Reader Del posed this delightful question, “If you could get into any royal hat closet and be allowed to wear the hats in that close for the rest of your life whenever you wanted, whose closet would you choose?”
Marvelous question! I’m turning this over to you, dear readers. Indeed- in whose hat closet would you like to have an open invitation? And why?
Queen Elizabeth; Empress Michiko; Princess Beatrix; The Duchess of Cambridge; Crown Princess Mary; The Duchess of Cornwall; Princess Beatrice of York; Crown Princess Victoria; Queen Máxima; Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein; Princess Michael of Kent; Prince Harry; Queen Margarethe; The Countess of Wessex; Crown Princess Mette-Marit; Grand Duchess Maria Teresa; Princess Anne; Queen Mathilde; The Duke of Edinburgh; Zara Phillips; Queen Silvia; Princess Laurentien
Royal Hats 
Sophie Wessex first. Camilla second for her big, beautiful hats.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex. Her hats are beautiful and classy 🙂
It would be Queen Maxima or Crown Princess Mary for me. Probably the latter as orange does not suit me, but any of Queen Maxima’s hats in another colour would be fine.
Difficult, but I think Princess Mary of Denmark and the Duchess of Cornwall’s hat collection together would give me a huge choice of wonderful hats to wear for any occasion.
Ooooh…. I’m expanding my earlier answer (Princess Mary) to include Camilla’s closet as well. That combined collection would be amazing!
QE II for me!!! I can only imagine trying on the hats from the 50s all the way up until now!!! I just know that she has a giant room in Windsor with ALL the hats just lined up by decade!! Such Fun!!
I would love to know how all Queen Elizabeth’s hats (and coats and dresses) are stored. Do you think some outfits live permanently at Sandringham or Balmoral? Are all at Windsor or Buck House? Some may travel more than they’re worn. Is everything numbered? When new hats are created for old outfits, I wonder whether the old hats are tossed. They probably were damaged to begin with; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been replaced.
The advantage of an open invitation to HM QE2’s closet is that one has access to the greatest number of hats.
Princess Michael of Kent
I love a statement look. She makes a statement.
Queen Elizabeth II! She has/had all possible hats!
Now I am in love with this red hat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/castlekay/2388126966/sizes/m/
Oh too hard! I want to create my own hat closet by picking and choosing from Zara, Camilla. Maxima and Mary.
Duchess of Cornwall
I would raid Sophie’s closet. There are stately hat and crazy hats. Red hats and blue (peacock) hats. Lots of hats in many styles! And while they they aren’t matronly, they are good for those of us who won’t see any more birthdays on the sunny side of 45 again!
I like the big hats that Princess Michael and the Duchess of Cornwall wear.
What a great idea………I have 2, Princess Mary of Denmark and Catherine , Duchess of Cambridge. Catherine has that one hat that I want……….she wore it at Christmas, her first year as William’s wife, plum colored and so darn beautiful, the style and color and just everything about that hat was gorgeous. If someone could find a picture of it, I would appreciate it. I tried and can’t find one, want to save it for my hat file. Thank you
http://whatkatewore.com/2011/12/25/kate-in-aubergine-for-christmas-day-services/
For all pictures of all she ever wore. Or so it seems.
Thank you for the information……the hat is so very much my favorite of all hats. I really love the style, the color and everything about it. Saved the picture, so again many Thanks! E
I have to go with Sophie Wessex on this. Plenty of variety, just enough interest without being over the top.
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark! She dresses so classy!
I think I might go for Sophie Wessex’s hats. But then again QEII’s hat closet must be HUGE and she’s probably saved everything from the year one, so maybe that’s the way to go… I’d like to hide in Harry’s closet but not necessarily for his hats ;-D
Think I would have to choose Maxima s due to the sheer variety in style and colour, you’d never be bored
Such a hard choice! Because she wears so many top designers and different styles (variety is the spice of life right?), I have to go with Princess Haya.
I think Queen Silvia and Queen Sonja’s hats are very flattering and interesting. Those would be my choice.
Agreed. Add in Queen Margarethe’s red hats and her hats with brims and it would be perfect.
I’m torn between the Duchess of Cambridge and Crown Princess Mary. Catherine has lovely small hats, most of which I love, but Mary has the bigger statement hats…most of which I love!!!
These are my favorites as well—mostly Cambridge with CO Mary added here and there.
