I’m going to conclude our look at the wonderful hats worn today for the Queen’s 90th birthday service of thanksgiving with those worn by remaining members of the Kent family. Don’t worry, however- some of the best hats have been saved until last!
Princess Alexandra repeated her natural straw hat with white stripe around the brim and natural straw bows edged in the same primary colours as her coat. this hat’s crown is not as tall as many of Alexandra’s other has- a change that works really well here” and the embellishment is just fun. It’s an ensemble that just feels happy
Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: June 17, 2015
Alexandra’s daughter-in-law, Julia Ogilvy, repeated her cream straw picture hat with tall crown and large, carthweel brim. The scale of this hat, along with its huge looped straw bow, makes it a dramatic piece while the colour keeps it elegant. I love this mix of drama and elegance and just wish there were some better photos to admire it more.
Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: June 11, 2011; April 30, 2011
If it’s dramatic millinery we’re looking for, we can always count on Princess Michael of Kent to bring it (and bring it she did). She repeated her white straw picture hat with ostrich feather boa wrapped around the hat and trailing down the back. One of our guest milliners for Ascot last year described this hat as “just on the right side of overdone” and I think that sums it up very well.
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Designer: John Boyd
Previously Worn:June 17, 2015; June 6, 2015; June 7, 2014
Princess Michael’s daughter-in-law, Lady Frederick Windsor, topped her tangerine coat with a percher cocktail hat in pale peach. The design, with a straw beret-style base, is decorated with silk flowers, curling feather spines and bursts of orange net tulle. The colour goes well with Sophie’s colouring and the balance of embellishment on the piece works well.
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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new
One of my favourite hats of the day is the final one we will look at, worn today by Lady Gabriella Windsor. The large saucer-shaped picture hat in cream straw featured an oval brim that extended wide around the back of Gabriella’s head. While the shape makes quite a statement on its own, the hat is extravagantly decorated with a large mass of silk roses and curling ribbons of straw and crin. A large swath of open-weaved tulle veil completes the piece, which was shown off so very effectively by Gabriella’s cerise coat dress. It’s a show-stopper design to be sure.
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Designer: Philip Treacy OC 157 from SS 2016
Previously Worn: This hat is new
This completes our look at the twenty-seven royal hats worn for the Queen’s service of Thanksgiving today. What designs here stood out to you? Do you like Lady Gabriella’s hat as much as I do?
I’ll be back tomorrow with coverage of Trooping the Colour where we get to do this all over again!
Photos from WPA Pool/Getty via Zimbio; BBC TV1; WPA Pool and Mark Cuthbert via Getty; Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
My favorite hat of this group is Princess Alexandra’s. I love Lady Gabriella’s hat, but would like it even better without the netting. Thank you for your coverage, HatQueen.
I wonder if the Countess of St. Andrews and Lady Marina’s hats are from Philip Treacy. There is some interesting lattice printed crin in his collection this year (see an example of it here) that is fairly distinctive- both their hats today look to feature it (or something very similar). Thoughts?
Lady Gabriella looks stunning. Her hat suits her perfectly and the coat is impeccable. I think she oozes royalty! The Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice look terrific from head to toe!
Princess Alexandra’s hat is just fine, but I am ambivalent about the multi-colored bow loops.
Julia Ogilvy’s hat is nice, but very tall!
Princess Mike looks like her usual self, and I can’t fault her for that.
I like Lady Freddy’s percher, it has enough going on that it doesn’t look pedestrian.
Lady Gabriella’s hat is busy as can be, but it totally works!
Well done, Kent family!
I really liked Lady Gabriella’s hat, but I do wish she had worn her hair up instead of in a ponytail. A ponytail to me is a ‘little girl’, a ‘cheerleader’, or someone in ‘every day life’ and not for a special occasion. This is not meant to be a criticism as I thought she looked wonderful, but with her hair up…the look would have been perfect in my opinion.
Alexandra- cute. It’s a great hat with that coat
Julia- have no idea who she is but it’s a serious hat so I like her already
Princess Mike- she always looks like she’s coming from the set of Dynasty and you gotta love that about her. She seems like the type of person who should go everywhere surrounded in a cloud of feathers. Someone’s gotta always be OTT and she seems up for it.
Lady Fred- peach is SO 1990s. It’s OK but nothing special.
Gabriella- LOVE LOVE LOVE! Yeah maybe tilt it a bit but with that pink coat it’s SO FABULOUS.
So far the Kents win. Lady Fredericks’ hair part shows too much though with her hat.either the part or the hat worn on the opposite side may have been a touch better.
Thanks Hat Quuen your work is appreciated.
