to August 6, 1992 and another start to Her Majesty’s summer holiday aboard the royal yacht Britannia. For her arrival in Portsmouth this day, Queen Elizabeth wore a rounded beanie/pillbox hat in white straw with a large bow at the back, accented with a wide cuff and top circle of the same black, green and white printed fabric as her suit. This hat is unlike anything I can remember her wearing before or since- do any of you remember it?
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
I had to think about this entire outfit. I’m glad we did not see it worn again. The print on the fabric would be fine if used for a simple dress without a jacket. It doesn’t work well on a hat.
HM used to wear a lot of this style of compact brimless hat worn right at the edge of her forehead, and they consistently strike me as not flattering her face. Regardless of trim, colour, or pattern, I feel these hats work best where there is asymmetry, and/or volume at the sides (from a more volume in the hairstyle or more trim), and there are more curved or diagonal structural lines, rather than the horizontal lines emphasized in this example by the cuff.
This suffers from the same problem as another hat in this series. I think it would look better if there was a bit of hair showing in the front. As for the pattern on the hat and her outfit – just no. It is unfortunate. I used to think I had done a fairly good job of following the Queen over the years. So far, I don’t recall seeing any of the hats shown in the series.
That makes me feel better! These hats were also new to me.
Off topic a little but I am missing Snugharbor’s comments on whether the designer/maker got all these patterns matched up properly . I hope there is nothing amiss
Hmm, bit much going on – in the outfit and the hat – for my taste. Nothing wrong with the shape of the hat, but the bow at the back’s not great. May only in my imagination but it seems to me the Queen went through a long period of having unnecessary twiddly bits at the back of her hats – turbans with knots at the back; hats with a loose fold at the back; bows; floral bits (see Charles & Diana’s wedding) ….
I’m afraid I must give this one a thumbs down. Too much print (on the whole outfit, not just the hat), and yes, the “antenna receiver” bow could have stood to be a little smaller. But mainly I don’t like it because the way it fits so tightly on the sides while still having such height makes me wonder if it’s hiding some hair curlers that were left in on top!
It’s easy to see why we saw it just once.
The hat is okay. The ribbon poking out behind her ears does not add to the skill of the milliner. And, all that cross hatching would give me a migraine!
The bow placement has nothing to do with the actual skill of the milliner- it’s simply a design choice (from more than 25 years ago!).
When I read beanie, I immediately thought of Queen Margrethe’s blue beanie which I abhor. In that respect this hat was a nice relief to me! It is not one of my favorites, but it is much better than that other beanie!
I’ll be honest….I’m not 100% sure about the hat, but the skill to have got the material in the centre crown so even is pretty impressive. Also….isn’t it lovely seeing the Queen in various different styles….rather than a box crown & short brim that we only see her in these days.
Construction wise, that fabric circle at the top of the crown is slightly higher than the white straw. Is it possible it is a fabric covered straw circle added on top of the rest of the hat? It certainly is an interesting design feature!
The only thing right with that hat is Her Majesty’s smiling face under it. Worn that far forward, looks more like a beanie than a pillbox. That giant bow makes it look like there was a receiving antenna on each side. Too much pattern, at least for current tastes. Not a success.
You’re right- the shape is more of a beanie than a pillbox. Correction made!
I like a pillbox, but not decorated with this fabric! And not worn this far forward.
Wow. That’s a lot of look. It brings to mind her 70s ensembles which were much more boldly patterned than today. I’m not sure it’s successful, but I think… I love it. It’s just, well… a lot!!