Monthly Archives: March 2018

Queen Elizabeth Decommissions Warship

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Queen Elizabeth was in Plymouth yesterday for the decommissioning of HMS Ocean, the Royal Navy’s largest operational warship.For this event, she wore a new hat.

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The design, in dusty pink felt, features a straight, slightly domed crown and downward facing brim. The coordinating pink hatband is punctuated with a black underband that peeks out above, leaving a slim but graphic stripe around the hat which links with the coat’s black buttons. The hat is finished with handmade silk flowers on the side.

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We’ve seen this scale and shape on Her Majesty several times before, as well as the use of that punchy black hatband stripe. Rachel Trevor Morgan’s hats are characteristically well balanced designs, and this one is no different. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the coat’s collar and its clunky, jagged feel around the top buttons but the hat certainly helps to soften this detail.





Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan. I believe the coat is Karl Ludwig
Previously Worn: This hat is new
You can see many photos of this hat over at this gallery (unfortunately, none can be embedded here). What do you think of this new pink hat for the Queen?
Photos from Getty and social media as indicated; WPA Pool and WPA Pool 

Princess Beatrice’s Easter Hats

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After enjoying Jimbo’s wonderful retrospective on Princess Anne’s Easter bonnets last week, let’s take a similar look back at those worn by Princess Beatrice. Here goes:

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Royal blue velvet Philip Treacy in 2003; Plum floral fascinator in 2004; Ecrcu percher with bow and feathers in 2010

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Philip Treacy gold metallic straw disk in 2011; Cream and navy Gina Foster percher for Maundy Thursday in 2012;
Yellow felt Rachel Black beret with ombre feather for Easter Sunday 2013

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Blue Philip Treacy button percher with flowers in 2015; Coppery pink Juliette Botterill saucer with pheasant feathers in 2016; Gold leather button percher with purple leather trim by Justine Bradley-Hill in 2017

UPDATE- Since this post was first published, the following hats have been worn by Princess Beatrice on Easter Sunday

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Textured pink tweed boater from Emily London in 2018; Repeat of the Juliette Botterill 2016 copper saucer with new pink flowers and pink & blue curling feathers in 2019

The 2012 hat technically did not appear on Easter Sunday (it was worn to a Maundy Thursday along with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh), it’s such a lovely piece I decided to include it here. Looking at the group as a whole, I find it the lack of brimmed designs particularly interesting- with the exception of the 2016 saucer and the 2004 fascinator, all are percher cocktail hats. This style certainly has been en vogue for the past decade and Princess Beatrice wears it well.

Thoughts about this group of hats? What would you like to see Princess Beatrice wear this Sunday for Easter?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Hat From the Past

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Royal Hats 35 years ago today to a young princess in a bright pink silk covered brimless hat made by John Boyd. Worn on Diana’s first trip to Australia, I’ve always loved the ruffle flower trim.

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Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

On March 28, an exhibition on Queen Margrethe’s clothes, gowns and hats will open at The Old Town Museum in Aarhus. I believe this is the first time her hats will be on exhibition- something some of you might want to catch if you are in Denmark between now and September 9.

Crown Princess Mary in a new black hat with wide, mushroom brim on Tuesday for the private funeral of a family friend.

Wonderful to see that Lady Frederick Windsor appears to have recovered from the horrible car accident she suffered last November. She was photographed looking very well at the Cheltenham races last week in a tall crowned, rose trimmed navy hat from Siggi Hats.

Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein in a cosy knit winter hat to welcome the Austrian President and first lady for a visit (Luxarazzi)

On Tuesday, members of the Imperial royal family attended a concert at the Imperial Palace performed by graduating students from several Tokyo university music programs (Imperial Family Of Japan)

Princess Ayako, Princess Akiko, Crown Princess Masako, Princess Kiko and Princess Hisako in hats 

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:

Lovely draped cocktail hat with floral trim in the freshest pale spring green from Italian brand Birdcage Hats
Such an interesting mix of feathered crown, straw brim and silk brim binding from Texas milliner Milli Starr
Large elevated side saucer hats with signature bright lycra loop trim from Irish milliner Aoife Harrison
The most perfect bow on this gold metallic straw cocktail hat from London milliner Fi Graham
Black peach bloom felt oversize fedora with beautifully shaped brim & rhinestone hatband from Stephen Jones
Such a pretty pale pink saucer bound in silk with roses & cut feathers from Yorkshire based Justine Bradley-Hill
Dark green button percher with amazing ultraviolet blue iridescent feathers from UK brand Mind Your Bonce

And from Irish milliner Maggie Mowbray, this stacked black and pink straw with veil and feathers in the most interesting shape that defies description. So creative without sacrificing wearability.

 Royal Hats

Sad to hear news that the King of Morocco and Princess Lalla Salma have divorced (Hola)

The Luxembourgish state visit to France included a surprising number of members of the Grand Ducal royal family (Luxarazzi)

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa also celebrated her birthday this week- these great new formal portraits were released in celebration of her birthday.

The Duchess of Wessex heard that a terminally ill young photographer wanted to take her portrait, so she invited him to do just that. The sitting and the resulting portrait are shown below. (Hello)

Photos from NTV and Jiji

One Hat, Three Coats

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Royal HatsLast weekend, we saw the Duchess of Cambridge celebrate St. Patrick’s day in a green felt Gina Foster “Meribel” hat. Described by the designer as a “classic velour felt beret hat with stylised felt bow trim”, we have seen Kate step out in this piece three times, each paired with a different coat. I think this trio of pairings deserves a closer, comparative look:

Look 1: With a  green and navy tartan Alexander McQueen coat worn for Christmas Day in 2013

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Look 2: With a textured green wool Hobbs coat at the St Patrick’s Day parade at Mons Barracks on March 17, 2014

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Look 3: With a green wool Catherine Walker coat with attached faux fur collar and cuffs worn for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow

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The looks are distinctive and varied, not only because one coat is obviously a maternity coat. I’m fascinated how the different shades and textures of green on the coat plays against the hat and am curious- what pairing do you like best?

Photo from Getty as indicated