I usually use a Hat Query post to answer a reader question but I’m turning the tables today, dear readers, and posing a question to all of you! Here goes.
Last week, Queen Margrethe was pictured in Shanghai in this classic straw hat:
The last time she wore this hat, however, it looked like this:
Visiting the Aarhus State Gymnasium, August 30, 2013
My first thought was that this was a completely different hat. The brim of the hat worn last week in Shanghai noticeably curves up in front while the brim on the hat worn last summer (above) curves down. I was about to declare these different hats when two more photos from the royal couple’s summer cruise last year caught my eye.
Queen Margrethe on the island of Fyn, June 5, 2013
Notice how this straw hat has the same textured weave as the hat we saw last week in Shanghai? And the distinct finishing seam around the brim? And how the brim curves up in the back but down in the front? I think this is all the same hat! If I’m right, Margrethe simply changes out the coloured band around the crown to coordinate with whatever outfit she is wearing. I suppose she wore it backwards last week in Shanghai for some variety.
There you have it, folks- I think this is the same hat. I’m curious, however, what you think of my hypothesis. Do you think this is the same hat?
Photos from Keld Navntoft via BT.dk; Morten Hymoeller Laursen via Aarhus Statsgymnasium; and Michael Bager via Fyens
Royal Hats 
Now this is interesting! I like a puzzle. I think the first hat and the last hat are the same but the hat in the middle is different. It is a different color and has a different kind of weave in the straw.
I am surmising that the hat brim can be steamed easily into a new shape. For example, I have a hat made out of a natural fibre (water hyacinth) that can be totally reshaped when dampened. It is by Australian milliner May Neumann.
http://mayaneumann.com.au/
These straw hats are probably my favourite hats on Queen Margrethe-totally suitable for these somewhat relaxed and casual engagements. I think they really suit her. The changing of the band seems like a practical (and thrifty) solution.
How clever of you to notice that. Looking at it, it sure looks like it. And how clever of her to always have a matching hat.!
I think you’re right. It certainly looks like the same hat, although the brim in Shanghai certainly was curled sharply. Those frugal Danes!
Now if you ever notice a similar trick with Queen Elizabeth’s hats, that could be explain how she stores all those hats. (Perhaps there’s only one example of each of Angela Kelly’s hat designs. Ha!)
The curve on the curled up brim is too sharp to be the same hat in my estimate. But you may be right in that she can change the band around.
I believe you broke the Queen’s code. Here is another picture of Queen Margrethe in Shanghai: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/8612114.html
I think you’ve cracked the code there. The hats fine, bit this jacket, blouse, A line skirt Marge insists on isn’t my favourite; she looks like a geography teacher. Why can’t she go for a more bespoke look like Liz?
How many times can the brim be spent up/down before wearing out?
I don’t think the brim is moved up or down- I think it is up on one side and down on the other. I suspect Queen Margrethe just turns the hat 180 degrees depending if she wants the “up” side in the front or back of her head.
When my daughter was little I did the same thing with a white straw hat of hers. Every year for Easter myomere made her a new dress and would make a new band from the material for the same hat. We were able to do it for several years and she always had a coordinating outfit.
Yes…I agree with you. It is the same hat. I like it with the brim turned down. However, I think the hat is very attractive on her, either way.