This year’s Royal Ascot meeting, one of the highlights of the British summer sporting and cultural calendar, will play out from June 16-20. However, it will not be the meeting that we have come to know and love. There will be no Royal procession, no top hats and tails, no women flaunting their fabulous headpieces and outfits, no fine dining and no public, none whatsoever. The rest will stay, five glorious days of action on the flat, although with the minimum attendance — jockeys, trainers, stable staff and officials ... all of whom will be required to wear face masks. Royal Ascot behind closed doors marks another extraordinary chapter in the racecourse’s, history since it was founded by Queen Anne in 1711. Here is a look back at some of the previous meetings which had to be adapted to the times and circumstances: