Paul Tanfield .sx As Tony and topper make an Ascot debut .sx . THE GRANDSTAND ELITE PLAY ONE-UPMANSHIP .sx IT was 6.55 yesterday morning when the Duke of Norfolk wandered across the green lawns of Ascot .sx The new +1,000,000 stand that he had watched rise , brick-by-brick , was clouded with rain .sx And the wind had littered the paddock with leaves .sx His Grace ordered the leaves to be removed and the sweepers came out .sx He prodded the turf and announced that the going would be " a little soft .sx " But he looked hopefully at the sky and guessed that all would come well .sx LUNCH CONTEST .sx All did .sx The weather decided to co-operate and Ascot 1961 opened in all its glory .sx The crazy costumes and ridiculous hats .sx . The Royal Family driving up the course .sx . Antony Armstrong-Jones making his Ascot debut ( he and Princess Margaret were on their honeymoon during the meeting last year) .sx This year there are two sports at Ascot .sx There is the horse-racing- and there is the one-upmanship in the boxes of the new grandstand .sx Butlers and waitresses join in the second game along with those who have taken the boxes .sx They vie with each other to produce the most impressive lunch .sx This is more difficult than it may seem , for the Ascot caterers provide all the food .sx So it is the same for everyone- from Charles Clore to the Maharanee of Baroda , from Lew Grade to Lord Cornwallis .sx PASS THE MUSTARD .sx Yesterday it was melon and smoked salmon and lobster or a cold collation ( pronounced coalition by at least half the waitresses I spoke to ) and strawberries and cream .sx Then there were wines to order .sx Most people had champagne- of course .sx Mrs. John Valentine arrived from Sunbury-on-Thames clutching her cartwheel hat in one hand and a pot of mustard in the other .sx " I always like my mustard made with sherry , " she explained .sx She wasn't going to risk having the watered kind .sx HYLTON'S WINE .sx Jack Hylton brought his own wine .sx A few doors down the corridor someone had brought a lace tablecloth to replace the damask ones provided .sx John Topliss-Smith came with a laundry hamper containing crab- a present for his host .sx " Everyone seems to have lobster , " he said , " but really crab is much nicer .sx " The laundry basket ?sx It's the done thing to carry food about in a hamper , isn't it ?sx And I didn't actually have another hamper .sx " On went the one-upmanship .sx Knowing something of the advantages of a good display , sales consultant Major Cyril Dennis had pink and white carnations sent down to Ascot to replace the sweet peas and cornflowers provided in each box .sx Before anyone arrived in Charles Clore's box part of the flower display had disappeared " borrowed " for another box .sx There was some swift china-changing , too .sx Someone slipped into Lord Moynihan's box and swapped a cracked plate for a sound one there .sx And since it was all regulation red and white Ascot crockery , no one could do much about it .sx George St. John Ervine arrived bearing a silver cigarette box .sx An impressive touch , this .sx " I was asked to bring it along , " he told me blandly , " to make the place seem a bit more like home .sx " After all , when you come to Ascot you don't want to feel you are picnicking , do you ?sx " And of course the family is delighted .sx It was the happiest moment of Royal Ascot .sx The Queen's three-year-old filly Aiming High had won the Coronation Stakes- her Majesty's first Ascot success since 1959 .sx And the Royal Family , clearly delighted , went down to the unsaddling enclosure .sx All the more reason for celebration last night when the Queen gave her Ascot guests an evening out .sx They occupied the front two rows of Windsor's Theatre Royal balcony to see the new musical of " Jane Eyre .sx " Among the guests- that eligible bachelor Nicholas Eden , 30-year-old son of Sir Anthony .sx He sat next to Princess Alexandra .sx We're-all-human quote :sx During the interval the Queen was heard to ask :sx " Please tell me , someone , has this got a happy or a sad ending ?sx I quite forget .sx " Paul Tanfield .sx Fabiola regrets .sx . but baby is still unofficial .sx THE STATE VISIT OFF- FOR 'HER STATE OF HEALTH' .sx IT is not altogether surprising that the Belgian royal family so often seems to find itself at loggerheads with its subjects .sx Even royal babies , usually a source of national rejoicing , seem to drive a wedge between King Baudouin and his people .sx There was that rumpus last week when the Pope let slip the news that Queen Fabiola is expecting a baby .sx But , despite the row , no official announcement followed .sx Yesterday the baby was ( unofficially ) in the news again .sx King Baudouin and his queen postponed next month's State visit to London .sx But nobody was prepared to admit ( officially ) that the baby was the reason .sx The king's counsellors couched their communique in vague terms .sx It merely said :sx " The queen's state of health and the care it requires led King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola to express the wish that the visit be postponed .sx " Not a word about the baby .sx I asked a Brussels palace spokesman if the queen's " state of health " meant what everybody knew it meant .sx NO NEWS .sx " Of course , " he said , " but we cannot say so officially .sx We can only refer to the queen's state of health .sx " The fact that the queen is expecting a baby will not be official until an official announcement has been made .sx " Even our own Queen did not mention the baby when she sent a telegram to King Baudouin .sx Taking its tone presumably from Brussels , it said simply :sx " I and my husband are so sorry that we shall not be able to welcome your majesties to London in July .sx " We hope soon to hear good news of Queen Fabiola's health and send you both our best wishes .sx " In Belgium last night , Queen Fabiola's subjects were hoping that they , too , might hear some good news about her health .sx Well , some news , anyway .sx . SURVIVAL .sx Wilfred Noyce , mountaineer , writer and schoolmaster , who was in Sir John Hunt's Everest expedition in 1953 , is giving up his job as an assistant master at Charterhouse , the Surrey public school , to concentrate on writing .sx His book South Col described the successful assault on Everest , and now , I understand , Heinemann will soon be publishing his latest mountaineering book .sx It deals with the Anglo-American Karakoram expedition which he led last year .sx The new life looks promising for Mr. Noyce .sx His wife , Rosemary , told me that Heinemann have also asked him to write a book on survival- he published an article on the survivors of the Agadir earthquake in French Morocco last year- and Nelson have commissioned him to edit an atlas of the world's mountain ranges .sx Another book , on survival in concentration camps , may follow later .sx Altogether , it looks as if the ex-schoolmaster will have no difficulty in surviving himself .sx Take your pick , says Stokowski .sx THAT former fire-eating conductor Leopold Stokowski is a mellowed man these days .sx In fact , when I talked to him yesterday after his rehearsals for Sunday's concert with the Philharmonia Orchestra , he told me of his remarkable experiment in orchestral democracy .sx Time was when this great disciplinarian of the rostrum- as fierce as Toscanini in a rage- had his own starch-like ideas about orchestral positioning .sx But this week he is allowing the Philharmonia players to decide for themselves where they sit .sx " We try my way and then their way , " said Stokowski .sx " Then they will vote on it .sx " If they decide that their way will give a better concert I shall just say 'O .sx K.- let's have the good concert .sx ' " He shook his white head and insisted :sx " But you know , on matters of intonation and the technicalities I am still more than a martinet- I'm a martinetissimo !sx " London-born Stokowski , now 79 , has a reputation for highly individual interpretations .sx But he is quite prepared , these days , to be hissed by those who don't approve .sx As he says :sx " If a man accepts applause when people like what he does he should be man enough to accept hissing from people who don't like it .sx " ASCOT ENVY .sx THEY already have the Kentucky Derby .sx Now the Americans would like to imitate inimitable Ascot .sx Mrs. Evelyn Sharp , widow , hotel owner , and millionairess , is here on behalf of the New York State Racing Commission to investigate the subtleties of this distinctly British occasion .sx " We have our stylish races in America , of course , " she told me .sx " But Ascot has an image of its own .sx We think of it as something special .sx The fashions , the parties .sx . everything .sx " The Duke of Kent hires a honeymoon plane .sx COMPLETE WITH HOT AND COLD RUNNING MUSIC .sx . The Duke of Kent is going on the second stage of his honeymoon , to Majorca , in a +420,000 aircraft known as " the Rolls-Royce of the air , " which he has chartered through Hughie ( Double Your Money ) Green .sx The plane is a demonstration model of the 350-m .sx p.h. Grumman Gulfstream , the executive aircraft which has already been bought by such connoisseurs of luxury travel as Greek shipping millionaire Stavros Niarchos and Fiat millionaire Umberto Agnelli .sx The Duke's plane , N358AA , is the one in which Mr. Green , trying to quadruple his money through his partnership in an aircraft distributing firm , flew the Atlantic earlier this year .sx It has since been on a 70,000-mile tour of 25 countries in Europe , the Middle East and Africa , during which it was flown by King Hussein of Jordan .sx SNACKS .sx . The Duke and his new Duchess will travel in comfort .sx The 24ft .sx passenger cabin is fitted with a thick royal blue carpet .sx It has seating for 12- in cosily-padded swivel armchairs .sx The plane has hot and cold running water , a galley where snacks and hot drinks can be whipped up , a roomy wardrobe , and a handsome cocktail cabinet .sx And , 6en route , the couple will be able to enjoy the strains of I'd Do Anything For You , Dear , Anything , and music from other current London musicals .sx .sx .AND STEREO .sx Arthur Willcox , spokesman for the firm which makes the plane told me :sx " The plane has a built-in stereo tape-recorder which can play for the whole four hours it will take to fly to Majorca .sx " We are recording hits from the London shows on it .sx We understand the Duke likes them .sx " I understand it was Air Commodore Sir Edward Fielden , Captain of the Queen's Flight , who recommended the aircraft to the Duke after seeing it at the Paris Air Show .sx " This plane is purely a demonstration model , " said Mr. Willcox .sx " We don't normally do charters .sx But we are naturally honoured that the Duke should have chosen our plane and happy to oblige him .sx " The Duke and Duchess are expected to fly from Birkhall in Scotland , where they have spent the first part of their honeymoon , to London on Sunday .sx It is likely that they will take off for Majorca on Monday .sx AMERICAN PILOT .sx The Grumman , an American plane with 24 p.c. British components , will be flown by an American , Captain Mike Guididas , who is the Atlantic Aviation Corporation's senior pilot .sx BITTER FIGHT .sx Prince William of Gloucester , apparently the only member of the Royal Family allowed to travel abroad without an escort , spurned even V.I.P. treatment at Southend Airport yesterday .sx He was off to Calais with a friend , Nicholas Tollemache , son of Lord Tollemache , and a new car , a Sunbeam Rapier convertible .sx But when the airport commandant , Bernard Collins , invited him into the special lounge- cool , quiet and empty- the Prince turned him down and went to fight for a ham sandwich and a half of bitter in the bar .sx He had to wait five minutes before being served .sx Afterwards , drinking his bitter , he explained that he would be away for about a month or six weeks .sx " We are going to Paris for a few days , " he said .sx " Then making for Greece via Yugoslavia .sx " We haven't booked up anywhere .sx We shall just go where the mood takes us .sx " Today's the day for Bacall .sx Lauren Bacall , widow of Humphrey Bogart , is to marry in Vienna today- providing some missing documents arrive in time from America .sx She and her fiance , actor Jason Robards , had planned a secret wedding yesterday .sx