to this day, 35 years ago, when Prince William was christened.
Princess Diana wore a pink straw hat by John Boyd with a gently upcurled side brim, wide silk hatband and side bow. Interestingly, the hat would undergo a renovation (reshaped brim, narrowed hatband and bow moved to the back) when it appeared again the following March during a tour of Australia.
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Queen Elizabeth wore a ruched turban by Frederick Fox in the same dotted blue silk organza as her coat, trimmed with a lavish spray of trailing feathers (you can see a closeup view at this post). The Queen Mother wore a pale blue straw hat in her go-to cloche shape with upturned front brim, trimmed with a net veil and blue silk flowers.
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Princess Alexandra, named one of Prince William’s godmothers (in yellow at left, below), wore a simple white bowler hat with short, upturned brim.
Princess Anne, seated behind her mother below, wore a vibrant blue brimless hat. Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, behind Princess Alexandra, wore a large white pillbox with what looks like a large bloom at the back.
Royal Hats 
I completely forgot that last year’s massive exhibition on the Queen’s fashion included a closeup look at this hat (made by Frederick Fox) that I covered last year. Jump over to this post to see it.
Diana’s hat actually looks better in motion. The Queen and Queen Mother’s are typical styles for them. I think Princess Alexandra’s bowler is timeless and whomever is in the sailor looking outfit…I do like her hat as well.
Diana looks so young and she appears very flushed….I wonder if she was nervous with William being so fussy? Loved the video!!
The Queen Mother’s expression as she holds the baby is unsurpassed — what wonderful multi-generational photos! And as has already been said, I had only previously ever seen the photos of Diana looking down at William or ahead at the camera, I never realized there was a bow on the other side of the hat! The video was great, thank you for finding it, and also for sharing the photos of this memorable event!
I love all 3 hats worn by the 3 generations of royal women together on the settee. Diana looks an absolute picture in her outfit, in such a becoming shade of pink; the QM (as one might confidently expect) is head to toe on top of her style form, right down to the matching blue shoes; but HM in my opinion misses the mark with a ‘”maternity housecoat” ensemble, which only goes to prove how risky it is to emulate one’s mother’s style of dress. But her hat – gorgeous!
What a lovely photo of the four generations! I especially love how the Queen Mum is looking adoredly at Charles!
Diana’s hat is definitely the winner here for me! She looks beautiful in pink and the hat is just the perfect size and amount of trim. Too bad William was so fussy. I read that she wasn’t consulted as to the time of the christening. It appears that it was Williams lunch time!
Just to show how observant I was back then, I never realized the hat Diana wore in Australia was reshaped from the christening. I actually like the christening version better. I also like the turban the Queen is wearing. It’s pretty.
My favorite is Princess Diana’s hat. I like both Queens’ hats too. In fact their whole outfits are so pretty. I like the pastel colors, full sleeves, flowing silhouettes, softness of the whole look. It seems very feminine to me, although that may not be pc to say anymore. I looked at Prince Harry’s christening too, and while Princess Diana always looks glamorous to me, the dark colors and sharp angles of that outfit and hat lose something compared to this.
I don’t think I’d ever seen a full photo of Diana’s hat in 35 years, I had only seen her looking down trying to calm that very unhappy baby. I love the color of the hat but it was a typical early hat for her.
William is god parent to the grandson of one of his own god parents (King Constantine) and to the son of another (the Duchess of Westminster). Time flies, doesn’t it?
Ah! The eighties! I remember them well, for better or for worse. An interesting video with some interesting fashions. I really like The Queen’s ensemble. It’s a lovely colour on her.
35 years already???? time does fly
You’re not wrong, all very early 80’s, just in that time before the 80’s became what we think of as the 80’s! Diana’s girlish style is typical of her look then, fast forward 2 years to Harry’s christening and her look is dramatically different, much more polished and glamorous.
I think the best one here is the Queen’s, that fun turban is one of her better hats from this era.