Several months ago, we explored the hats with tallest crowns in Queen Elizabeth’s millinery wardrobe (and collected some wonderfully entertaining suggestions!). We’re going to expand this search into all other royal hat closets with today’s discussion question, dearest readers: Which royal hat features the tallest crown?
Photos from Getty as indicated
Duchess of Kent, 2003:
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Queen Elizabeth pictured in 1971 (looks like a Stetson!).
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Princess Margaret 1963. I’m sure I’ve seen Serena in something similar!
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CP Mette-Marit wore this hat during a Norwegian royal family state visit to Britain in 2005. I often forget that she has worn ‘proper’ hats in the past.
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I had forgotten about this one- great catch!
Queen Sonja, pictured in Stavanger during Norway’s 70th birthday celebrations in 2007. What a hat!
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Before her marriage, pictured in about 1967.
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Zara Phillips, Sandringham, Christmas 2000
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Easter, Windsor, 2000
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Princess Anne, 1970, at a British airport on her way to Germany to visit British military bases.
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Princess Anne in about 1971.
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Princess Anne, Windsor, 2001. The leaves seem to be part of the trim and not something that’s blown on!
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Cheltenham, 2002. I’ve noticed that Anne has a many big-crowned hats that aren’t OTT. This one may getting towards that ….
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Cheltenham races, 2008
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Okay so maybe not the biggest crown (and I’m convinced nothing will/can top Serena), but, gee, those feathers! Aintree, 2014.
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Princess Anne, Ascot 2015
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Princess Anne, Not Forgotten garden party, July 2013.
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Princess Anne, Ascot 2014
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Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis – great family name and she always looks like she’s having so much fun! Huge hat too!! Worn to a concert at the family castle in 2016.
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I wondered if I was cheating and it was some fun thing she’d worn for the outdoor concert, but no, here it is again in Paris in 2016, at a book signing for her book.
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There’s quite a lot of crown in this hat worn by Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein in May 2019.
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The wife (at the time) of the Aga Khan in Paris, 2000. Before her marriage she was Princess Gabriele of Leiningen, a title gained from her first marriage.
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One more- Princess Grace in a pink hat in Italy, May 1970. It’s fantastic!
https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/MDO-1296829
In France, 1970
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At Heathrow, 1970.
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I think this is the same pink hat, Italy 1972
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Monaco, 1973. The crown is quite tall but it’s also very wide. There’s a lot of hat here.
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Just before she married, Crown Princess Mary attended a Naval parade in a tall white cloche with blue rosette (see below) or at this link. She repeated the hat, without the rosette, on a September 4, 2004 visit to Legoland.
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Two tall crowns from Princess Marie of Denmark
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Sticking with the Countess of Wessex, this hat worn for Trooping the Colour in 2009 is another tall crowned example:
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As is thus one worn for Easter at Windsor in the same year which also looks like the victim of an explosion in a feather factory:
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James: PERFECT description of the feather factory explosion! What a vision to behold! I find most of Sophie’s high crowned hats being of borderline comic book proportions. How did she get in and out of cars?
Indeed. Looking back, it was actually worn for Trooping the Colour in 2005.Luckily HRH was in an open carriage so she didn’t have to worry about getting in and out of a car. This photo also gives us a closer look at the detail:
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It was worn again later the same year for the enthronement of Prince Albert II of Monaco:
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While I’m sure it took hours to produce, I’m afraid I’m not living it. The colours are good with HRH’s complexion but it’s fussy with a capital F. The shape of the hat low on the brow of the head also isn’t particularly flattering. Although it’s of its time, she wore ofther hats of similar proportions that looked much better.
More like a dead bird dropped on it!
Or several dead birds…
The hat worn by the Countess of Wessex to the wedding of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005 also had a pretty tall crown:
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The Countess of Frederiksborg had some tall hats during her brief royal life
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I really like the tweed/pale green ensemble. This is a great case where the texture/material of the hat is different from the suit, providing a beautiful coordinated look, as opposed to the dreaded matchy-matchy effect.
Next week, I’m squeezing in one last summer trip, where I’ll be doing much needed missionary work on the southern Florida beaches. (SOMEone’s gotta do it!) I’ll check in as much as possible, in between oceanic baptisms.
I agree, while the shape is dated, the colours are wonderful – they tone so well. Enjoy your trip.
This one worn to a wedding shortly before her own is another one:
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This hat worn by the then Sophie Rhys-Jones a week before her wedding in 1999 is a contender:
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I remember seeing it and being disappointed it covered her face but, although it’s of its type, it’s still pretty stylish.
Princess Caroline of Monaco, 2015 (christening of Jacques and Gabrielle). Not a tall crown so much as a huge hat!
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Charlotte Casiraghi, Monaco National Day 2017
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Queen Anne-Marie of Greece at a pre-wedding reception for Mary and Frederick in 2004.
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In London, 2007:
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Prince Christian’s christening, 2006:
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Lady Gabriella Windsor, 2007:
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Trooping the Colour, 2007. This looks to be the same style as Zara’s Ascot hat of 2007.
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2002:
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Marina Ogilvy (left), 2006
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This may be the same hat with the quills removed, it’s hard to see much detail. Also worn to a Service of Thanksgiving in 2006 (the quills were in April, the one pictured below in June).
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It may be that it’s everything about this hat that’s oversized which is making me think the crown is taller than it is. Ascot, 2007.
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Zara, Windsor, 2001
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Queen Silvia’s pretty sedate. This one was worn in 2000 to Queen Margrethe’s 60th birthday.
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Queen (as she then was) Beatrix in Brazil in 2002. The weird trim kind of hides just how tall this crown is.
