Royal at university race to speak (5)
I believe the answer is:
utter
'speak' is the definition.
(I know that speak can be written as utter)
'royal at university race' is the wordplay.
'royal' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'at' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'race' becomes 'tt'.
'u'+'tt'='utt'
'er' after 'utt' is 'UTTER'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for utter that I've seen before include "Without a single qualification" , "Make sounds (but not necessarily words)" , "Downright" , "Express audibly" , "Speak; completely" .)