Day 1 of Cheltenham Festival

Zara Phillips Tindall was spotted enjoying the Cheltenham Festival today. For the first day of the festival, which included Mike Tindall’s horse Monbeg Dude run in one of the races, Zara wore a wonderful new hat. Described by the designer as a “high top hat in velour fur felt trimmed with waffle veiling and two curled quills”, this hybrid cap/cloche was fantastic on Zara. She looks great in navy and the creative, modern shape and trimmings on this hat made for a very striking look.

Designer: Rosie Olivia. It is the Boldo style. Coat designed by Paul Costelloe.
P
reviously Worn: This hat is new

Photos from Getty as indicated

Queen Names Cruise Ship

Sixty-two years after launching the royal yacht Britannia, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrived at the Ocean Cruise Terminal in Southampton today to formally award the name of their beloved yacht to a new, larger P & O cruise liner. Queen Elizabeth repeated a peach hat with fabric covered crown and straw brim.

Embed from Getty Images

The brim of this hat is edged in the same wool bouclé fabric as the crown (and the Queen’s coat) and the hat is simply trimmed with four peach feathers anchored by two circles of fabric and a slim knotted bow.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

This ensemble is all about texture – maybe even too much texture. On its own, the Queen’s bouclé coat is dangerously close to ‘fuzzy bathrobe’ territory but I think the hat saves the day. The straw brim and use of feathers on the hat breaks up the overall ‘fuzziness factor’ and miraculously, gives balance and focus to the ensemble. Is it my favourite of the Queen’s hats? Not by a long shot. I do, however, think that this outfit is vastly improved by it. In the end, isn’t that precisely what a royal hat is supposed to do?

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan. Coat by Stewart Parvin.
Previously Worn: July 18, 2012March 14, 2011November 23, 2010September 14, 2010; November 19, 2009

Photos from Getty as indicated

British Royals Attend Commonwealth Observance Service

The Commonwealth Observance Service, the UK’s largest multi-faith celebration, took place this morning at Westminster Abbey. As in years past, the service was attended by Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the British Royal Family. For this event, the Queen repeated her cream and gold split crown hat with black and gold feather trim. The photo taken inside the Abbey shows (bottom left) shows the textural depth of this hat and the warmth of its colour.  It has always been a great hat on the Queen and judging by the number of times she has worn it, she obviously agrees.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Angela Kelly. Coat designed by Karl Ludwig.
Previously Worn: September 6, 2014May 6, 2014March 12, 2014; March 20, 2013October 31, 2012July 19, 2012

The Duchess of Cornwall repeated her navy wool felt hat with squared crown and angled brim, trimmed with a navy twisted rope wrapped around the base of the crown. While I have already been clear on my feelings about this hat’s strange ‘sausage’ rope, I thought this hat’s paring with Camilla’s silk dress and velvet trimmed wool coat was beautiful. Mixing different shades and textures of blue fabric in one outfit can be tricky but the result here is cohesive, interesting and very elegant.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: October 21, 2014April 8, 2014; December 25, 2014; March 19, 2012

The only new royal hat we saw today was the one worn by the Duchess of Cambridge who topped her blush pink McQueen coat with a coordinating percher hat. The hat, a tear drop shaped straw beret, was trimmed with pleated silk twists. The addition of pleated silk gave the hat constrast, movement and a decidedly modern feel and provided some sculptural edge to balance Kate’s coat.  While I would love to see Kate venture with different (larger?) hat shapes, she has years and years of royal life ahead of her to do so and I thought this hat was a winner.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Jane Taylor.
Previously Worn:This hat is new

While I would love to see the Duchess of Cornwall expand her millinery wardrobe with a few new additions, I think this trio of hats was a strong and attractive one. What did you think of these three hats today in London?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Belgian Monarchs Visit Vatican

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were welcomed by Pope Francis for a private audience today at the Vatican. This visit showed that Queen Mathilde has been granted the Privilège du Blanc – special permission given to specifically designated Catholic queens, duchesses and princesses to wear white during an audience with the Pope. Queen Mathilde wore an exquisite white veil of floral patterned Belgian lace over a simple white dress and coat. The clean lines of the dress and coat allowed the veil to stand out and I thought Queen Mathilde looked stunningly elegant.

Queen Mathilde, March 9, 2015 | Royal Hats Queen Mathilde, March 9, 2015 | Royal Hats Queen Mathilde, March 9, 2015 | Royal Hats Queen Mathilde, March 9, 2015 | Royal Hats

 

Photos from Getty as indicated

Princess Kako Pays Respect to First Japanese Emperor

On Saturday, Princess Kako visited the resting place of the first Japanese Emperor in Kashihara City to report her coming-of-age. For this visit to Emperor Jimmu (660 BC -585 BC), Princess Kako wore a simple black silk bowler hat with domed crown, upturned brim and monochrome black band around the crown. The hat and long coat provided great contrast to the ivory coat and white hat she wore the previous day for her visit to the Ise Shrine.

Princess Kako, March 7, 2015 | Royal Hats  Princess Kako, March 7, 2015 | Royal Hats

Princess Kako, March 7, 2015 | Royal Hats  Princess Kako, March 7, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: January 16, 2015

Photos from Sankei