A pair of 70s hats that appeared at Ascot thirty seven years ago today. It feels that the mustard floral print on the Queen Mother’s hat must have appeared on a number of sofas as well.
Photo from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats
The Bold, Beautiful and Bizarre World of Royal Millinery
Royal Hats 
What a lovely pang of nostalgia on seeing this, and how much one misses these two dear ladies!
I agree with what Muscato says:June 22, 2015 at 6:11 pm.
While the hats are most certainly indicative of the seventies….MrFitzroy is intrigued by both the heavy yet short sleeved suit (coat?) on Princess Margaret, and why the Queen Mother has what appears to be an enormous fishing fly as a hat ornament. (albeit appropriate given one of her favorite hobbies).
What a wonderful photo to pluck from the archives…thank you HatQueen!
One can only wish this image were in colour!
I love this post! I could look all day at Ascot fashions from days gone by.
Ditto! Always interesting to look back at fashion, especially in this particular context, ie Royal Ascot.
The Queen Mother’s hat represents the dreaded “avocado and gold” era in America, the plague of many an older kitchen and bath.
Oh now true and please don’t remind me of that ugly kitchen………….lolololololo
Princess Margaret’s hat reminds me of the one worn by Audrey Hepburn in the final scene of “My Fair Lady”. I really like it, although the coat seems a bit heavy for Ascot. Ah, the Queen Mother, who can blame her for continually wearing a shape that suited her so well? At least she was very recognizable and always put together, even if all the colors and detailings haven’t stood the test of time.
We think about the Queen Mum’s style being timeless (or outside timelines of fashion!) but this is a good reminder that she did play to current trends!
Did she not have a green floral hat similar to this and I believe Elizabeth II also did – possibly that is the same.
This may be the green hat that Aberdeen references in the below reply.
Embed from Getty Images
Here is the Queen Mother in a green floral hat
I agree that the mustard floral print on the Queen Mother’s hat looks more like it belongs on a sofa. The color is all wrong for an Ascot hat. Mustard evoked an Autumn to winter look I think. Princess Margaret’s hat is too floppy and the neckline on her coat looks sloppy.
Such was the fashion of the late 1970s! I’m not entirely sure we can fairly critique with our present style eyes.