The best thing about live streaming Royal Ascot, other than not having to run the gauntlet of the famously severe dress code — fascinators are expressly forbidden in the Royal Enclosure unless you're under 17 (and it can't be avoided), and there's to be no mixing of Scottish and Royal Enclosure sartorial rules, though tartan trews with a morning coat and top hat will be tolerated — is that all five days of the horse racing festival are free-to-air in lots of places.
Read on and we'll show you how to watch Royal Ascot live streams from anywhere with a VPN and potentially for FREE.
Royal Ascot 2025 runs from Tuesday, June 17 to Saturday, June 21. Full race schedule below.
► Daily start times: 2:30 p.m. BST / 9:30 a.m. ET / 6:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. AEST
• FREE stream — ITVX (U.K.)
• FREE stream — Virgin Media Play (Ireland)
• FREE stream — Racing.com (Australia)
• U.S. — Peacock / NBC via Sling
• Watch anywhere — Try NordVPN 100% risk free
There are 35 races in total, including eight Group 1 events. With a total prize pot of £10 million, the very smallest purse is £110,000. There's at least £650,000 on the table for each of the Group 1 races, which include the The King Charles III Stakes on Tuesday, Prince of Wales' Stakes on Wednesday, Gold Cup on Thursday, Commonwealth Cup on Friday, and Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on Saturday.
Royal Ascot 2025 marks 200 years of the Royal Procession, a ceremonial pageant staged daily at 9 a.m. ET, first started by the ostentatious King George IV. King Charles and Queen Camilla are amongst the royals set to attend Ascot Racecourse this week.
Here's how to watch Royal Ascot live streams from anywhere in the world — starting with FREE options.
How to watch Royal Ascot for free
All five days of Royal Ascot 2025 are FREE-to-air in the U.K., Ireland and Australia, courtesy of ITVX (U.K.), Virgin Media Play (Ireland) and Racing.com (Australia).
But what if you're based in one of these countries but aren't at home to catch that free Royal Ascot coverage? Maybe you're on holiday in another country and don't want to spend money on pay TV, when you'd usually be able to tune in free of charge at home?
Don't worry — you can watch it using a VPN instead. We'll show you how to do that below.
How to watch Royal Ascot 2025 from anywhere
Away from home at the moment and blocked from watching the horses on your usual subscription?
You can still watch Royal Ascot live thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The software allows your devices to appear to be back in your home country regardless of where in the world you are. So ideal for viewers away on vacation or on business. Our favorite is NordVPN. It's the best on the market:
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're away from the U.K. but want to view ITVX as usual, you'd select a U.K. server from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head over to ITVX and enjoy!
How to watch Royal Ascot live streams in the U.S.
Peacock is providing complete coverage of Royal Ascot in the U.S., though the Day 5 action on Saturday is also being televised on NBC.
A subscription to Peacock starts at $7.99 a month or $79.99 per year, but you can pay $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year to cut out most ads.
NBC, meanwhile, is a local broadcast network that can accessed with one of the best TV antennas or through a cable TV package.
If you've already cut the cord and don't have cable, you can watch NBC on a live TV service, like Sling TV, Fubo, YouTube TV, Hulu With Live TV, and DirecTV Stream.
Of these options, we recommend Sling TV and Fubo, two of the best cable TV alternatives.
British resident visiting the U.S.? You can still watch your usual Royal Ascot 2025 stream by making use of NordVPN.
How to watch Royal Ascot live streams in the U.K.
ITV1 and ITV4 are showing all five days of Royal Ascot, with live streaming available via the channel's ITVX streaming service.
That means all of the coverage is completely free-to-air. Just bear in mind that you'll need a valid U.K. TV licence to watch the action on TV or via online streaming.
Don't forget that ITV also have a build-up show, "ITV Racing: The Opening Show" streaming on ITV4 from 9:30 a.m. BST every morning of the festival.
If you're currently traveling overseas, don't worry, as you can use NordVPN to watch your usual service from abroad.
How to watch Royal Ascot live streams in Australia
As explained above, Royal Ascot is being shown on the free Racing.com TV channel and Racing.com website. Foxtel customers can also watch on Sky Thoroughbred Central.
Just be warned that the each day's racing runs between 11:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. AEST.
If you're away from Australia right now and want to watch your usual coverage from back home, use a quality VPN like NordVPN.
Watch Royal Ascot live streams in Canada
All five days of Royal Ascot are being shown on Sportsnet in Canada. To live stream the festival you need Sportsnet Plus, which starts at CA$24.99/month or CA$199.99 per year.
The full week will be broadcast on the SN1 channel.
If you're away from home and struggling to tap into your subscription, you could use a VPN to help you access a Royal Ascot live stream from anywhere. We recommend NordVPN.
Royal Ascot schedule 2025
(All times ET)
Tuesday, June 17
- 9:30 a.m. — The Queen Anne Stakes (Group 1) 4+
- 10:05 a.m. — The Coventry Stakes (Group 2) 2
- 10:40 a.m. — The King Charles III Stakes (Group 1) 3+
- 11:20 a.m. — The St James’s Palace Stakes (Group 1) 3 colts
- 12 p.m. — The Ascot Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-100) 4+
- 12:35 p.m. — The Wolferton Stakes (Listed) 4+
- 1:10 p.m. — The Copper Horse Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 4+
Click to see full race list below▼
Wednesday, June 18
- 9:30 a.m. — The Queen Mary Stakes (Group 2) 2 fillies
- 10:05 a.m. — The Queen’s Vase (Group 2) 3
- 10:40 a.m. — The Duke of Cambridge Stakes (Group 2) 4+ fillies & mares
- 11:20 a.m. — The Prince of Wales's Stakes (Group 1) 4+
- 12 p.m. — The Royal Hunt Cup (Heritage Handicap) (Class 2) (Open) 3+
- 12:35 p.m. — The Kensington Palace Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 4+ fillies & mares
- 1:10 p.m. — The Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed) 2
Thursday, June 19
- 9:30 a.m. — The Norfolk Stakes (Group 2) 2
- 10:05 a.m. — The King George V Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 3
- 10:40 a.m. — The Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2) 3 fillies
- 11:20 a.m. — The Gold Cup (Group 1) 4+
- 12 p.m. — The Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 3 colts & geldings
- 12:35 p.m. — The Hampton Court Stakes (Group 3) 3
- 1:10 p.m. — The Buckingham Palace Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 3+
Friday, June 20
- 9:30 a.m. — The Albany Stakes (Group 3) 2 fillies
- 10:05 a.m. — The Commonwealth Cup (Group 1) 3 colts & fillies
- 10:40 a.m. — The Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 3+
- 11:20 a.m. — The Coronation Stakes (Group 1) 3 fillies
- 12 p.m. — The Sandringham Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 3 fillies
- 12:35 p.m. — The King Edward VII Stakes (Group 2) 3 colts & geldings
- 1:10 p.m. — The Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 3
Saturday, June 21
- 9:30 a.m. — The Chesham Stakes (Listed) 2
- 10:05 a.m. — The Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2) 4+
- 10:40 a.m. — The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Group 1) 4+
- 11:20 a.m. — The Jersey Stakes (Group 3) 3
- 12 p.m. — The Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (Class 2) (0-110) 3+
- 12:35 p.m. — The Golden Gates Stakes (Handicap) (Class 2) (0-105) 3
- 1:10 p.m. — The Queen Alexandra Stakes (Conditions) (Class 2) 4+
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