Today’s wedding at Windsor Castle of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston was clearly a family affair, with numerous members of Ella’s Kent family in attendance. Her mother, Princess Michael of Kent, topped her lilac ensemble with her repeated bumper hat covered in pearlescent light grey silk. The hat, which until this outing appeared to be a pillbox, is dramatically trimmed with a streaming ostrich feather plume around the back.
It’s a signature look for Marie-Christine and while I was a little surprised not to see her in a new hat today, this pale grey design coordinates well with her grey and lilac patterned jacket. And organza scarves. And multiple strands of beads. And brooch. It’s not a minimalist look, this one.
Designer: John Boyd
Previously Worn: October 12, 2018; June 13, 2015; Oct 18, 2014; Jun 16, 2014
Lady Frederick Windsor paired her pale blue feather trimmed coat with a cream wide brimmed saucer hat adorned in pale blue dotted tulle, silk crepe bow loops and more feathers.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Catherine Walker, the brand that designed the hat and coat, has recently ventured into the millinery world and I think some inexperience is visible here. The execution of the bow loops is a bit lumpy and lacks crisply turned corners and there are visible ripples in the silk covering the underside of the hat. While I really like the scale of this hat on Sophie, I’d like to see feathers on either the coat or the hat- but not both.
Designer: both hat and coat are the “Bliss” designs by Catherine Walker
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Lady Gabriella’s aunt, Princess Alexandra wore a new hat in beautiful teal felt, trimmed with a wide hatband and purple and teal burnt feathers anchored at the front with a jeweled multi-loop bow. The Countess of St. Andrews (daughter-in-law of the Duke and Duchess of Kent) topped her pink suit with a wide brimmed straw hat in pale blue-grey with pleated crin in the same colour folded around the hat’s brim. The design is completed with pink sinamay ribbon loosely wound around the hat that finishes in a looping bow at the front, studded with two pink quills. I wish better views of Sylvanna’s hat were visible because it looks like a beaty.
Sylvanna’s elder daughter, Lady Marina Windsor, wore a wide folded disc hat in red straw. The hat is a brave one in terms of scale and simplicity but paired well with Marina’s floral dress. We’ve talked about finishing issues from this milliner several times recently and if you look at the lumpy brim edge, they’re present again. Disappointing.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Lady Amelia Windsor topped her puple daisy printed frock with a cream buntal straw teardrop percher, trimmed with a knotted buntal flying bow. The hat has beautiful balance and movement and it’s fantastic… but I think it could do much better paired with something other than this dress.
Designer: Philip Treacy OC 470 from SS 2018. Dress by Gül Hürgel
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Lady Helen Taylor wore a black straw beret percher trimmed with swathed navy veil and triangle tufts of puple and royal blue crin. A sparkling crescent hatpin completed the millinery look.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Likely Stephen Jones. Dress by Amanda Wakely
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Helen’s younger daughter, Estella Taylor, was an attendant (or assistant), helping wrangle the young bridesmaids. She wore a black and white headpiece that looks to be made of silk flowers and straw leaves. As far as youthful headpieces go, this one is great.
Julia Ogilvy topped her pink, blue and green lace dress with a pink straw button percher trimmed in a mass of circular pink ruffles. It’s a lighthearted hat that tops a very pastel ensemble but it’s great fun.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 13, 2015; June 5, 2012
Flora Ogilvy wore an ecru straw disc percher trimmed with a multi-looped bow and silk rose on the side. A great hat on its own, this piece was elevated with its pairing today with Flora’s orchid purple dress. Such a great look for her.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn:
Zenouska Mowatt paired her red lace dress with a red straw vertical saucer hat, trimmed with wide ruffles of layered red and peach crin. The scale is fantastic on her and the playful crin ruffles add such life to the hat (as do her bright yellow accessories!).
Designer: bespoke Jane Taylor. Dress by Mary Katrantzou
Previously Worn: This hat is new
The royal Kent relations can usually be counted on for some memorable millinery looks and today was no different. Which hats stand out here most to you?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Pool, Victoria Jones and Chris Jackson via Getty; Tim Rooke/Shutterstock; Stephen Lock/i Images;Stephen Lock/i Images;
Royal Hats 
Here’s a slightly better view of Princess Alexandra’s hat and it’s beautiful!
Embed from Getty Images
Sophie Windsor’s hat is blowing around in a lot of the photos. When all the feathers are lying down, it looks a lot less messy. Her coat is amazing. That’s the most beautiful feather trimmed piece of clothing I’ve ever seen.
I’m MEH on a lot of these hats. That pink whirlygig on Julia’s hat is too much and Helen’s is wacky. Zenouska looks great but I wish we could see Alexandra’s hat. I think it’s the best one in the bunch.
WHY didn’t Princess Michael get a new hat????
Fave hat-plus-outfit: a tie between Zenouska M and Lady Frederick Windsor. I bow to HQ’s critique of Lady Frederick’s hat, which is disappointing, as I really like this hat and dress. To me the feathers on the dress are just right. Other feather skirts we have seen, such as Maxima’s, can look over-plucked, but this one looks appropriately luxurious.