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The wedding of Prince Floris, 2005.
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Sophie at the wedding of Wax and Max in 2002:
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And another wedding!
Good gravy! Left quite speechless.
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There’s something about weddings that brings these creations out.
Oh my!! Märtha Louise looks like she is about 12 years old here!!!
Here’s another tall one from Martha Louise’s closet
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Are we considering the gentlemen in this post? The Earl of Wessex’s antique top hat looks tallest to me, but honestly, I think several of the ladies have outdone him! Embed from Getty Images
Of course it’s a battle between Serena and Sophie for the winner, but here is among Máxima’s tallest:
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Battle between Sophie and Serena’s late 90s, early 2000s hats, which pretty much all came from Philip Treacy. Princess Beatrice’s purple hat below was also from him.
Maxima 2014
Maxima wore this hat in 2014.
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Don’t forget this one, which she recently brought out from the depths of her closet!
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Princess Beatrice never disappoints!
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Princess Eugenie wore this one in April, 2005
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Infanta Elena’s hat (first hat in the 3rd row) in this post has an incredibly high crown that seems lower than it is, thanks to a huge brim!
https://royalhats.net/2013/12/20/milestone-birthday-for-infanta-elena/
wow – i hadnt realised just how stylish infanta elena had been over the years. and some amazing hats to boot.
No doubt it will be a battle between the Countesses Wessex and Snowdon to win this one.
Princess Alexandra is not someone MrFitzroy thinks of first — when it comes to exaggerated hat shapes, but this proves that nobody escaped the early 2000’s unscathed!
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She certainly has some tall ones
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You’ll find another tall, narrow hat on Princess Alexandra over here, and then there’s this blue one we’ve not seen her wear often.
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And one more
I think this is Crown Princess Victoria’s tallest
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I think this is Princess Laurentien’s tallest
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I think this is Queen Mathilde’s tallest
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Your pick is probably taller than this one – and there’s a beige felt ‘stetson’ from 2013 that I can’t find a linkable image for.
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From The Netherlands 2016
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Belgian National Day 2010, as Princess Mathilde. The big brim balances out the tall crown, but they’re both large items, I think.
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I think this is Zara’s tallest
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She had a few tall ones, back in the day!!
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Great catch! I had forgotten about this one…
I think this one, from 1967, deserves inclusion here. Here it is from a different angle
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A note about sharing photo links- links MUST lead to the photo’s original source OR a source that acknowledge’s the photo source. So links to other Royal Hats articles are fine, as are links to other articles on the web (i.e. on People, Hello, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, or even other blogs) or specific photos on Getty Images.
What’s NOT OK is hotlinking- a link to the photo by itself, with no photographer credit or copyright information. A number of comments in this stream contained hotlinked photos that I have manually replaced with photos I was easily able to find on Getty but I don’t have time to keep doing this.
I’ve mentioned this several times, everyone. From now on, comments with hotlinked photos will simply be deleted.
I think Serena may take this! She was bold in her choices wasn’t she! I’m not sure that purple fraggle was a flattering look though!
Although Sophie sure doesn’t give her a run for her money. https://royalhats.net/2015/04/09/british-royal-wedding-ten-years-on-british-royals-2/ This one worn to Charles and Camilla’s wedding was something else.
and another serena winner (going away outfit), described previously, quite eloquently, by our wonderful HatQueen as ‘…cowgirl-meets-disco ball whizpopper designed by (who else?) Philip Treacy…’
https://royalhats.net/2013/10/08/linley-wedding-guests/
HQ’s description is perfect!
The Countess of Wessex wore some fairly tall crowned hats. At the trooping of the color in 2009,
At Ascot 2004 (there were a bunch of tall ones around this time):
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At Ascot 2001
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And I had to include this one- even though not a royal, the countess of Derby’s lavender here is pretty tall.
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I still don’t think they compete with Serena Linley though…
Sophie had some really tall crowns in the early 2000s
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Crown Princess Mary wore one to a pre-wedding event that had a pretty tall crown. But nothing to beat Serena Linley.
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Shannon- I’ve manually replaced your photos links with photos embedded from Getty. Please note my comment above.
So sorry about this! Will be sure to correctly post in future!!
Crown Princess Mary on a summer tour in Denmark 2011:
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The purple twin to this one also has a tall crown
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Crown Princess Mary, 2012.
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the first person that sprang to mind was the lovely serena linley who seems to have a penchant for a large hat (or at least used to) – surely the extra large lavender number worn at ascot has to be up for a mention….
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and also noticed this one cream/navy one from a 90’s trooping the colour;
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hope the fotos show!!
Wow! I don’t remember seeing those before, definitely super high!! Lovely though!
I think Serena’s Trooping of the Color hat from the 90s is going to be thought to beat for tallest crown!
The purple hat at Ascot (I’ve seen described as “Muppet hat”) is the clear winner. I wonder if was as heavy as it looks!
The one thing about Countess Snowden is that she had such confidence to wear such bold hats, and she pulled them off. I admire her for that.
Great choices!
I don’t remember seeing the cream and navy Bo Peep hat but it’s going to be very tough to beat!
I also found this hat on Serena in my archives, worn Easter Sunday 1997
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Duke of Edinburgh’s 80th, 2001, but doesn’t come close to the amazing hat with the blue wrapped ‘chimney’ at the 1993 Trooping the Colour. This is truly an amazing hat. Great find, Sir L!
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That’s a pretty high crown! It’s a beautiful hat although it looks a bit dated.
I am not sure about the tallest crown but when I think about a tall hat, the one that Queen Maxima wore to the wedding of Guillaume & Stéphanie in Luxemburg comes to my mind. It had two long feathers