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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Chiara Fiorillo

Sophie's surprise rare outing with dad as Charles finally celebrates Ascot win

The Duchess of Edinburgh today enjoyed a rare outing with her father at Royal Ascot while King Charles and Queen Camilla finally celebrated a win.

Sophie, 58, stepped out wearing a Susannah dress with a pansy floral print as she arrived at the races with her 92-year-old dad, Christopher Rhys-Jones.

The father and daughter duo were pictured standing arm-in-arm at the annual racehorse event and smiled as they watched the royal carriage procession.

Sophie previously attended Ascot with her father but the pair do not step out in public together often.

The Duchess does not often talk about her parents, but last year she opened up about her grief following the death of her mother, Mary Rhys-Jones, back in 2005.

The father-and-daughter duo enjoyed a rare outing together (UK Press via Getty Images)
The pair are not seen in public together often (UK Press via Getty Images)

During an appearance at the National Federation of Women's Institutes annual meeting, she said: "To this day, I miss her very much and there are moments where I hear some music she loved or I do something I know she'd have wanted to hear about, which makes her early departure very hard."

Today, Sophie and her dad were joined by other royals at Ascot, an event the late Queen Elizabeth II loved.

For the occasion, Sophie wore a midi dress with three-quarter-length sleeves, a V-neckline and a waistband.

Meanwhile, the King and Queen looked happy as they watched their first Royal Ascot winner triumph in the King George V states.

King Charles and Queen Camilla looked happy as their horse won (Tim Merry/Daily Mirror)

Charles and Camilla were a picture of delight as their thoroughbred Desert Hero, an 18-1 longshot, crossed the line first in a photo finish.

As they watched the final moments of the race, run over a mile and four furlongs, the Queen waved her official programme in the air in excitement and Charles looked across at his wife in joy at the end.

The couple clearly have the racing bug and their first win made up for two days of frustration, watching their previous Royal Ascot entrants beaten on the track this week.

When the victory was confirmed by the race track announcer the thousands packed into the stands cheered.

The King and Queen at Royal Ascot today (Tim Merry/Daily Mirror)

As the winning owners, the King and Queen came down from the royal box to the parade ring to receive their trophy and shook winning jockey Tom Marquand warmly by the hand, with Charles, grasping it as they spoke.

They were joined by John Warren, their racing and bloodstock adviser, who earlier this week said the couple were very much looking forward to a week of racing.

Charles and Camilla's first win opens their Royal Ascot account but they have a long way to go to eclipse the late Queen who had more than 20 victories during her 70-year reign at the racecourse.

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