Lady Helen’s hat has such an abundance of different meshing going on, I find it quite confusing to look at, even in closeup.
Oddly enough I feel very warm towards to Princess Michael’s loose “oriental” ensemble. It reminds me so much of the late Queen Mother’s outfits with their pastel chiffons and airy, ethereal, coat-over-dress combinations. I loved the QM’s style in her senior years, and I have to say that I think P Michael expresses the essence of it rather well. I’m not so sold on the pillbox hat with this outfit — but from a romantic, QM-style point of view, the ostrich feather trim is perfect.
Part of me really liked Marie-Christine’s whole ensemble as it worked well colorwise and the accessories (while a lot) were better coordinated than other appearances, but I can’t get over the fact she didn’t get a new hat for this! If we can’t get the beautiful Cambridge wedding hat back, could we at least see this one again?
Embed from Getty Images
A good effort on Sophie’s hat; I personally like the feathers on the hat, but not the ones on her dress, and the rest of the hat’s trim does look a bit amateurish.
Hard to tell, but I’m wondering if Alexandra is wearing her Cambridge wedding outfit and paired it with a new hat? The hat looks very promising, although I wouldn’t have minded a repeat of her Cambridge wedding hat either.
Sylvana’s hat definitely holds a lot of promise based on these few photos, but I hope we get better views to do it justice. Marina’s hat is a beautiful shade of red, but I think it’s a bit too large. Amelia’s hat is a great one for her and it pairs well with her dress, but the dress is odd, and unfortunately not the only one like this at this wedding. Unfortunately, like a good majority of Helen’s hats, this is another messy one.
Julia Ogilvy’s hat is actually a repeat from the 2015 Trooping the Colour (https://royalhats.net/2015/06/13/trooping-the-colour-extended-british-royal-family/) and the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving:
Embed from Getty Images
Nice to see Flora Ogilvy in a new hat, and her whole outfit looked great, but unfortunately her cousin Zenouska beat her in the style stakes; Zenouska looks so fabulous in this beautiful crimson, that great hat, and the unexpected yellow shoes and clutch. Definitely one of my favorites of the day!
I think this wedding combination of Julia Ogilvy’s hat and dress is by far the best – they look like they were *made* to go with each other. Thanks for noting the previous outings, interesting to compare the combos.
I’m never any good at these big family special event posts where there are SO many hats to comment on, but let me start with my favorite, which is Lady Amelia Windsor. The hat is wonderful, but I agree about the dress — at the very least, the dress could use less sleeve and less length, though the color and pattern are nice for a spring wedding. I think this hat would also look lovely on the Duchess of Sussex. Zenouska also looks fabulous, though I’m not sure about the yellow shoes and purse. But she has a great fashion eye, and I always enjoy seeing her at royal occasions. No disrespect intended, but Lady Marina Windsor’s folded red disc looks downright silly.
I also like Julia Ogilvy’s hat, though wishing there were photos of other angles. I disagree with the critiques of Lady Helen’s ensemble. I don’t care for the dark cuffs and trim around the bottom of the dress, but aside from that, I think the dress is fine for spring and (at least on my screen), the hat matches perfectly well. HatQueen, you referred to her as Lady Helen Windsor rather than Taylor — was that a slip or has she gone back to her maiden name as some women do, at least in the U.S.?
Like HatQueen, I wish we had a better view of the Countess of St. Andrews — her hat may be the winner of this bunch. Princess Alexandra’s looks lovely, too, in one of her go-to styles.
Lady Amelia’s hat is lovely, but there is absolutely nothing I like about that dress! I don’t like the yellow accessories with Zenouska Mowatt’s red. (That combination always makes me think of catsup and mustard.) But, her hat hits the perfect balance of festive and elegant. I loved Jane Taylor’s use of the layered ribbon on the pink percher the Duchess of Cambridge wore to the Trooping in 2017, but I think I like it even better under the brim, as it is here. Overall the ensemble looks very polished.
Fantastic hats paired with questionable dresses. The best hat is Zanouska Moffat´s red and pink, but unfortunately it is paired with a dress in red lace, and coloured lace always looks cheap. A better dress, perhaps in the pink of the hat, would have been wonderful. Marina Ogilvy´s red hat is fun, but again paired with the wrong dress, and Amelia Windsors hat is a missed opportunity, and perhaps missed on her. The mother of the bride missed the mark by piling on the accessories on an already busy ensemble – in the traditional mourning-colour mauve. The greatest miss is lady Helen Taylors beautiful, but fussy hat, that she has paired with a busy, flimsy looking dress with a distracting checked pattern in a colour that does not go with the hat. I wonder why it is so hard to let the beautiful hats take centre stage by fwearing an unfussy ensemble in a good colour that compliments the hat.
Look at the lace closeup- it’s printed with butterflies and beautiful- not cheap at all.
So pretty!
