Continuing our countdown to Ascot next week, we look back today at all the hats we have seen Princess Beatrice wear to the races:
2008:
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White disc and button base embellished perchers from Philip Treacy June 17 and 19
2009:
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Black and white embellished perchers from Philip Treacy June 16 and 18
2010:
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Navy percher with beaded tulle brim June 17; metallic gold straw percher with feathers June 19, both by Philip Treacy
2011:
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Taupe straw cartwheel brim hat by American milliner Patricia Underwood June 14 ;
Navy parasisal straw button percher with floral trim June 16
2012:
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White & red floral trimmed hat June 21; natural & pink ombre straw Philip Treacy design June 23
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Grey striped crin swirled headpiece from by Nerida Fraiman June 19; repeated gold straw Philip Treacy percher June 21
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Teal and navy wide brimmed hat June 17, orange felt percher with stitched crescents June 19, both by Sarah Cant;
Gold straw saucer with feathers and bows by Misa Hirada June 21
Black metallic straw saucer by Nerida Fraiman June 16; orange and turquoise brimmed straw hat from Laura Apsit Livens June 18; navy teardrop beret percher hat with feather pompoms and silk roses by Juliette Botterill June 19
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Navy metallic saucer with burnt feathers by Sarah Cant June 14; blue and orange Laura Apsit Livens boater June 16; repeat of Sarah Cant’s teal & navy wide brim June 17; navy straw Gina Foster oversize disc with silk irises June 18
UPDATE: Since this post was published, Princess Beatrice has worn the following hats to Ascot:
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Pink leather percher with flowers by Goldust Millinery June 20; black straw Nerida Fraiman sidesweep with lace June 22; cream straw saucer with orange & pheasant feathers by Vivien Sheriff June 23; black straw Emily London beret June 24
Blue saucer with twists by Juliette Botterill June 19; Black and white saucer with roses and feathers by Sally Ann Provan June 21; Pink picture hat hat with black ribbon by Sarah Cant June 22
2019:
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Blue straw boater with tassel trim by Bundle MacLaren June 18, 2019
What are your favourites? And what do you notice about Princess Beatrice’s Ascot hat style evolution so far?
Royal Hats 
Overall I think that Princess Beatrice gets it right with her hats. I also think that she looks best in the wide brimmed ones and the taupe cartwheel hat with no embellishments by the American milliner is divine. My very favorite hat and outfit is the repeated teal and navy wide brim by Cant on June 17. The hat, the dress,the hair! Soft and romantic and a lovely overall princessy look that I love! I can’t wait to see what she’ll wear next week. I’m hoping for an updo, too!
I really like her hats in general, it is hard to pick a favorite, especially among the perchers. The blue and orange Laura Livens boater in 2015 stands out among the non-percher hats. I think the hats she wears are also well suited to her face and hairstyle.
So many great hats here! Even the cheese curl!
I love that cheese curl/nacho chip! It’s so unexpected and she wears it so well. I think I might even prefer its second outing (with a sleek navy dress) last year for Trooping the Colour.
I think Princess Beatrice looks better in the brimmed hats. But it might be that she hasn’t always figured out the perfect positioning for the smaller hats; so often they seem to be off somehow–too far forward, too far back, too far on one side, too squarely in the front… The wider hats may also look better with her lovely flowing curls.
She certainly tries lots of different looks, I love her for that. I much prefer her in the wide brimmed hats, the gold one and the draped blue number are my favourites, and she clearly likes the blue one as it was repeated. I also love the orange potato crisp one and the blue percher with the net disc.
They’re not all successful, she often goes for too much look and needs to follow Coco Chanel’s advice and remove one last accessory, but she clearly has fun with her fashion, and I think gets much maligned for her fashion sense.
I agree with the maligned for her fashion sense comment. On the whole, she wears some rather nice stuff. The old adage though that when she gets it wrong it can be very wrong. I hated that boater from 2016 but really liked the first percher from 2009. Her hair is such a beautiful feature and she is a very pretty girl. Thanx.
I like the Philip Treacy repeated perched and the two 2014 hats.
I tend to think of Bea as always wearing small hats, so I was surprised at the number of larger ones in this selection. I must say, that I think for the most part, the larger ones do her more justice. I’m not surprised that she has a few gold ones; that color looks great on her. My favorites (entire outfits) are the navy from last year with the boater–I would not have chosen those colors and probably not that style of hat, but it worked and it was my fave out of EVERYONE’S Ascot outfits from last year. My other fave is the white dress and blue/orange hat from 2015. I thought that was one of her best looks ever. It all worked. She’s had some other partial successes, but most of the time there seems to be something off–proportion, style, colors–that holds the entire look back from being anything more than just okay.
Loving these posts! I second the desire for a best of Ascot and best for each wearer poll if the Hat Queen has time!
P. Bea is really an excellent hat wearer, and much like the countess of Wessex, there are a lot of really fabulous pieces of millinery here, and I love seeing her. I love her style. I also love that she wears orange, such a fun change. I think Navy is really a color that suits her (she obviously thinks so too), and I tent to prefer it to the paler colors. There’s not a single one of these that I really dislike, although stylistically my least favorite are the large brim pyramid hats and the teardrop hats.
My favorites include:
June 17, 2010 (Nave percher with wired tulle). This just makes me swoon- so fabulous.
June 18, 2015 (orange and turquoise straw). This sophisticated and grown up shape is made so fun and interesting and fitting by its fabulous color scheme.
June 14, 2016 Navy pyramid percher with brown feathers. The combination of shape, color and exuberant-yet-not-crazy trim make this a standout in my eyes. So flattering.
I’m a big fan of the percher cocktail style, so this was a fun retrospective for me! There are definitely hats that were more flattering than others, but I don’t dislike any of them! It’s nice to see Beatrice bring color into play, and I hope she continues to do so this year.
Personal favorites include: 2008 black and white Treacy, 2010 navy saucer, 2014 teal wide brim Cant, and the 2015 teal and orange Livens.
My first thought as I scrolled through was there seem to be quite a lot of percher styles. I actually think she looks best in the larger brimmed hats…my favorites are the teal and navy that was worn in 2014 and 16, and the taupe in 2011. I even like the boater worn in 2016, a classic yet a style not seen much.
I am sure I say this because my purse is not bottomless, but I am always surprised at how many similar hats some of the Royals own.
Thanks so much for all these retrospectives. Could I suggest a poll for best hat for each wearer and a final best ascot hat between all the wearers?
Really love that metallic gold peaches by Philip treacy. I think P.Bea looks good in those hats considering that infamous hat. I think she looks best in a wide brim hat thats not worn straight / flat on her head like the blue & orange Laura Apsit Livens boater on June 16. Much prefer the repeat of Sarah Can’ts teal & navy wide brim.