Royal Ascot is the world's most famous race meeting, steeped in history dating back to 1711. The Royal family attend the meeting, arriving each day in a horse-drawn carriage. It is the major event in the britis social calendar, and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exeeds coverage of the actual racing. The Royal enclosure has a strict dress code: male attendees must wear full mornign dress including a top hat, whilst ladies must not show bare midriffs or shoulders and must wear hats. Outside the Royal Enclosure the dress code is less severe, but many people choose to wear formal dress anyway. to be admitted to the Royal Enclosure for the first time one must either be a guest of a member or be sponsored for membership by a member wha has attended at least four times. Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this Europe's best attended race meeting. Many of the visitors know nothing about racing, and are there purely for the social side and to drink large quantities of champagne. This leads to a split among racing fans, some of whom are glad to see racing in the spotlight, and getting more attention, while others do not like the meeting despite the quality of racing.