to this day in 1924 which saw a young The Prince of Wales (later Edwad VIII and still later, Duke of Windsor) in a newsboy cap while touring Canada.
Monthly Archives: November 2016
Princess Charlene Marks Remembrance Day
Reader Laura passed on information about a surprise royal outing in London on Sunday. Princess Charlene of Monaco visited the Rhodesian and South African plots in the Garden of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey where she laid a wreath and spent some time in quiet reflection (read an observer’s account of her visit here). We don’t often see Charlene in hats you’ll note from photos below that she wore an oversized calot shaped design in black felt simply trimmed with a bow. She seems to wear the unusual shape of this piece very well.
Update- the Monaco Royal Palace also shared photos of Princess Charlene’s meeting with Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence to discuss drowning prevention. The front view of the hat is really lovely and its pairing with her grey coat is fantastic.
Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
This visit is a thoughtful gesture from this princess to the nations she was born and raised in and it’s wonderful to see her in an unexpected hat. We’ll see Charlene in another hat on Saturday for Monaco’s National Day and, are told, young Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella will be in tow. Perhaps we’ll see hats on them as well?
My sincere thanks to Laura for passing on this royal sighting.
Photos from social media as indicated
Remembrance Sunday
Members of the British Royal Family attended the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph on Whitehall yesterday. Queen Elizabeth led her family in a new black ‘bucket’ style hat. Made of the same fabric as her coat, the hat features a short brim and wide hatband, wrapped diagonally around the design and anchored with buttons. The small brim of the piece works beautifully with the shawl collar on Her Majesty’s coat.
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Designer: unconfirmed. Likely Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Duchess of Cornwall repeated her beautiful black felt hat with flyaway raised brim edged in a wide band of grosgrain ribbon.
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Embed from Getty Images
The Duchess of Cambridge debuted a classic new hat in black felt with rounded crown and gently upswept brim on one side. The use of velvet on the wide hat band and brim underside provides lovely textural contrast without compromising the beautifully smooth lines of the design. It’s a great addition to Kate’s inventory of black hats.
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Embed from Getty Images
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Designer: John Boyd
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Countess of Wessex also wore a new hat. In black felt, the shaped saucer design is trimmed with curling organdie ribbon. Similar to the design she wore to this event in 2014, this new hat has an air of slightly greater refinement that works well for Sophie.
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Embed from Getty ImagesDesigner: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Alexandra repeated her black wool hat with tall, domed crown. The hat is trimmed in a ruched hatband of crushed black velvet that is repeated on piping on the brim’s edge and on the collar of Alexandra’s coat.
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The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of York, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence and Duke of Gloucester were also in attendance. As in years past, these royal men (except for the Duke of Gloucester), dressed in military uniform.
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This ceremony is a beautifully poignant event that draws together royals, politicians, veterans, service personnel and civilians in remembrance. Without loosing sight of this reverence, I’m curious to hear which hats stood out to you most at yesterday’s ceremony.
Photos from Getty as indicated
This Week’s Extras
On Monday, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako attended the 30th anniversary ceremony of a foreign language exchange program and on Thursday, the couple spent the day in Gifu. Masako wore a pair of simple hats with rolled brims for these two events- doesn’t she look fantastic in blue? (Imperial Family of Japan blog)
Way back on October 3, Princess Michael donned a newsboy cap for the PAD London 2016 art fair preview. It’s a great look with her streamlined ensemble but is it a great look for her? (PAD London 2016)
Some lovely photographs of a veiled Duchess of Cornwall taken on her and The Prince of Wales’ visit to the United Arab Emirates this week
300 members of the Habsburg family received in audience with the Pope during a family pilgrimage to the Vatican on the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy (Luxarazzi)
On a more serious note… after reading several articles from The Daily Mail this week that described Prince Harry’s girlfriend Meghan Markle and her family in derogatory and racist terms, I feel compelled to publicly say something because it is NOT all right. From now on, there will not be any content from The Daily Mail shared here at Royal Hats and I strongly encourage all of you royal fans to take on a zero tolerance approach to accepting racism in royal reporting whenever you see it, no matter who the subject.
Photos from PAD London 2016; News 24; The Asahi Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun via Getty
Inventory: Duchess of Cambridge’s Black Hats
Many of you have been patiently waiting for a continuation of the hat inventories we have been building. We’re going to tackle black hats next, beginning with the Duchess of Cambridge. Kate currently has nine different black designs in her millinery closet. Here they are in the order they have been introduced:
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Designer: Philip Treacy; Whitely, Silvia Fletcher for Lock and Co
First Worn: December 15, 2006; January 7, 2011; June 11, 2011
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Designer: Jane Corbett; Lock and Co.; Lock and Co.
First Worn: November 13, 2011; March 8, 2012; June 13, 2013
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Designer: Silvia Fletcher for Lock and Co.; unknown;
First Worn: November 8, 2015; June 30, 2016
UPDATE- The following hats have been added to the Duchess’ wardrobe since this post was originally published:
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Designer: John Boyd; Peruvian Connection; Lock & Co.
First Worn: November 13, 2016; December 25, 2017; November 11, 2018
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Designer: Jane Taylor; Philip Treacy
First Worn: November 11, 2018; November 10, 2019
Before becoming a Duchess, Kate wore several hats to high profile events. Note the black lattice brimmed design with black and white feathers by Philip Somerville to Prince William’s induction into the Order of the Garter in June 2008 and the Aurora designed wide brimmed staw hat with feathers worn to the wedding of friends just before her engagement announcement in October 2010, pictured below. These hats were both hired and thus, never made it into Kate’s permanent millinery wardrobe. The third hat below is a straw pillbox with curling bow tail and tulle veil by Jane Corbett that Kate wore to Peter and Autumn Phillips’ wedding in May 2008 that I suspect was a purchased design but one that has not been repeated, so far.
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Some of you may also remember Kate wearing this corduroy fedora, this embellished straw headpiece, and this feathered fascinator during her years as a royal girlfriend, none of which have been repeated since her marriage.
Looking at the nine black hats currently in use, there is a mix of shape, embellishment, scale and material. While I’d love to see a few more brimmed designs brought into circulation, this group covers more diversity than I usually associate with Kate’s hats and, from this view, have potential to cover a wide array of events. I particularly like the subtle touches of whimsy (flying bows on #4 and #6, butterfly on #7) that keep these pieces from looking overly dour.
What do you think of Kate’s black hats?
Photos from Getty as indicated; RexFeatures
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