to October 7, 1997 and a white straw hat with upswept brim and silk covered crown worn on a visit to Pakistan. Do any of you recall seeing this hat before?
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Please use the comments to also share any hats or royal hat news from today.
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Princess Beatrix at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Team Motor Support of the National Police Unit on October 7:
This hat was also worn for Trooping the Colour on 12 June 1999: Embed from Getty Images.
This outing saw the hat worn with a different yellow coat. This is not the sane yellow coat worn at the opening of Pride Park in Derby in 1997 (recycled from her 60th birthday celebrations in 1986): Embed from Getty Images.
Trooping the Colour in 1999 was notable because it was a week before the wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones. It was the first time the future Countess appeared in the carriage procession and on the balcony. The hat is extremely chic and probably highly-fashionable at the time but would have made her difficult fir people to see her: Embed from Getty Images
It was also the first time the Princess Royal appeared in uniform at the ceremony after being appointed as Colonel of the Blues and Royals: Embed from Getty Images
Some people really suit a uniform!
Thanks for placing this on a timeline for us, James. I think you are right about the almost-Countess’s hat and the Princess Royal in uniform.
Giggling a little about your tiny typo: “sane yellow coat.”
Oh dear – still the coat does look pretty sane 😏.
I like this hat quite a bit, regardless of which one is the true color, and that pleating which wasn’t visible on the earlier photos does add an extra bit of interest. When HM dons the sheer scarf over the hat, I wonder if that was in preparation for entering some religious location – if it was raining, she probably would have just used one of her color-coordinated umbrellas.
James, you’re right about the European royals being one big family – they all seem to be related in some way or other – but also, with such busy schedules, especially the senior royals in each country, no matter how much they like each other, it’s probably hard for them to get together for informal socializing as the rest of us do!
Edie, you’re right about the photos’ colors! The last one looks almost tangerine to me! No matter what the color, HM looks beautiful and cheery in yellow, Thanks for the wedding pix, Baxter. Even though a lot of people don’t like fascinators, I think Queen Anne-Marie looks fantastic. I’m sure the young lad between the queens is in agreement. (I’m sorry that I don’t know who he is.)
Royal spotting: the last trip of the summer holiday of HM going to Craithie Kirk. I’ve always liked this ensemble.
October 8, 2017
That’s Prince Philippos, youngest child of King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie.
Apart from the hat, which is tolerable from the front, but not from the side (looks a bit like a beach hat), the most interesting thing about these photos is the difference they present in the color of the queen’s suit: it ranges from lemony to egg yolk to almost orange. I wonder which one looks most like its “in person” appearance? (I very much like Queen Ingrid’s ensemble, and its hat with the basketweave design on the top.)
I’ve seen it before, but never noticed the sections of pleating on both the brim and the hat band. They echo the pleating in the skirt.
This ensemble was also worn to the wedding of Princess Alexia of Greece in 1999.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
It always makes me smile seeing HM interacting with the other royals like this, particularly the extended European family. Makes you realise how much they’re just one big family doesn’t it.
The hat’s one of her better ones for the 90s, she was starting to embrace the brims we see her in all the time now.
Yes, it makes me smile as well. Queen Ingrid was quite close to her British cousins. They used to visit each other privately, especially in the 1950s-60s.
I’m not usually a fan of yellow or spots but I think this one works well.
It’s funny when you say about the brimmed hats the Queen wears all the time now. I prefer hats with brims but now it’s almost exciting to see her in a hat without one – call me capricious.