The Queen and a Lord are the stars but Frankie fears he may be sent to the Tower

In 2005 they staged Royal Ascot on the Knavesmire. In 2020 they are staging Royal Ascot on Valium. The world's most iconic racing event is this year an unavoidably subdued affair but on its second day the meeting truly burst into life, the stars of the show being first a Lord and then the Queen.

Never before has Royal Ascot been more purely a racing event, all the paraphernalia of pomp, pageantry and silly hats dispensed with in order to make it viable.

Many who would have engaged with a conventional royal meeting might have deemed this one pointless and switched over to Pointless, or whatever afternoon quiz show was being aired at the time. A devastating performance in the Prince of Wales's Stakes would not have grabbed their attention. A Royal Ascot success for the Queen just might have done.