The Diary

The Gentleman’s Journal x Ascot Lunch

Gentleman's Journal, in association with Billecart-Salmon and Huntsman, host the inaugural Ascot Lunch

There are long lunches and then there are long lunches. This one spanned many dimensions at once. Sprawled across four spaces down in Carpark Number 1 (we are still uncertain if there are other carparks), the Gentleman’s Journal Ascot Lunch was a celebration for the ages: a jolly coming together of friends and racing aficionados under Berkshire’s frankly Saharan sun — and all supremely designed and executed by Studio White, the first name in party planning.

Out from two handsome restored Kingsley Land Rovers emerged a succession of vast, beading magnums of Rock Angel rosé and Billecart-Salmon champagne — the ideal refreshments for the morning-suited masses, many of whom had slipped a surreptitious ice cube under their top hats to survive the swelter. (Other coolants were available, of course: ‘Schooner Scorer’ Alex Hendy opted for a demi of cold Moretti.) The wines were expertly paired with some nifty Gentleman’s Journal-branded tins of caviar, served on good blinis and bolstered with excellent smoked salmon and cold, rare roast beef. This carried guests — including George and Camilla Blandford, Mathias le Fèvre, Daniel Fletcher, Archie Rutland, Perry Pearson, Tom Lucy, Margaux Lichine and David and Jemima Tollemache — amply through to the Royal Enclosure and its confetti of lost betting slips, before they headed back to the encampment for scones, tea and a splash more champagne. Important to stay hydrated out there, you see.