(2 Jun 2012) ROYAL DAY AT THE RACES
It was a royal day at the races, as Queen Elizabeth II presented the winner's trophy to Joseph O'Brien who rode St. Nicholas Abbey to win the Coronation Cup at Epsom Racecourse, south of London.
The Epsom Derby is the kick-off to a four-day celebration of the British monarch's 60 years on the throne.
Diamond Jubilee festivities officially began with a 41-gun salute fired by the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery at Horse Guards Parade in central London.
The 86-year-old monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, visited Epsom racecourse south of the capital for the Derby, one of the year's biggest horse-racing meetings.
Earlier the Queen waved to the 130,000-strong crowd as she was driven down the racecourse in a Bentley bearing the Royal Standard the car's sun roof kept shut under gray skies, before settling down to watch the races from the royal box.
Dressed in a spring-like blue coat and matching hat over a blue-and-white floral dress, the Queen was accompanied by members of the royal family including her sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and Andrew's daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
The monarch is a racing fan and horse breeder who has attended the Derby for decades and reads the Racing Post each day over breakfast, although unlike many of her subjects she does not gamble.
Later in the weekend the Queen will make a trip down the River Thames, and then take in a concert all accompanied by tens of thousands of her subjects, coming out to fete a monarch whose longevity has given her the status of the nation's favourite grandmother.
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