Princess Alexandra has had a busy last few days two day-away visits in Shropshire and Suffolk, interestingly, in the same hat! Last Friday, July 20, she headed to Shropshire to visit the Mayfair Community Centre in Church Stretton and a teddy bear factory, Merrythought Limited, in Ironbridge. For these visits, she wore a pale grey straw hat with gently sloped cartwheel brim and a straight sided crown with domed top. We don’t often see Alexandra in completely unembellished hats but it’s smooth lines are a great counterpoint to her patterned jacket.
The hat reappeared Tuesday this week when Princess Alexandra visited opened the new FitzRoy UK Stepping Stones home, a supported living program for which she has been Royal Patron for 33 years, near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. She repeated the same grey straw hat but surprised by trimming it with a wide hatband in the same teal silk paisley print as her suit. While I’d have preferred a plain teal hatband (this repeat of the paisley but it into ‘matchy’ territory for me), it’s a quick makeover that transforms the hat from its outing just four days earlier.
Previously Worn: July 5, 2018; 1995; June 17, 1994; and undoubtedly numerous others as well
When Queen Mathilde stepped out Saturday for National Day festivities in her red saucer hat, comparisons between this ensemble and the last one she paired with the hat were inevitable. While both looks are red from head to toe, slight differences in hat placement and dress silhouette create ensembles that feel markedly different. Which one do you think works best with this hat?
Last month, longtime reader mrfitzroyobe asked, “HatQueen, have you ever thought of a QE2 Iconic Hat Gallery? Readers could offer suggestions/nominations for the most lovely and memorable hats of the past decade (or whatever period), and then vote on the 10 MOST iconic hats! That process could be no end of fun!”
to 1970 when Princess Grace of Monaco attended a wedding in St. Tropez in a chic straw hat with raised brim.
Royal Hats 