I agree with you, Hat Queen, that Lady Gabriella hat is lovely. I also like that the cream color can go with a variety of clothing colors. Case in point-the beautiful red coat she chose to wear with this beautiful hat. I am not a fan of her mother’s hat, however. Lady Frederick’s hat looks wonderful with her dress, but wish a bit more of the dress was showing so we can see how the orange coat and peach hat are related. Princess Alexandra looks lovely as usual. I really thought Julia Oglivy’s hat looked wonderful with her outfit–very elegant.
Just to say thank you, Hat Queen, for your detailed and extensive coverage, it must take you ages, but is very much appreciated by your fellow hat lovers!
Princess Michael has been wearing this hat since the 80″s !
Are you perhaps thinking about this one? The two are different although very easy to confuse.
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Wow! Fabulous hats! Gosh, I wish we had more hat wearing occasions in the US. I’ve got half a dozen that I’d love to show off, but I lead such a quiet life that they never get out of the closet!
Thank you for all your hard work and identification. I love your blog!
In the past I’ve not been a huge fan of the trim on Alexandra’s hat (it seems a bit comical to me for some reason), but I like it much better here. Perhaps it’s her huge smile that is helping! I love this coat too.
Julia’s hat is lovely, but having seen it multiple times, it’s nothing exciting.
Marie-Christine, I do love this hat for you, but seriously, when are you going to bring color back into your wardrobe? This black and white phase you’ve been stuck on is kinda bumming me out since I know how fabulous you really are (but that brooch is divine).
Sophie is wearing another of my favorite looks of the day. These colors are beautiful on her and the hat is great! My only complaint is I wish her hair was styled slightly more.
Gabriella also looked awesome, but I agree that this hat should be tipped back a bit more so we can actually see her face. This hat is also almost identical to the one Marie-Chantal wore last year at Ascot (just with netting attached).
A great showing by these Kent ladies!
And many thanks to @HatQueen for her awesome coverage of this event. Definitely did not expect to see this many hats from this many royal ladies, but it was definitely one of the best shows we’ve had in a long time, and it definitely rivaled many royal weddings we’ve seen. Brava!
These ladies are a wonderful improvement over their cousins! I really like Lady Frederick’s whole look. The hat is lovely and I love that coat, especially the neckline. I was surprised to like it so much until I realized that all the other pictures id seen had her and lady Gabriella in the same frame. I think the bold nature of lady Gabriellas large (lovely) hat and bright red dress draws your eye and when they’re together in the picture it looks like Lady Frederick’s coral clashes. Really though I like her overall look far better.
I love Gabriella’s hat, but not tilted down over her face.
Thanks again from me, too, HatQueen. I didn’t expect this event to be as much of a hat show as a royal wedding. While I’m eager for your report on the Trooping, I hope you take some time off first.
Thank you for the beautifully laid out and described photos! A real pleasure to look at.
Beautiful work Hat Queen, a really spiffing job and much appreciated.
totally agree Sandra this is a lot of work and a joy to read
Princess Alexandra looks lovely – and so happy in these photos. Gorgeous.
Julia Ogilvy looks dashing (and if those are pearls around her neck, perhaps even spectacular). Was Marina Ogilvy a no-show? Shame, if so, but that’s families for you.
M-C is, well, M-C and we wouldn’t want it any other way. And while I don’t like this hat one bit, I rather love her stonking brooch!
Lady Gabriella looks lovely (and the lower part of her face is remarkably like her aunt Alexandra, isn’t it?), although I’m on the fence about the brim extension at the back. She has more successful tries than, for example, the York girls so I’m always interested to see what she wears.
Lady Freddie looks lovely. And nice coats from her and Gabriella too, very chic.
Am loving Lady Frederick Windsor’s choice of outfit and agree entirely that the colour palette of tangerine, coral, peach hues is just lovely on her. Nice choice.
Sorry to say though HQ that I am not sharing your love for her sister in law, Lady Gabriella’s hat choice. I just want to push the hat right back off her face….or at least tilt it or something. Too low and straight across for me, but I realise obviously that the oval shape would prevent that. Many thanks for your coverage as always.
Thank you so much for your wonderful descriptions of all the hats – I just love your turn of phrase! I agree with most of your comments and always look forward to seeing Princess Michael and her daughter – they seldom disappoint! I must admit I was disappointed that The Duchess of Kent was a no-show – does anyone know why? Also, where is Princess Alexandra’s daughter, Marina, these days? I think the York girls have FINALLY got their fashion sense after so many misses………..The Duchess of Cambridge needs a helping hand, though and needs someone to show her the difference between white and cream! Congratulations, HatQueen!
And where was David Linley – I didn’t see him with Serena?
The Duchess of Kent seems to have retired from royal life- we’ve not seen her at events for several years.