One month after their royal wedding in 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were in attendance at Royal Ascot, with jockey Frankie Dettori stealing the show with a rogue kiss
Prince Harry once playfully reprimanded jockey Frankie Dettori after he kissed Meghan Markle at Royal Ascot. Just a month after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s lavish wedding at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, they made a return to Ascot Racecourse for the first day of the historic Royal horse racing event.
The couple didn’t attend the 2019 event as Meghan was on maternity leave with their first son, Archie. Following their dramatic decision to step down from senior Royal duties in 2020, neither have attended the five-day extravaganza since, spending most of their time in America as their relationship with the Royal Family continues to strain.
However, in 2018, they presented the winning trophy for the feature race of the opening day, the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes, with the late Queen Elizabeth II also in attendance, and the winning jockey of the event caused quite a commotion.
Dettori was the triumphant rider. The Italian boasts an impressive 81 winners at the Royal meeting over the years and is famed for his charismatic flying dismount, as per Aberdeen Live.
The famous jockey, who featured in series 23 of reality TV show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, was victorious on board three-year-old colt Without Parole, riding for trainer John Gosden.
Dettori was in high spirits after his mount, the 9-4 favourite, burst from the stalls and secured a half-length victory to take home the £300,000 prize.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were spotted in the winners’ enclosure post-race, where Dettori received his trophy but not before he cheekily kissed Meghan’s hand, prompting a playful telling-off from a blushing Prince Harry who pointed his finger in mock admonishment.
The crowd enjoyed a chuckle over the exchange, and the successful Dettori-Gosden duo celebrated further triumphs with Monarchs Glen in the Wolferton Stakes and Calyx in the Coventry Stakes earlier that day.
“A fantastic day for the whole team. To have three winners in a week is amazing. To have three winners on the first day is fantastic,” Dettori said on their opening day success.
Reflecting on the St. James’s Palace Stakes, Dettori added: “I was afraid of Ryan (Moore, on long-time race leader US Navy Flag) when he got those three lengths in the straight, as I know what a good horse he is.
“I went all guns blazing after him, and a furlong and a half out, I found myself in front with nobody to help me. I was rowing like in the boat race on the Thames to get to the line.”
Despite the triumphant and incredibly successful day, Dettori was slapped with a seven-day whip ban for his ride on Without Parole and subsequently fined £4,300.