Royal Regatta Henely (Girl watching the rowers)

*The picture is unframed*

Henley Royal Regatta is an annual four-day series of rowing races held the first week in July at Henley, on the River Thames in Oxfordshir. The regatta was established in 1839; and in 1851 Prince Albert became its patron and gave the event its “royal” prefix. The regulation distance for the races is 1 mile 550 yards (2,100 m). Probably the most significant of the traditional Henley races are the Grand Challenge Cup, the oldest (established in 1839), which usually attracts the world’s finest eights (crews using eight oars), and the Diamond Challenge Sculls (1844), one of the world’s top single sculls events (one man, two oars). There are several other events, for various types of crews, most of which are open to entries from anywhere in the world.

It is a smart social event with people enjoying picnics beside the river as they watch. There are several Rowing Club Enclosures for their crews and other members and the grandest ‘Steward’s Enclosure’ for Royal Regatta Members and their guests, which has a number of smart lunch and tea marquees, champagne and Pimms bars, a Band Stand and band and grandstand. High Standards of dress and behaviour are maintained: Gentlemen wear blazers and ties, flannel trousers and brogues; Ladies wear dresses which must reach below the knee and often wear hats. The standards are aggressively maintained by the stewards, who do not allow anyone under-dressed in the Enclosure.