Royal Ascot racegoers gearing up for the start of the second day of the famous meet have taken a punt on blue as the colour of the Queen’s hat.

Bookies traditionally take bets on the colour of the head of state’s hat, and they hope to have better luck than Tuesday when the favourite yellow was heavily backed.

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said they had shortened the odds on blue from 7-2 to 2-1 favourite, adding: “We will be feeling blue if another hat horror occurs today.”

Queen
The Queen at Royal Ascot on Monday (Steve Parsons/PA)

Harry Aitkenhead from Coral said his firm had also made blue their 5-2 favourite: “The Queen looked resplendent in yellow yesterday but it was the punters cheering, not the bookmakers, as they successful predicted the colour.

“Today blue seems to be the pick and we’ve seen a number of bets on it this morning.”

The Queen is expected to arrive at the course in her traditional carriage procession and among her guests in the royal box will be the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

Charles and Camilla are due to present the winning prizes in the aptly named Prince of Wales’s Stakes while the Earl of Wessex will perform the same role in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes.