The British Royal Family attended a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey this morning in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. Queen Elizabeth wore a new hat for this special event, designed by her dresser, Angela Kelly and made by in-house milliner Stella McLaren. It was made of the same silvery white and blue flowered silk fabric as her coat. Her hat featured a diagonal upturned brim with side spray of blue silk flowers under the brim.
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The subtle pattern on this hat translated a bit flat in film but on photographs, it seems much more attractive and dimensional. I just thought the blue flowers were a little twee for the lady of honor.
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On the topic of royal head wear, I also thought it was especially poignant that St. Edward’s crown, the crown used during the coronation, was brought out of the Tower of London for the first time in 60 years to be on the altar during the service.
The Duchess of Cornwall wore a large ice blue picture hat very similar to the hat she wore for her wedding. It’s a wonderful scale and shape hat for her and she looked beautiful. I just wonder… is the mix of lattice, lace, feathers and side curly cue explosion is too much for one blue hat? I’m thinking so.
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The Duchess of Cambridge repeated Jane Taylor “Catherine” hat she wore last June for the Queen’s Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving. I thought it was a thoughtful nod back to the Jubilee celebrations last year and a successful second wearing for this blush pink embroidered and netted cocktail hat.
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Princess Beatrice wore a navy saucer hat trimmed in feathers, designed by Sarah Cant. I thought it was beautiful on her and perfectly complimented her navy embellished coat. Princess Eugenie, on the other hand, wore another Robyn Coles Lily Beret. I suspect that both Beatrice and Eugenie’s hats were bespoke as neither is included in the designers’ collections this year.
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The Countess of Wessex looked very summery in a lace shirtwaist dress and bespoke Jane Taylor hat. This hat, made of beige straw with a cartwheel brim, short crown and statement cream straw bow, was absolutely beautiful on Sophie.
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Princess Anne and her daughter-in-law Autumn Phillips both wore elegant cream hats today trimmed in silk roses (a cute nod to the Queen’s rose trimmed hat although this was probably a coincidence!). Anne’s hat featured a wide ruched scarf around the crown and a mushroom shaped brim while Autumn chose a straw saucer beret. Both hats were lovely, I thought.
UPDATE: Autumn’s hat is the “Tahina” designed by Gina Foster. It is also available for sale here.
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Zara Phillips Tindall wore a bespoke couture headpiece by Karen Henriksen featuring intricately folded black straw. It was a great hat for Zara (it had a lovely sense of flowing movement for a hat) although I’m still on the fence about her yellow and black patterned bumble bee dress.
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The Duchess of Kent looked beautiful in a fuchsia straw pillbox with bow at the back. I loved the contrast between her hair and this bright hat and thought this hat was one of the best ones of the day. Doesn’t Katherine look bright, fresh and so beautiful?
Update** Eagle eyed reader Bella identified this as the “Tango” hat by Lock & Co. Thanks so much Bella!
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The Duchess of Gloucester wore a navy straw beret. I love this hat with her haircut and thought its simple shape was an excellent pairing for her ruffled and more fussy coat dress. While Brigitte has worn a number of straw berets recently (here and here), I believe this navy one is a new hat for her – the last two time she wore this coat dress was with a much fussier hat. Today, I thought she looked quietly elegant.
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Princess Michael of Kent was her characteristically glamorous self and wore a large brimmed saucer hat trimmed in white roses on the left side of the hat (she first wore it last June for the unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial). At first glance, I just saw the flowers on top of the brim and thought this was a great hat. After seeing the flower explosion below the brim, this one seemed a little much. Since that’s totally in line with this princess’ usual very dramatic hat style, I suppose that’s all right.
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Which hat was your favourite today?
Royal Hats 
I recongise a hat! The Duchess of Kent’s hat is one of my favourites from Lock and Co. Yet another reason she’s one of my favourite royals
http://www.lockhatters.co.uk/Tango-details.aspx
Great observation! Thanks for identifying this hat for us!
I thought that was one of the nicest hats today.
A very successful royal hat event! The Duchess of Cornwall’s hat was SO like her wedding hat I wondered if it was the same in a photo I saw where the hat appeared white, not blue. I would have liked to see more of Ps. Eugenie’s hat, but I think I like it. The Countess of Wessex ‘s, Princess Royal and Duchess of Kent’s hats were all especially pretty. (Good to see the Duke of Kent looking so well)
I liked the concept of the Queen’s hat, although somehow the little blue roses reminded me of cake decorations (perhaps because they don’t look like a natural colour for roses). Anne, Autumn and Kate all looked splendid and I really like their hats very much – but they were just a touch boring and conventional. Camilla’s hat I like; big hats suit her, and the fact that it was all one colour saved it from being too fussy in my book. Princess Michael’s, on the other hand, somehow didn’t work for me. I loved Sophie’s hat. Eugenie, Beatrice and Zara all good and age-appropriately unconventional. The Duchess of Kent’s pink pill box was a winner too. (And I rather like the Duchess of Gloucester’s navy beret-shape with the little stalk too; we’ve seen it before, I know.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy/7550107694/ ?
My view on the Queen’s hat was that it was too flat, overworked and the blue flowers at the side looked totally inappropriate.Such a shame for this momentous occasion. However she did look so relaxed and happy.
I am new to the blog and love seeing all the wonderful photos. Thank you
Princess Michael of Kent has the slightest edge over the Duchess of Cornwall in my book. Excellent showing today!
It was quite the spectacular hat event, no question there! MrFitzroy thought the Princess Royal especially looked wonderful, and nice to see her turned out in something that wasn’t a decade plus old!
Overall, Her Majesty looked lovely and appropriate….but once again, Angela Kelly does the Queen no favors by fabricating a hat that ends up looking more like an overwraught craft project, and less like an elegant chapeau,
Yorks’ hats deserve more pics 🙂
And don’t forget duchess of of Gloucester and her modest, but cute hat
and this http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Queen+Elizabeth+II+Attends+Westminster+Abbey+0T61MaKS71el.jpg 🙂
I like ALL hats today! Very lovely royal day 🙂
I agree. The Queen looked so beautiful, and I just loved Kate and Beatrice’s hats. Eugenie’s wasn’t great but it was a lot better than what she usually wears so that’s saying something. Autumn and Princess Anne wore my two favourite hats after the queen. They were so pretty and perfect for a summer event. The only ones I didn’t like were Camilla’s and that Princess Michael lady- way way way too big and attention grabbing on a day that was all about the queen.
I’m so glad you have more photos of the Queen’s hat! It’s beautiful! The gold against the blue. 🙂
Oh yes. She looked so radiant and beautiful. Her hat was so cute! Everyone all the princesses looked real good today. Sometimes Beatrice and Eugenie choose silly hats but they were very respectful that this is their grandmother’s day and they both looked very presentable. I just loved the pink pillbox on the older duchess. That hat shone as the best one of the day!
Thank you for finding pictures for everyone and for doing such a nice write up. Its so interesting to see all of these hat’s.
The Queen did look radiant and beautiful. In some photographs and on television, her dress and hat had a faint silvery sparkle from the gold and silver threads woven in. Her hat was a new shape and that made it all the more special. The Duchess of Gloucester also looked elegant as always. Princess Michael could learn a thing or two from her.
I love the Queen’s hat especially the pretty flowers. Really looked beautiful with her colouring! I really wanted to watch the service but had to work… ;o(…. beautiful day for it, though…for onece a warm and sunny day here in London!