Urban planning is a keen passion of the Prince of Wales who has channelled this interest into the development of Poundbury, an experimental new town built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall on the outskirts of Dorchester in southwest England. Today, the Prince unveiled a statue of his beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (to whom the project is dedicated) in Poundbury town square, an event which saw his parents and wife join him not just for the unveiling but for a tour of the town he has tirelessly championed.
For this special visit, Queen Elizabeth repeated the sky blue felt hat trimmed with chrysanthemum feather flowers.she first wore for the christening of Prince George, three years ago. While much has already been said about this hat, I found myself warming to in in a new way today, thanks to the lovely view of its indented crown below. Yes, the feather trim is still awkwardly sparse and yes, the crown height is still a little clumsy but I can’t help feeling like the choice of this hat- a hat with very personal family connections to special little boys- was not a coincidence today. It seems just the right piece for an engagement with one’s eldest child that rings more than faintly of “Mummy, look what I made!”
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Previously Worn: March 14, 2016; November 12, 2015; June 11, 2015; April 5, 2015; October 24, 2014; April 8, 2014; October 23, 2013
Previously Worn: March 3, 2015; March 21, 2013; December 25, 2012; March 26, 2012; March 12, 2012; October 26, 2010; March 8, 2010
Royal Hats 
The queen looks lovely in this color, it certainly suits her. I must say this is a fantastic outfit on Camilla! She can definitely wear those big hats well! Everyone looks like they are having a good time what could be better than a happy family outing!!
Love the Queen but agree it would be good to see this outfit retired now. D o C looks fab in the colour and shape of hat – oh, but oh that fringing – all I keep seeing is one of those paper fringed bands you can buy to put round ‘festive’ cakes………
Queen Elizabeth looked lovely; lovely hat, lovely color for her. (Best of all, she seems to have been delighted with the proceedings.). I am in a minority of one regarding the duchess: While I love the color of the hat and ensemble, which is very flattering to her, I really do not like the band on the hat–rather too much, for me, at any rate. (The other trim and the shape of the hat are very attractive.) I also do not think the suit is flattering to her–the jacket fits oddly through the bust, and it stops at an unfortunate spot, breaking the line. But it is a pleasure to see her looking happy, and the rather Edwardian feel of the upper part of the jacket, in combination with the choker and the hat, suits her perfectly.
I love everything except the weird blue stitching along the front of the D of C’s jacket. They go all higgilty piggilty over her bosom.
Quoi ??
Possibly the buttons?? They don’t look quite right to me either.
This may be AK’s best hat. The trim is not sparse, it’s just the right amount, which is astounding for Ms Kelly as she tends to over-embellish. I like it.
The purple Philip Tracey is luscious and gorgeous. Great shape for Camilla. The fringe makes me sad, though. If I could reach over and snip that off, this would be one of my all time favorite royal hats.
The Queen’s hat is a lovely colour, but I remain underwhelmed by it in general. The Duchess’s hat is such a gorgeous colour and material, although I do prefer it in the photos where we can’t see the fringe, so my feeling is the fringe is superfluous!
Her Majesty looks absolutely gorgeous! What a beautiful color and smile.
Camilla’s hat is amazing-so luxurious with such a luscious color!
I enjoy this outing of the Queen’s hat much more than usual, although I agree it’s time to give other hats and outfits more views!
And I also agree that I will never grow tired of this purple hat for Camilla; it’s proof that she NEEDS to wear more saturated colors more often, especially in the spring/summer! Will we get a repeat of the turquoise Treacy hat with loops this season too??
Finally, I absolutely adore the photo of Camilla serving a pint to Charles!
The Queen’s hat: Nice colour on her, agree with HQ about the size/shape and trim.
Camilla’s hat: Nice colour on her but *hate* the fringed trim. It would have been better just with those lovely, mobile feathers. I also would like to see her outfit go a little more Edwardian – lengthen the jacket to top of the thighs. I suspect this may be a little more flattering too, although there’s hardly anything wrong with her figure. It’s just having that chop-off line around your middle.
I was thinking the same thing about Camilla’s jacket. The seaming along the Queen Marys is doing her no favors as well. It’s a shame, because the hat and the color are both fantastic on her. Fix the jacket, and I’d bet this would be one of her top looks.
The Queen’s outfit is a magnificent color. The coat fits beautifully, the hat is of good proportion and does not have an exaggerated slope. Having been worn at the christening of a future king, the outfit has emotional connotations. It’s a perfect outfit, therefore, although I agree with JamesB that it’s appeared too often in the rotation. Bring back some from former rotations.
The Duchess of Cornwall’s hat is excellent too, but the best item in all the photographs is her sequined collar. I love that collar.
Whilst I’ve nothing against HM’s outfit here, I just feel like it needs retiring; she has got a LOT of wear out of this one, when some other really lovely coats and hats get neglected. I think she does get more wear from her winter wardrobe ( which I applaud), but I’d like to see some others more that this one.
Camilla in this purple on the other hand, I will never tire of. She’s fabulous in this!
HM looks good in blue. D of C phenomenal in that wonderful purple hat and suit. Love Camilla pulling the pints at the local and having a good time with Prince Charles. Prince Philip in Waitrose — I wonder what he had to say?! The entire royal party were in good form and so nice to see the memorial to the Queen Mum.
1. HM’s entire ensemble is just great! I love the cornflower blue color which jumps out on what appears to be an overcast day.
2. DoC’s purple is magnificent – very regal indeed.
3. What I enjoy the most of today’s post is seeing your royals doing very un-royal things! Pouring a draught from behind the bar! Nosing your way through a supermarket! They ARE human after all! Oh how I wish I lived closer to England.
4. Totally unrelated to hats, please cheer on our Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday in London. (They are the orange/black team.)
Jimbo, I thought your point #4 was about to request support for the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. You would have gotten quite the stir from me as I live just a few blocks from the home of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, and am attending Game #4 on Saturday night. Go Cubs Go! 🙂
In the spirit of keeping the subject on hats, (so no one gets perturbed) how’s this for a blast from the past:
Queen Elizabeth at the Baltimore Orioles baseball game on May 15, 1991, sans hat!
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/queen-elizabeth-ii-and-president-george-bush-meet-baseball-players-a-picture-id79732262
During the same visit;
Go Cubs! A friend of mine is a long suffering fan and he is hoping for a World Series win! I like the Queen’s hat and ADORE Camilla’s hat!
Chuck:
I told my nephew who lives on N. Lakewood Ave., in Wrigleyville, to look for a well dressed fan on Saturday night, the only guy with a top hat!
He’ll be “celebrating in the streets,” as he puts it!
Well Jimbo, I won’t be donning the top hat on Saturday but will be wearing a new Cubs hat I bought last week. I’d include a photo of me in it but I can’t figure out how to post photos to this blog. (And sorry Lady Royal Hats for taking us off topic!)
No worries. I believe you enjoy immunity for any wrong doing on this blog!
The Queen’s hat is fine, not remarkable IMO, but I love th DoC’s lush purple hat. And that statue looks cool to!
Cams has never looked better. She KILLED it here. Photos of her and Chuck are super cute.