How did you get in dressed like that?

THE EARL OF MARCH (above), host of Glorious Good-wood, was fulminating. "I won't be asking that visitors wear morning coats, but I would like to see the ladies in nice traditional English summer frocks, with linen suits and Panama hats for the gentlemen," he is reported to have said. "We have far too many chavs, I'm afraid."

The Earl's attire would barely have looked out of place in 1907, the year that Edward VII rejected morning dress at Good-wood in favour of linen.

But, hold on, what's this? Could that possibly be a chav by his side? Look at the bright green boob tube - aren't "bare tops" banned at the race meeting? And don't those culottes fall distinctly into the category of shorts, another no-no at the West Sussex racecourse? Outrageous.

Still, exceptions can be made, what? And who than Zara Phillips, 11th in line to the throne, pictured with the Earl last year. She stuck with the shorts this year, too, pairing them with a tight black shirt. And that chav chic trademark: an oversized pair of gold hoop earrings.

SM

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