The King was spotted looking teary-eyed at Royal Ascot after watching a race alongside Queen Camilla.
A visibly emotional Charles has followed in his mother’s footsteps with a love for horse racing (Image: Getty)
King Charles was spotted wiping away tears at Royal Ascot after a horse he inherited from his late mother romped to victory in a prestigious race. The King appeared visibly moved in the Royal Box after rank outsider Desert Hero pulled off a stunning upset under leading jockey Tom Marquand to win the 2023 King George V Stakes – named after Charles’ great-grandfather.
The three-year-old colt, trained by Yorkshire-based William Haggas, held off the late challenge of the Qatari royal family’s Valiant King to prevail by a head at odds of 18-1. The triumph earned Charles a handsome £51,540 in prize money – yet the fairytale victory was beyond value for another reason entirely.
Desert Hero was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II, with the win coming poignantly at the first Royal Ascot since her passing the previous September. It also came exactly 10 years after another one of her horses, Estimate, famously stormed to victory in the Ascot Gold Cup – the blue-riband race of the five-day festival.
Speaking after the win, the late Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall said: “It’s bittersweet, isn’t it? Think how proud our grandmother the Queen would have been. To have a winner for Charles and Camilla and keep that dream alive was incredible. It’s a new excitement. Like all those owners that come here and have a horse here, having that dream, that hope and then fulfilling it is incredible.
“The horses are the main game here, that’s why we get involved and love them and the competition, the adrenaline… it’s indescribable!”
The King and Queen have been back at Ascot this week (Image: Getty)
The triumph served as a poignant homage to Queen Elizabeth II, whose passion for racing extended across more than seven decades and witnessed her breed and own hundreds of victorious horses throughout her reign. Royal Ascot consistently remained a pinnacle of her calendar, with the late monarch seldom absent from the esteemed fixture.
Charles has endeavoured to uphold that legacy since ascending to the throne, frequently attending the Berkshire spectacle alongside Queen Camilla, who shares a similar enthusiasm for racing. Desert Hero subsequently secured another lucrative victory in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, delivering Charles prize money exceeding £110,000.
He then travelled to Doncaster for the St Leger – amongst Britain’s five Classic races – where he achieved a courageous third-place finish. He underwent gelding in February 2024 but proved unable to recapture his earlier brilliance and was ultimately retired at the age of five.
