Ladies’ Day at Ascot also saw a number of royal men in attendance! In addition to the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Michael of Kent, Lord Frederick Windsor and the Duke of York, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Prince Nikolaos of Greece also attended the races in fine morning suits and top hats.
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While the cameras somehow missed her, Princess Alexandra also attended, arriving in the main carriage procession with princess Beatrice and the Duke and Duchess of Fife. Alexandra wore her teal blue straw hat with curled burnt feather trim, designed by Rachel Trevor Morgan (see a better photo of this design at its début last year).
The Duchess of Fife, who is new here to Royal Hats, wore a large navy saucer hat studded with seed pearls and trimmed with a feather quill.
Lady Kitty Spencer wore a striking black cocktail hat from Philip Treacy with striped crin detail. Lady Laura Cathcart, a royal milliner in her own right, topped her yellow houndstooth dress with a beautifully whimsical white pillbox trimmed with yellow butterflies, presumably of her own design. Both hats are memorable pieces, in the best ways possible.
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That wraps up the royal hats worn today- there were some wonderful non-royal hats that are certainly worthy of discussing as well so please feel free to share them here!
UPDATE: The Countess of Snowdon and Zenouska Mowatt also attended the races today. The Countess repeated a white textured Rachel Trevor Morgan picture hat and Zenouska wore a black straw slice hat.
Photos from Getty as indicated; Alan Davidson/Shutterstock and Kirstin Sinclair via Getty
More nice hats from Ladies Day
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Other interesting hats from Ladies Day
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I thought this hat was brilliant
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Thanks for the bonus non-royal hats, HatQueen. Agreed that RTM looks fabulous in her own creation, but I’ll pass on the retro flowered pillbox. Have we seen William Chambers on any of the royals? We should! And the Rosie Olivia photos are evidence that her creations are not just for Zara
Ellen Sherry’s hat was charming
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So pretty, and suitable for any numbers of royals.
I loved Victoria Pendleton’s hat
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It’s SOOOOO cute with her dress!
Nothing new to say about Philip and Sheikh Mohammed. Andrew looks great in that bright lemon yellow tie; he never really stands out sartorially, but he never seems to make a wrong move at the same time. Prince Michael is always reliable and fashionable, and I love how his aesthetic always feels a little retro. Frederick looks good as well, but his top hat looks a little wide for his head (something I have found to be true when trying on top hats that are more mass produced; they fit tighter in the front and back and are looser on the sides, thus the reason why I don’t own a top hat yet). I also like Nikolaos’s look with the black top hat and his dove grey morning suit, but where is Tatiana to wow us with some millinery (as I know she could!)?
Alexandra looks great in this hat as always. The Duchess of Fife looks like she has her disc headpiece on backwards (something I’ve notice a lot of my hat customers do when they try on discs, and then often I have to subtly help them turn it around when they ask if they have it on correctly haha). Kitty Spencer looks nice, although for a Treacy hat this is very subdued; also interesting how crinoline has really popped onto the high millinery scene this past year, when I usually associate it with cheaper, more mass produced hats. Lady Laura’s hat was one I noticed earlier and I really like the placement of the pillbox on her head, and the arrangement of the yellow butterflies; a really elegant look that stood out for me.
Here is a slightly better view of Alexandra behind HM:
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Another personal favorite from Ladies’ Day was actress Olivia Grant:
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Finally, a couple of my favorite men from Day 3, including this subdued, but cool look:
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and this very awesome ensemble! (obviously not in the Royal Enclosure) (also, give me those emerald shoes!!)
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You know, the more I look at the two photos, the more I wonder if this is actually a new hat for Alexandra. The trim looks to be darker and different than last year’s turquoise hat, and there appears to be no netting on this hat. I can’t find more photos to confirm this at all, but those are my observations at this point.
Our Dear Hat Queen, thank you so very, very much for all the work you do for us!! I so enjoy reading your thoughts on the hats and it is so marvelous to see all the hats in one place! Thank you again!!!
And for reader RuthDrury- here is Clare Balding’s hat. I think her hat on Day 1 was her best so far but we’ll see what the next two days bring us.
And finally- many of us are great fans of Rachel Trevor Morgan. She wore her own design to Ladies’ Day today and it’s a stunner.
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Racing Journalist Liz Price wore this flowered pillbox by Rachel Trevor Morgan- it’s a throwback to the 1960s but I love how she styled it with this pink dress. It’s fabulous!
Yes, yes! RTM outdid herself in her own hat. One of my favorites overall this week!
Two designs by William Chambers also stood out to me- the first wearer is unnamed but the second is TV presenter Katie Durham. Both are such pretty pieces.
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I’m not sure who designed it but the navy and white hat worn by Hannah Summers (girlfriend of British ballroom dancer and TV presenter Anton du Beke) was so smart, particularly with her matching dress.
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Thank you for all of your work…it must take so much time and patience.
I also thought these Rosie Olivia designs were lovely and show how great a percher hat looks on women of ALL ages!
This Philip Treacy design was spotted at Ladies’ Day- I think it accurately conveys your feelings about some of the royal hats we’ve seen this year!