Will Yellow Brighten Up Ladies Day For Queens Hat Punters?

While the Queen attended the Trooping of the Colour yesterday in her green outfit, bookies William Hill were also thinking colours - as they considered a number of requested bets for the colour of Her Majesty's hat on Ladies Day at Royal Ascot.

Having been stung by a coup two years a go when Her Majesty sported a Brown ensemble, William Hill are a little cautious about the surprisingly early requests. Although they made blue their favourite when the betting opened last week, yellow has been trimmed up to 4-1 following a couple of small bets on that colour today.

William Hill's spokeswoman Jennie Prest said, "Her Majesty has recently made public appearances wearing blue (Derby Day), purple (Falklands War Anniversary) and green (at the Trooping of the Colour) and she also has to pick two outfits for the first two days of the Royal Ascot prior to Ladies Day."

"On the past three Ladies Days she has worn white, brown and green so she may well go for a different colour this year to make an impression - bright colours are very popular this season and yellow is very summery so it is an obvious choice."

"We have been assured Her Majesty doesn't make the decision about what to wear until the day, but our staff in our Windsor shop will keeping their eyes open for anyone requesting a big bet over the next couple of days just in case!"