Reader George A sent me a private note last week asking, “I thought I would ask your opinion on whether the Crathie church hat from two weeks ago is in fact an altered version of an older hat. Do you think it’s this one with the brim made to slope downwards instead of upwards? The roses seem the same, as does the crown.”
The older hat George A refers to is this one, which made its debut June 6, 2012;
Here’s the hat worn August 5, 2018 to church:
OK readers- what do you think? Is the hat worn in Scotland this summer a modified version of the 2012 hat or a completely new design?
Photo from Getty and social media as indicated
Royal Hats 
I would agree with many people here that this is the same hat. Nice to see Her Majesty being thrifty!
To me looks like the same hat… in shape at least. The color looks different, but that might be due to the lighting. The same goes for the roses. I like the upgraded version better. More mature, more appropriate. I was never a fan of the upwards brim. Reminds me of a turn of the century (1900s) school hat.
While everyone seems to have moved on to the next topic, I still find myself looking at these photos. Problem is, I don’t know enough about working with straw to know if you can actually basically turn the brim inside out and use some of it to make the crown taller. If it were fabric, you definitely could, and it’s possible that the hatband holding the roses on the more current version is also hiding anything that might have happened to the straw during the turning inside out process. I might be wrong, but I don’t think HM is particularly known for moving embellishments from one hat to another, and these are definitely the same roses, so I do agree that this is the same hat, pretty drastically remodeled. And I do like the newer version quite a bit.
Mathew, could the height difference of the crowns actually be an optical illusion, or perhaps the band in the renovated version is hiding a seam? I tried in vain to find the original hat in another outing, but only found her coat/dress worn at the Chelsea Flower Show. (see the previous entry from yesterday.) It’s a puzzlement for sure!
No, I really don’t think it’s an optical illusion — I have actually gone so far as to take a screen grab of the third picture in the gallery and the Daily Mail picture (both faces turned in the same direction at approximately the same angle), made them the same size, and put them side by side. If you look at the position of HM’s trademark curls of hair by her ear relative to the hat and also imagine how much of her forehead would be showing if the downturned brim weren’t there, I really do think the crown is higher. You may be right about the band hiding a seam. Again to use fabric terms rather than hat terms, to make part of the upturned brim become part of the crown, there would be excess material that would have to be “taken in”, so there’s bound to be some sort of seam there somewhere.
I agree, although the colours seem a little bit different, it is probably due to the lighting and it is the same had which had undergone a renovation.
I like both versions although I think I prefer the original one simply because it is different from the shapes that Her Majesty tends to wear these days.
It seems ironic, though, that this renovation seems to be the reverse of the navy Canada/departure for France hat which was changed to an upturned brim.
When I first saw this new hat I wondered whether it might be a remake (or replacement) of the hat worn June 6, 2012. The colors appear to different, but by now I realize that colors means nothing on internet pictures. I had thought the original jacket was purple; now it looks blue.
For some reason I cannot see a picture of the original hat you’re referring to. Since you gave the date, it looked it up by date on Getty and found the hat I thought it might have been. Between the second and third paragraphs above there is no picture.
The pictures haven’t gone anywhere… try refreshing the page and they should come up.
Great find, George! I think it’s definitely the same.
Old or new, HM looks lovely. Difficult to tell if the jacket is periwinkle or China blue. The Queen always looks beautiful. I do think the smaller, older version with the upturned brim is more flattering. The tall, “”mad hatter” style she often wears is not as flattering. I love the color blue and the dusty grey flowers.
Yes, it looks like the brim was turned down and cut back, and the roses trim redone to give this hat a modern and improved look. The roses (and overall hat design) also look like RTM’s, but that’s just my guess without better photos to help confirm.
P.S. this is a much better renovation than when it was done the opposite way to this hat, shown here in it’s original form: http://www.stylebistro.com/lookbook/Queen+Elizabeth+II/db1RW2I-NnG. Sorry, first link I could find for this hat while at work; I’m certain Jimbo will be able to help me out in the meantime as he usually does! 😉
You can see this hat, in both versions, over at this post
Awesome! I thought there was a post, but couldn’t find it. Many thanks HatQueen and Jimbo!
Jake, how can I get my work done when you leave a challenge on the table such as this one?
I found some fascinating information here, but I can’t imagine this has not already been discussed somewhere at RoyalHats.
June 5, 2014; HM embarking on a train in England. (note the dress!)
Embed from Getty Images
June 5, 2014; HM disembarking from a train at St. Pancras Station, France. (note the same dress with new matching hat and jacket!) THIS is why you gotta love Queen Elizabeth!
Embed from Getty Images
Sorry – off topic I know but I must say the outfit and hat worn for her arrival in Paris in 2014 is the outfit I would most like to see the Queen wear again.
I think she looks so stylish here in the white, the short jacket is great proportionally on her and the hat frames her face well.
I also like the little-worn Botswana Flower brooch on this outfit, it can disappear on the yellow outfits it has been paired with.
A bit late to the party on this one! I am inclined to think it is the same. The taller crown/smaller brim had me in doubt at first, but everything else is too much the same. And if this were made as one piece, then re-blocking could easily account for the crown/brim changes.
George, that was a fantastic catch! I think both hats are in fact one and the same, also. And what a huge improvement with the renovation! Going back to June 6, 2012, there are many more photos of the hat-less HM, visiting Philip in hospital that day, along with the blue jacket removed during her meetings, so the entire dress is shown in some shots. This is a great way to start a new week!
Here she is at the Chelsea Flower Show last year. Maybe the hat was in the repair shop at the time!
May 22, 2017
Embed from Getty Images
Glad you agree with my theory! The shape and the roses all look the same, and if it is an alteration; I much prefer the new style!
I am also going to cast my vote for a recycled version. I am also going to cast my vote to say I much prefer the new incarnation. I find the Breton Style Brim a bit too “ingenue” for Her Majesty. I quite like this version, from the placement of the flowers to the downturned brim. Very becoming.
Two different hats-the height of the crown is totally different
It looks like that to me, too. But I’m no expert, and I could well be wrong.
The Queen wore this breton/Madeline style hat on 6 June 2012 to a meeting of Commonwealth Nations heads of government. To me the hat and jacket looked more lavenderish than the blue Crathie Kirk outfit.. It also looked as if the brim was wider and the crown deeper. I am saying different outfits/hats although the grey roses may have been recycled.
While the jacket colours do look slightly different in these photos, I think this is a lighting issue. A close look at the detail (buttons, cuffs, neckline stitching) strongly suggests to me that the jackets are the same. I also agree with George A that the grey silk flowers on the two hats appear to be the same as well.
As for the rest of the hat…it’s so difficult to tell. We’ve seen such brim a brim change on one of Her Majesty’s hats before so it’s not out of the question. I sent a formal inquiry to Rachel Trevor Morgan’s studio last week and received a response that they would attempt to confirm and let us know….
Still waiting for a response….
similar appearances with the purple and blue contrasting against the creme but 2 different designs
I’ll say yes too.
New shape is in line with others this decade
Oh good spot. I’d vote a definite yes to this, that’s the same hat I’m sure, the coat is the same too. She doesn’t wear many of these hats with the fully upturned brim any more so that renovation make complete sense. I’ll wager we will see this titfer a few more times too. It’s a winner in its new incarnation.