Some lovely outfits, but some real head scratchers too. First off – Princess Michael. I just don’t get this; a repeated hat, a really bulky coat of an odd length and random scarves, beads, feathers, brooch, pleats. The colours go, I’ll give it that. She can look so fabulous (ie, The Cambridge wedding in that amazing cartwheel hat), but this is not that day.
Sophie Windsor looks fab, that coat is stunning, but like you say, that hat needs a haircut. Loving Helen Windsor too. Amelia’s dress is an odd choice. I think I’ll leave it there on that! Others are all doing much better, Zenouska and Flora are definitely winning it for me. Looks like a really lovely, happy family wedding.
This wedding was a hat triumph, even if some of the outfits worn with them weren’t quite! I was surprised Princess Michael wore a repeat hat and such a complex and busy outfit (very similar to a fancy dress ensemble I wore in black and purple very recently as an “eccentric artist”!) as mother of the bride – but at least the colours were lovely and she looked very proud and happy, so we can forgive her.
I don’t think Sophie was over-feathered for a posh wedding – she looked very smart and wins my prize for best overall look.
My favourite hat was Anoushka Mowatt’s. A stunner and she wore it so well! Not quite so sure about the yellow accessories.
Of this group Zenouska Mowatt is my favourite, she is always very fashion forward. From the glimpse we see I like Princess Alexandra’s hat, elegant as always and I love teal.
I love a Springtime British Royal Wedding!! Even if it is just a semi-royal wedding. I thought Princess Michael’s hat was the best part of her outfit. I don’t like these coats that are shorter than the dress, especially if the dress hemline is irregular. It looks so messy to me.
Lady Frederick looks great-nice springy color, good scale of hat which matches nicely even if there are some other issues, and good clutch and shoes. I didn’t mind the feathers on both her coat dress and hat.
Princess Alexandra’s hat looks great from what we can see and so does Sylvanna’s. I do wish we could see them better!!! Sylvanna’s daughter’s hat looks a little big for her face, but is a lot of fun and I am happy to see any younger person in a hat!
I did like Lady Amelia’s hat. Lady Helen’s ensemble did not look like she was dressing for a spring wedding. I did like the hat pin! How fun and imaginative!
I loved both Julia Ogilvy’s hat and Zenouska Mowatt’s hat. Those two were my favorites of this group. Flora Ogilvy’s looked fine, but didn’t get to the “love” category. 🙂
Hi k2, I don’t think M-C’s hemline is irregular. I had a good quint at it and I think it’s the end of her scarf hanging down just below the hem of her dress.
*squint*
You are right about the hemline. That was my impression of it and I didn’t check it out again before I wrote.
Ready to comment now that I’ve seen everything on a screen bigger than my phone! Hilarious to think there might have been a ‘feather memo’ to the women in the immediate family!
1: Marie-Christine’s hat is fine, but her outfit (as shown) is dowdy. Might be better with the jacket off but I can’t imagine it.
2: Whatever happened to Freddie’s curls?
3: Sophie looks great. I agree what HQ is saying about the hat when we see it closer up, but overall this is a great colour on Sophie and I love the coat (not anything I’d ever wear, mind).
4: Lady Marina looks co-ordinated – and I love her big hat; Lady Amelia less so (hope that dress wasn’t really expensive).
5: Lady Helen looks slightly bonkers (but in a good way, I always look forward to seeing what she’ll wear) … BUT I hate how the cute horse-shoe hat pin is sticking so far out of her hat. It could have put someone’s eye out!
6: Julia … I like it!!
7: Flora, okay; Zenouska showing some flair and looking great. (Marina Mowatt unsighted; she doesn’t seem to attend much.)
I hope we also get to see some of the fab non-royal hats there – I’ve been particularly taken by the women in the long red and white gown standing just behind the bride in some of the shots on the chapel steps (perhaps the groom’s sister), she’s very elegant; and the two women arranging the bride’s train and veil for photos with her father. I’ve only seen them from the back so far, but their floral-theme outfits and hats look gorgeous.
Estella Taylor was one of the attendants, she was wearing a white jacket and a black and white dress and hat.
I was just going to explain the connection between Princess Alexandra and the Countess of St. Andrews, but JAAC beat me to it! I, too, was surprised that Princess Michael didn’t get a new hat for the occasion. When my daughter got married, a hat was my first priority, as far as my outfit was concerned. But she does wear that pillbox well, and the colour suits her. The rest of the Kent Family all seem to have decided a spring wedding at St. George’s, Windsor, was an excellent opportunity to wear pretty festive hats.
I love, love Zenouska Mowatt’s red straw vertical saucer hat. I’d love to see a close of it and at different angles.
I meant close “up.”
Agreed! She looks spectacular! The hat, outfit and accessories are perfect.
Fantastic hat on Lady Amelia Windsor. That’s a keeper.
I wish we could see more of Princess Alexandra.
Overall, I love Lady Frederick Windsor’s outfit. It’s fun and festive, but now I can’t not see the less than refined finishes in the hat. She’s always usually so polished.
Great that you could find photos of most of the family. The Countess of St. Andrews is married to the oldest son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. Princess Alexandra is her husband’s aunt.