The great thing about large events in the British royal family, such as today’s service of thanksgiving to celebrate the Queen’s 90th and the Duke of Edinburgh’s 95th birthdays, is that we see the more distant relatives we don’t often see. The Duchess of Gloucester, who attended with the Duke and their children, wore a new hat for the occasion. The design is a steel grey straw bumper hat with tulle net veil trim- a piece that fits with Brigitte’s sleek, elegant and practical millinery style. While I might have preferred some more colour in her ensemble, I do like the monochrome mix of textures between her coat, lace dress, and the veiled straw hat.
Countess of Ulster topped her red dress with round white straw cocktail hat trimmed with long laquered red goose feathers and a black pinok pok straw bow designed by Awon Golding (see it here). It is such a smart hat that Clare wears very well.
Lady Davina Lewis repeated the navy and hot pink cocktail hat that we saw her wear back in April 2011 for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding. The design, built off a navy straw beret style base, is all about its embellishment- a large folded navy silk bow under which is tucked bright pink carnation type flowers. It’s a little hat that packs a lot of visual punch.
Lady Rose Gilman borrowed her mother’s slate blue beret with knotted bow trim (you can see a much better view of it during a previous outing here or behind the Tindalls below). It’s a simple hat but one that worked well with her printed dress.
These four hats make seventeen in total that we’ve seen on the British royals so far- we’ve just got ten more to go! What do you think of these designs?
Photos from Press Association via The British Monarchy; The British Monarchy, BBC TV1; WPA Pool and WPA Pool via Getty; and Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
The Duchess of Gloucester looks first rate, as always. A trifle subdued, but this isn’t Ascot for crying out loud!
The Countess of Ulster is a winner in my book. That hat is superb!
Lady Rose’s hat is lovely and appropriate, and one any of us could wear. Props!
I think Lady Davina’s hat is trying to be too many things and not succeeding at any of them. Maybe I just need a better view of it, but so far I’m not a fan.
Duchess- kind of boring but all right
Countess Ulster- like the hat but her dress looks like a bad uniform
Lady Davina- LOVE the hat. The pink flowers are so cute!
Lady Rose- I like this hat better on her than her mom. Her dress is cute and the hat is such a good match.
I love the Duchess of Gloucester’s hat, it is very elegant yet understated. My favorite is Lady Rose, very pretty and compliments her dress well. I did not care for Lady Davina’s hat. It did not go well with her dress, the hat might be a stunner with the right outfit.
So glad to see a new hat for Birgitte! It’s not very colorful, but she looks very lovely in it, and it’s new! (oh, did I already gush over that?) I would like to see more brimmed styles on her.
I love the Countess of Ulster’s whole look, especially her cocktail hat. Very clean and sophisticated, and one of my personal favorites of the day.
Davina’s hat is quite nice for her, but I don’t care for her shawl so much. Minor complaint.
Rose looked wonderful (there was a good view of this hat in one of the photos with Zara in that post). The whole look was understated, but still sophisticated once again.
Thanks for the tip on a better photo for Lady Rose- I went a little cross eyed last night organizing photos!
The Duchess of Gloucester always looks nice, if a little underwhelming. Today was no exception, but lest anyone thinks that I’m criticising, I’m not. I’ve long admired her steady approach to her duties. She is utterly reliable, has a wonderful jewel box and always gets her looks right for the event.
Yay, for seeing her daughters and daughter-in-law. All looked good (soft spot for Lady Rose who is married to a Kiwi!). I like the aerial view of the Countess of Ulster’s hat. That’s nice detail.
It’s Lady Davina who is married to Gary Lewis, From New Zealand.