Sophie Campbell

My brother held out his top hat. ‘Wow, that’s huge!’ she said, impressed, adding: ‘Six thousand pounds.’ ‘WHAT?’ we both said in unison, like those people on the Antiques Roadshow who have just discovered the umbrella stand is a T’ang vase. ‘If it was in top condition,’ she added hastily, before we could try and sell it to her.

There is always some discreet barrier to keep everyone else out, but it is also essential that they can see in, in order to realise exactly what they are missing. In Victorian times, Ascot’s Royal Enclosure was fenced in with iron railings like a zoo, as if its occupants might assemble at certain times to be thrown canapés by the general public.