If I were 5 years younger(!!) I might have a go at some of Zara’s crazy hats.
Oops I meant 50 years younger…
I want Queen Paola’s hats from the 1960s. So retro chic and very Jackie O.
Paola’s hats were 1960’s, she was living what you now call retro. It was a great fashion era in my book. I can understand you love for her hats.
Even though they are dated now, I would pick Princess Diana’s hats.
I like hats that are both quirky and elegant. I think Queen Mathilde’s hats do this the best. I just love them!
King Carl Gustaf of Sweden so I could have his fedora and not have to buy one! This question is not as fun for me as it is for you ladies, but if I were a lady, I would pick Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. She doesn’t always get it right, but when she does she is truly lovely and elegant. 🙂 (The picture of her on this post is a good example – she looks marvelous in this picture!)
Apologies, Rodney. Hat wardrobes for royal men are not nearly as colourful as for the royal ladies. Now what can we do to change that….
Maybe it is just because I am closest in age to her……but I like the Duchess of Cornwall’s hats. I loved the hats she wore for both of her wedding services and an awful lot of the ones she has worn since then. So Camilla will have to be my choice.
Yes, I was tempted by the idea of Camilla’s because I think she consistently has good hats, very few disasters. But so many of them are outsize, which looks very good on her, but would be the wrong proportion on me.
Me too. Either Camilla or Princess Michael. I want hats with large brims that make a statement!
MAXIMA! No explanation should be needed.
Agreed.
I love Maxima’s hats but I have neither the personality or the personal style needed to make them work.
With that dose of reality (!!) I pick Gabriella Windsor and her closet full of Philip Treacy beauties.
Queen Maxima!
Sophie or Kate. Sophie has all those Jane Taylor hats….and it’s my style – big, classy, girly, 1950s-ish/modern. I love them all. But Kate…well, everything she touches turns to gold. If I get the clothes with the hats (and it’s all magically my size), I pick Kate. If not, I raid both closets.
Hands down: I pick the Duchess of Cambridge. She wears simple and classic hats:)
I can’t choose between Zara and Kate. Kate’s are simple and classic but Zara’s are modern, cool and super fun. Since this is a dream, can I have both?!
Can I also have Zara’s and Kate’s :>)
I also pick Kate’s hats.
Wow it’s way too hard for me to choose! I know which closets I would not choose (either because I don’t like the style or would not wear it myself), but can’t decide between the others.
I love the over the top hats (LOVE Sophie in Jane Taylor!) but I know they would look ridiculous on me. For wearability alone, I’d have to go with Princess Mary. For fantasy alone, it’s Queen Maxima’s all the way!
My style is quite simple with neutral colours so I pick the hats of Princess Mary or Princess Marie.
I also choose Princess Mary’s hats.
Hi! Although I am truly inspired with the Duchess of Cambridge when it comes to hats I just love the style and good taste of Queen Maxima of Netherlands! So she is my final choice for this pole 🙂 Queen Maxima can wear all types of hats and all is good on her!
Oh goodness – hard one. I love looking at QEII’s hats but I would not wear them myself so don’t think i would raid her closet – probably I would want to go into Sophie of Wessex closet. They are interesting hats and ones for the most part, I might wear. if I lived anywhere they wore hats that is. Living where I do, only maybe a straw cowboy hat, a baseball hat or a knit skull cap really are anything anyone wears.
This is a hard one! All of our ladies have such different styles, so it’s hard to pick just one! I’d have to say a tie between Queen Maxima and the Countess of Wessex. Both of them have some great classic hats, but they also have some really modern, youthful, fun ones! They have a hat to go with everything.
If we are limited to wearing only the hats in one closet, it would be a very difficult choice, but I’d probably plump for the Countess of Wessex’s. I’ve loved many of hers over the years, and they are often in a flamboyant style I rather like and could see myself wearing (when the occasion offers…) And the ones I don’t like as much I could just leave on the shelf!
I would choose Queen Elizabeth’s hats. I like the shape of her hats and the size is just right for someone with shorter hair like me. There would also be so many to choose from there would sure to be one for every occasion!
I would also choose Queen Elizabeth’s hats. I really like to see the hats that Kate, Sophie and the younger royals wear but they would all be too young for me to wear. Of all the older queens, I like Queen Elizabeth’s hats the best.
I would pick Queen Beatrix. You called her the “grand dame of royal hats” and that’s good enough for this dame.
I love Beatrix and her hats!