The Queen is expected to join thousands of racegoers for the start of Royal Ascot on Tuesday – where the fashion stakes are just as high as the expectation on the jockeys.

The event is regularly attended by the Queen and there is speculation she may have invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join her in the royal box this week at the Berkshire race course.

A carriage procession, with the Queen at its head, signals the start of each day of the event, and Harry and Meghan could be part of the spectacle.

Royal Ascot is renowned for its strict dress code and this year men must wear socks or risk being turned away from the famous race meet which is one of the highlights of the social calendar.

With the UK having enjoyed good weather in the past few months the fashion for wearing shoes without socks may have crept into Royal Ascot.

The Royal Ascot arbiters of style aim to put a stop to the practice but anyone caught out can now visit the William Hill branch in Ascot which has 500 branded pairs of socks available.

Rupert Adams from William Hill said: “Ascot have tightened up the dress code for the royal meeting and many of the millennial generation might not even own socks.

“The good news is we have 500 special edition socks in our shop on the high street which is close enough that you should not miss any of the action.”

Punters traditionally have a bet on the colour of the Queen’s hat with blue the favourite with bookies at the moment for the first day.

Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes said: “Punters reckon Her Majesty will opt for a trusty shade of blue on the opening day of the Royal meeting.”

Last year there was a massive gamble on the Queen wearing blue as she wore blue to the state opening of Parliament before travelling to Royal Ascot, but she changed into another coloured outfit for the race meet.

William Hill also have blue as their favourite colour with odds of 5-2 blue, followed by pink 3-1, Green and yellow 4-1 and purple 8-1 Purple.