited the last day of the races, while normally she would come and see them earlier on in the event.

Here she's inspecting horse Reach For The Moon with jockey Frankie Dettori ad racing manager John Warren.

The Queen's racing manager John Warren told the BBC that "she’s fanatic about racing, watching racing and breeding horses, and has been going to Ascot all of her adult life." The Queen's stables and thoroughbreds are among her most valuable and cherished personal possessions.

It was wonderful for the other attendants and racing fans to see her once again on the last day of Royal Ascot, Saturday June 19, and even see a genuine smile on the Queen's face.

The royal family's most frequent attendant of this year's Ascot races was Zara Tindall. That's only logical, because she's a skilled equestrian and Olympian (winning silver at the London Olympic Games in 2012).

Zara Tindal, née Phillips, led the way with stylish yet gracefully understated headpieces.

When the races started, however, Zara Tindall would be caught making faces of excitement and stress as her favourite horses attempted to take the lead.

This is her alongside Dolly Maude (middle) and Anna Lisa Balding (right) as they watch the King's Stand Stakes on the Royal Ascot's first day.

Aside from famous royals and heroic racers, there were a lot of artful headpieces to be admired at the five-day equestrian event.

Royal Ascot is a traditional high-society event with clearly defined dress codes. Men wear a waistcoat and tie with a black or grey top hat.

Ladies have to show up in formal daywear with skirts of modest length and tops with straps of one inch or greater, the Royal Ascot website explains.

However - and that's where it becomes interesting - the site adds that "a headpiece which has a solid base of 4 inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat." Check out the different ways in which women at the Royal Ascot ran with that idea.

This flower headdress must have had a solid base of four inches. It certainly drew the attention.

A tasteful combination of headpiece and dress creates the summum of elegance at the Royal Ascot.

Of course you want to draw (positive) attention with your expensive and unique hat.

It can be quite artsy as long as the basic dress rules of the event are followed.

This one has all kinds of things going on.

'How do I put this on?' was probably an often heard question before and during the event.

In any case: a mask had to be part of the outfit this year. COVID-19 is still very much among us and mass contagions among the thousands of attendants had to be prevented.

It's not always easy to get the mask right. Prince Charles helped Camilla Parker Bowles adjust her face covering as they attended the races on day 2 of the Royal Ascot.

The Countess of Wessex wore a beautifully understated creme-coloued mask with her feathered hat on day two of the Royal Ascot.

The Duchess of Cornwall had a mask made of the same material as her dress for the Ascot's first day. The heavenly blue is a colour she often chooses with success.

The same goes for the Princess Royal and her choice of a beautiful yellow.

Her elegant pillbox hat reminds us of Jackie Kennedy.

The men's top hats stay on for most of the time, the Royal Ascot website prescribes. Yet they are often tipped to greet acquaintances, as Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex is doing here.

Sophie Rhys Jones, Countess of Wessex, wore a beautiful dark green dress with a modest headpiece on Lady's Day.

The lesser-known the Lady, the more conspicuous the hat, or so it seems.

Royal family members tend to wear understated headpieces while other high-class though less famous visitors go all-out.

Here the sporty sunglasses are actually stealing the limelight.

Creme-coloured flowers that return in the print of the dress, an absolutely fabulous combination.

The best hats of this year's Royal Ascot were the ones with a flowery theme.

But let's not forget the main event of the Royal Ascot: the races.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex, celebrates a win.

Jockeys could care less about the fashion and hats of the Royal Ascot. This is what they work for: getting the trophy.

(In this case it's jockey Ryan Moore on day two - with admiring royals Camilla and Charles behind him)

Read more about the British royal family: All the times the Queen had to stay strong and carry on