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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Steven Smith

Former royal butler says Queen liked a bet at Royal Ascot, but had a strict spending limit

Ascot Grant Harrold Royal Ascot Zara Tindall Queen Elizabeth II

Grant Harrold is a former royal butler to King Charles, the Queen and many other senior figures in the royal family, who oversaw his fair share of Royal Ascots during his years of service.

Speaking to BoyleSports, he revealed that Royal Ascot was like Christmas for the Queen - who would even turn down a wedding or other family event for the horse racing fixture. Grant also said that His Majesty may not be as present at the Royal meeting as his late mother and will only go out of a sense of duty, claiming that the real passion for racing in the royal family now lies with Camila, Princess Anne and Zara Tindall.

Mr Harrold said of the Queen: "I know for absolute fact that she put bets on. I don't think she would put anything silly on, like she wouldn’t put thousands or hundreds of thousands. Just literally, I don't know, £10 or £20.

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