How Queen Elizabeth Allowed Divorcees To Finally Meet Her At Royal Ascot

Queen Elizabeth changed the way divorcees are treated at the Royal Ascot years ago.

Since she was 19 years old, Her Majesty has been attending the Royal Ascot. And since the 1790s, the event has featured a royal stand after a builder named George Slingsby erected the first permanent building on the site.

The Royal Enclosure, as it is known today, was commissioned by King George VI in 1845 and access to it was restricted to those that received a personal invitation from the king. In the past, divorced people were not allowed to enter the Royal Enclosure.

But journalist Sally Quinn told The Washington Post that the monarch had a change of heart when she became Queen.

“The Queen was in her glass-encased Royal Box one day, surveying the crowds on the grass below, and inquired of one of her guests who all those people were. It was pointed out that, in fact, on that very lawn stood no less than 11 convicted criminals – high-class criminals, to be sure,” she said.

Her Majesty was left feeling horrified after finding out that there were criminals there that she said that if they could be accepted in the Royal Enclosure then so should divorced individuals.

In the Amazon Prime documentary “The Story of Diana,” the narrator said that divorce has been a huge part of the American culture for a long time. But Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, said that the English people had a way of just burying their heads in the sand.

The narrator of the documentary added, “Where the Queen was present if you were a divorcee, you weren’t allowed in the Royal Enclosure. So, an actual divorce was a very big deal.”

But many years later, things have changed so much for the Queen and the Brits. Her Majesty allowed Prince Harry to wed Meghan Markle at a church on May 19 despite her status as a divorcee.