Emotional King Charles celebrates 18-1 Royal Ascot win with Camilla after inheriting horse from late Queen
KING CHARLES had a tear in his eye as he watched a horse he inherited from his late mother spring a Royal Ascot shock.
The King and Queen Camilla were seen cheering wildly in the Royal Box as they saw 18-1 outsider Desert Hero win the £50,000 King George V Stakes.
Zara Tindall, the late Queen’s granddaughter who was at the Berkshire track, said: “Think how proud our grandmother, the Queen, would’ve 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’s victory cost the bookies a reported £1million as the public rushed to back the horse, trained by William Haggas.
Charles laughed and joked with jockey Tom Marquand – husband of trailblazing rider Hollie Doyle – in the winner’s enclosure.
While Camilla, who is said to be obsessed with racing, was close to tears soon after victory was confirmed, with her husband also touched by the occasion.
And the monarch was so overcome with emotion afterwards that he actually dropped the trophy.
It was fitting The King’s first Ascot triumph came ten years to the day since his late mother The Queen had her biggest ever win.
The late Elizabeth II landed the Gold Cup with Estimate in 2013.
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Charles and Camilla inherited the entire Royal racing operation after the late Queen passed away last September.
There were doubts over Charles’ love of the sport his late mum held so close to her heart.
One report claimed he was ‘not looking forward’ to Ascot and considered it an ‘ordeal’.
But there was no questioning his joy at bagging a big winner at racing’s poshest meeting.
A delighted Marquand said: “Genuinely, that’s one of the proudest moments I’ve had in the saddle so far.
“It’s not to the same level that Estimate was on but I grew up watching horses like that win for the Queen and to ride the King’s first Royal Ascot winner is unbelievable. It’s a dream.
“Racing has an amazing way of making things happen when they’re meant to. Riding a royal winner at the royal meeting is so, so special.
“I had to thread the eye of the needle but he was supremely game.
“As the Haggas team show time and time again, they just get it right time and time again.”
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