45 years ago today, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, was photographed on the occasion of her 70th birthday with her grandchildren Prince Edward (later the Earl of Wessex), Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones and Viscount Linley. Her hat was a marvellous pompadour casque made from triangles of multi-coloured pastel silk organza trimmed with tiny silk blossoms of lily of the valley.
Photo from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
As much as I adored the Queen Mother, I can’t adore that hat! It is just too complicated, but the basic shape could have worked in a simpler design.
So many memories came flooding back…..I think the Queen Mom looks just beautiful and look at the smile and those eyes so bright and full of love and joy. And notice that she is wearing the 3 strand pearls with the pearl and diamond earrings…………wonder where HM got that from, her mother, the Queen today and HM carries that tradition on beautifully.
I agree with you elizabethmclaughline42.
I love these Flashbacks, so thank you HatQueen! I adored the Queen Mum, but her hat choices were sometimes a bit much, even by her style standards, and this is such a case! Her Majesty was a great and gracious lady. The children are really cute.
I agree with you Alex.
There was always so much talk, in those days, or how remarkable it was that Queen Mary had managed, some fifty years before she died, to grab on to a distinctive and quite entirely successful personal style and stick to it in the face of all of fashion’s vagaries. And all the while there was very little realization that her daughter-in-law had done exactly the same thing (as, indeed, now her grand-daughter has done in her turn).
Lawks, what a hat. Thank goodness we move on from some styles and fashions. But the Queen Mother was, and always will be, much loved, no matter what confection she was sporting. Not a model for us to project on to but a real person who radiated charm and warmth.
I think you are absolutely right!
She reminds me of my own English grandmother who was fond of wearing hats like this. Such fond memories. . . .
Those soft frothy hats and the pastel coats and dresses always make me smile when I see them. They couldn’t belong to anyone else but the Queen Mother, and it is always a joy to see pictures of her. She was a great lady, and is still much loved and missed.
I agree jamiemid.
What a lovely confection (hat) and a charming photograph.
I love these flashbacks!
So do I rgardner532. I am always amazed by how HatQueen finds some of these old photos.
I think the Queen Mother looks lovely. The little ones are sweet.