to this day in 1988 when Queen Elizabeth arrived to take up residency at Balmoral Castle in a classic navy and white straw boater hat.
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Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats
The Bold, Beautiful and Bizarre World of Royal Millinery
Royal Hats 
I like this one but the navy brim with the white crown reminds me of the uniform hat for women in the US Navy.
I recall that at one time HM favored getting two dresses and two hats made to co-ordinate with one coat, to save on the cost of clothing.
A simple look that works. I like it.
nice
A very elegant look. Love the boater. Those 80s shoulder pads – we all suffered through those.
Soooo…. I think this coat also pulled double duty. I wonder is she mixed and matched a lot more often back in the day?
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/the-queen-attending-the-maundy-service-in-lichfield-her-hat-news-photo/52105448?#the-queen-attending-the-maundy-service-in-lichfield-her-hat-has-bee-picture-id52105448
JamesB, I think you’re right about the coat. Also think that in the photos featured here in the post, she seems to be wearing something dark underneath — I don’t think those are just shadows behind the collar. I definitely like this hat better than the one you’ve linked to!
Now THERE is a really nice boater. The crisp, clean colour scheme and simple lines of the entire ensemble look refreshingly modern (bar the overwide 80’s shoulders which account for the odd bagginess of the coat). The contrasting brim works neatly with the shoes and gloves to anchor the ensemble. This is one hat which I would definitely LOVE to see retrieved from the royal Garderobe.
BTW, here’s another boater worn by HM in the same year 1988. But I find this shape too soft, too much like an everyday schoolgirl hat for my taste: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/22/d8/aa/22d8aa3cb84d323bdf4d0e2c73ab45a5–queen-elizabeth-ii-royal-style.jpg