2018 saw some truly wonderful hats enter the world of royal fashion- hats that delighted, wowed and awed us. Each month, dearest readers, you chose a favourite new hat and assembled a list of eleven beautiful designs as your standouts of the year. Choosing a single winner from these eleven great hats proved a difficult task and the resulting poll was neck-and-neck to the finish.
There are some surprises here- this is the first British Royal sweep of the top five hats in this category and two of the heads are ones that have received considerable fashion criticism in the past (a vindication here that tickles me with glee!) in hats worn by milliners who only joined our list of Royal Milliners in 2018. It’s exciting stuff.
Without further ado, here are your top six (thanks to a tie for fifth spot!) Favourite New Royal Hats of 2018:
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Autumn Philips’ ice blue Juliette Botterill button percher with silk abacca looped bow worn April 1
Princess Eugenie’s straw picture hat imprinted with leaves & flowers by Bee Smith worn June 9
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Duchess of Cambridge’s raspberry velvet percher with silk flower spray and veil by Philip Treacy worn October 12
Lady Kitty Spencer’s burgundy felt Philip Treacy percher with silk rose spray & veil worn June 16
Lady Sarah Chatto’s textured navy straw mushroom brim hat by Stephen Jones worn May 19
Princess Beatrice’s black & white saucer with black roses & feathers by Sally Ann Provan worn June 21
Royal Hats 
All of these hats are stellar but I am thrilled to bits that Bea is the winner here. She had a particularly fabulous year and I’m glad to see her getting some love. I hope that more of our royal ladies will patronize these new to the scene milliners because they do great work!
My top selections made it to the final. The only one I didn’t vote for was Princess Eugenie’s hat. It was OK and went very well with her dress but it just didn’t WOW me like the others did. Lady Sarah Chatto’s blue mushroom brim hat was stellar as was the final pick of Princess Beatrice’s herringbone Sally Ann Provan saucer hat. I too wasn’t in love with her outfit but the head shot is wonderful and really shows off the beauty and workmanship of the hat and the beautiful face of the Princess of York. I’m very happy with the best hat of 2018. Thank you HatQueen for all your hard work with the posts, polls and overall running of the blog. Hat’s off to you!
What an outstanding winner – and from Scotland, too! I am so proud! Let’s hope that more of the royal ladies beat a path to Sally-Ann Provan’s door.
Excellent winner! Just a stunning hat! I hope we see more Royal heads wear Sally Ann Provan.
All my choices made top 4. The burgundy hats are so luxurious, and Lady Sarah’s hat is one that stood out and will be remembered for it’s stunning simplicity.
Whilst Bea’s hat was lovely the outfit underneath it was a bit messy, so this headshot shows the hat at its best. Burgundy perchers clearly gain favour, and rightly so!
Can’t argue with either the result, as I love all of these hats, or the closeness of the vote, as I found it hard to choose myself! The blue trellis was possibly my favourite. Without wishing to criticise Lady Sarah, I wonder if a more glamorous make up look would have added more votes to this?
Lady Kitty Spencer and Duchess Catherine hats I simply adore.
Me too. I think its the depth and richness of the colour in both hats.