Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Pangbourne today to take part in the centenary celebrations of Pangbourne College. The Queen, who presented new colours to the institution and academic awards to several students, repeated her silk embroidered wool hat with diagonal crown and wired sequin flower trim.
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Today’s outdoor photos again pick up the pink and blue threads in the fabric of this hat and matching coat, a view required to understand its fine detail. I’m not sure I like the juxtaposition of this subtle finery with the bold ski slope shape of the crown (or maybe I’ve seen it too often recently?) but overall, the Queen wears it well.
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Previously Worn: February 28, 2017; September 11, 2016; September 6, 2015; May 20, 2015; December 30, 2014, April 30, 2013
Royal Hats 
I wonder if the high crown and particular shape of the hat make the designer think she is giving the illusion of added height to Her Majesty? The outfit is still very pretty, though.
I continue to like the hat and coat, but I agree so strongly that it’s time to delve into deeper storage and to switch some other outfits into the rotation. Or just wear other outfits. They don’t all need to be rotated so often. Sunday’s unknown blue hat is a perfect example. There must be tons of outfits we don’t recognize instantly, but we’re just getting repeat after repeat of those recently worn. We know everything’s saved.
At least when the Queen switches to spring/summer outfits, she/we will have a lot more hats to choose from than this year’s extremely small winter rotation.
I still love this hat – beautiful pastel colors.
On Sunday, HM went driving (!) in her Jag to and from church. I don’t recognize this blue hat, and I know that none of the photos are very good. Does anyone recognize it?
I certainly don’t. Nor do I recognize it as dark purple (in case the colors are all inaccurate). Seems to have black trim around the brim and a small black design where the brim meets the crown and perhaps a diagonal decoration from that band up and across the front.
We need better photographs of these (probably) old, little or never worn items and fewer photographs of the hats we all recognize!
I was going to ask the same question in this week’s extras post. I’ve been unable to identify it and suspect it is a new design.
HQ, Why would HM wear a new design for such a low-profile public appearance?
I’d love to see this one in a better picture. One cannot have too many royal blue hats!
BTW, she really DOES NOT stop! Today’s she’s back to the races! She’s on my bucket list of people to meet, but at the rate things are going, it will never happen! I’ve invited her for tea twice now, but got no response yet.
Who knows the reasons behind her hat choices! I often find myself asking why she wears one ensemble over and over while others are worn once or twice. In this case, perhaps some hats/ensembles are made entirely for private wearing?
Take a look over at this Rex Features gallery for a few more photos although, I’m afraid, no good ones. The hat is a dark blue with a short brim edged in black piping. There appears to be some sort of black rick-rack looking trim used as the hatband.
A better picture;
No new opinions on this, but I agree with @JamesB that it’s time to repeat some long-lost friends and put her more recent repeats (including this) at the back of the rotation line.
I do love the colors, but I dislike the crown of the hat. Otherwise the soft colors are pretty and complimentary to HM’s skin tone. Clearly she likes this ensemble given the frequency with which she wears it. I like it when the Royals do that, and don’t feel that they need a new outfit every time they step outside.
I’m not sure what to say about HM’s hat and coat. The colors are certainly pretty.
Love the fabric but oh dear – that cartoon shape of a hat! I’ve got to think she likes these because she’s getting so much shorter as she gets much older – this hat shape gives her more height – maybe after the Duke is retired this fall, we might see her wearing shorter crown hats?
Not even diamonds could rescue this cartoonist hat !
I really dislike these asymmetrical crowns on the queen — they look so cartoon-y. I’d prefer this hat with a conventional straight crown, although it would never be my favorite overall.
I like a lot of the Queen’s tweed coat styles, and this one too (in spite of some trimming that manages to stay just this side of twee) is fine enough. We’ve just seen it a lot and I’m bored of it. I wouldn’t mind but she has some lovely ones that we don’t see very much, and it would be nice to see the rotation stop on a few well work outfits a bit less.
I’ve really had enough of this style of hat crown and would prefer her to wear nothing at all if she’s given a choice when she gets dressed. There’s too much hat on a rather small woman and I’m beginning to think she’s in a style rut much like Queen Beatrix seemed to get into with those giant hat boxes she favours. Angela Kelly needs to be told enough, the gimmick has run its course.
I really wish the queen would use some of her brooches for hat accents rather than the embellishments regularly used. Can you imagine how spectacular one of her historic and gorgeous brooches would be on this hat?
You’ve got my imagination into overdrive, Chuck! There could be some magnificent looks if the brooch vaults were opened for hat use.
You touch on something here that’s not working- for us to see the detail of this design in particular, we need a close up view with the light just so. This is never going to be visible a few feet away from her in person which leaves me asking, “Why bother?”. There was some criticism of the black stripe on her Easter hat but it’s a design detail visible from any angle, in any light. I think that’s why, in general, I much prefer her Rachel Trevor Morgan hats these days- they also have excellent detail but look beautiful (and balanced) from further away.
In some ways your comment about detail and difficulty of seeing that detail is one thing I believe could be overcome to some extent if she used actual jewelry for embellishment. Just think how the diamonds, other stones, and gold/platinum would sparkle as she moved in the daylight. The hats would glitter beautifully. She wouldn’t have to do it with every hat but there are some where a well-placed brooch rather than the usual hat embellishment would work well. For example, on today’s hat can you imagine the Queen Mother’s lily brooch pinned on the hat on the tall side of the crown, over the queen’s left side? Exquisite! http://queensjewelvault.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-queen-mothers-lily-brooch.html
The lily brooch is a large one and, I imagine, difficult to wear with most day outfits but it would be spectacular on a hat!
Or this one: http://queensjewelvault.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-williamson-diamond-brooch.html The pink diamond sparkling gloriously!