Queen Elizabeth and her granddaughter, Princess Beatrice of York attended Ascot today to watch the Queen’s horse ‘Estimate’ compete in the QIPCO British Champions Day. While Estimate did not win his race, it looks like a good time was hat by all. Queen Elizabeth debuted a new hat, a pale pink straw lampshade style hat trimmed in blue and mocha feathers and a tailored band and bow made in the same tweed as her coat. I am fascinated by this hat- it is a pastel spring colour but has somehow managed to be a very autumn feeling hat! The feathers, however, make it look too cluttered and frantic for my taste.
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Designer: Angela Kelly. Made by Stella McLaren
Princess Beatrice wore a lovely grey (or slate blue as it appears in some photos) wool hard shelled beret trimmed with trailing bow tails and a costume jewelry bow brooch. I think this is a fantastic hat for her. It’s fun, charming and youthful without being totally zany. The colour is also great with her auburn hair.
NOTE: This is not a new hat! Beatrice wore it for Christmas Day in 2008 but added the bow brooch for today
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Designer: unknown. My guess is Stephen Jones.
Previously Worn: December 25, 2008
What do you think of these two new royal hats?
Photos from Alan Crowhurst/Getty via Zimbio and Getty via The Daily Express
Royal Hats 
I am biased – I love QEII and everything she wears for the most part!! Her expressions are also priceless so she’s always a winner in my book 🙂
I love Bea’s hat! It really suits her, although I agree, perhaps it is a bit too big. It is also a lovely colour. Quite fancy one myself!
I like this shape of hat on HM and don’t mind the tweed trim to match the coat. The feathers seem a bit thrown on but from far away which is how most people see her it looks ok. Love Bea’s hat and the brooch, it’s cute. The coat could use some toning down. But overall I’m happy to see when one of the grandkids accompanies HM, so it’s all good for me. I really wish Bea would wear that maroon cloche again with her hair in a low chignon.
Do you think this is the same hat that Princess Eugenie wore but with a brooch added !! see link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2122726/Hats-Royals-finery-Queen-Mother-Princess-Margarets-memorial-service-Beatrices-hat-winner.html
Yes- good catch! I noticed the same thing yesterday.
I agree with Wendy and Rodney, I love the Queen’s hat. The feathers give it a sense of movement which is quite nice. I like Bea’s hat (will keep silent about the outfit) but I think it looks just a bit too big for her. I’d like it better if the fit was better.
More brooches on hats, please! This is a lovely thing that Queen Mary and the Queen Mother did all the time. I find it so cheeky and fun.
I think if the feathers on the Queen’s hat were to not be in all different directions, that the colors would really pop a bit and bring out the similar colors in her coat. Its the going every which way that distracts my eye but I feel I would like that extra bit of color.
I will be in the minority here. I like the Queen’s hat. I think the feathers are the element that gives the whole thing an “autumnal vibe”. As for Beatrice, I like her hat too, but not the rest of the ensemble. I often wonder if other members of the Royal Family hold their collective breath when they wait for her to appear.
I like the feathers in the Queen’s hat. They appeal to me when viewed from a distance.
Beatrice’s hat is lovely, a good shape, and interesting enough detail. The Queen’s hat looks fine from a distance, it goes well with the tweed of the outfit, but the bow / feathers look messy close-up.
I think for me, autumn brings out the plaids and this coat is a pale plaid and somehow okay for autumn since there is a dark color in the plaid. And putting the plaid in the hat in the way of a small band is a nice idea yet the darn feathers need to go. I think a simple smart hat pin in the center where the feathers are would have been a nice touch. Princess B, I like the hat on her, it’s for a young girl and is chic. Her coat, well the sleeves just don’t work, a simple long plain sleeve with a small cuff at the end would of been nice. There is way to much going on with the coat, it’s an over kill in design……it’s over designed if there is such a thing. Too many elements in the coat, the shoulders whatever, the sleeves and then the pockets…….the designer just put to many ideas into one coat. I sometimes think designers do overkill just to sell something for a big price while laughing all the way to the bank at people who buy their stuff.
You’re right about Bea’s coat. Get rid of the pockets, make the sleeves plain and straight and it would be ok.
I agree with you elizabethmclaughline42.
Bea’s coat looks like a choir robe but I like the hat. She could recycle that for Christmas with a different coat. I agree with everyone about HM’s hat, would much better without the feathers.
I think the Queen’s is a little over done with the embellishments. I really like Bea’s though.
i like the hat for her but agree – loose the feathers. I could see it with maybe a little round string of pink fabric dangling off the bow to add some detail but the feathers just are wrong. Bea is Ok in the hat dept but I hate her coat. The sleeves are like something i wore in the late 70’s into early 80’s and it was not a good look then either!
Bea looks great in this hat. Makeup looks good too. I like the shape of the Queen’s hat but not the embellishments on it.
At least the Queen’s hat has a crown that is not obviously catiwampus. The shape is ok, just those feathers that look ok from a distance look very “thrown together DIY” up close. Bea’s hat is lovely, as is her coat, but somehow that brooch appears too big or misplaced on the hat to me.
This is not an attractive outfit on the Queen. The coat (and matching dress from what I saw in one picture) fabric is too pale from a distance, too ugly up close. Puffed sleeves don’t help. The brown stripe in the coat makes the black handbag even more out of place than usual.
The hat is worse than the coat. To me it looks as though someone just picked up any old pink hat from the shelf and added a few remnants from the coat, stuck on some twigs, and called it a day.
This is not a winner, should be retired immediately. HM QE2 has rooms full of beautiful hats; this is not among them.
I simply adore both hats. I think it is the tweed fabric of the bow and the feathers that give the Queen’s hat the autumn feeling that you mentioned. Normally, I don’t really like feathers on hats, but I like these. Probably it is the size of the feathers – these are small and I like them better than large feathers. When a hat has one large feather, I call it a Pocahontas hat and generally don’t care for it. 🙂 I really like Princess Beatrice’s hat. She has been making some good fashion choices lately. I love the “bling” of the bow. I think she looks really lovely.