Queen Elizabeth attended Sunday service this morning at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene close to her Sandringham estate, accompanied by several members of her family. For this outing, she repeated a pale yellow hat with straw brim, bound in a contrasting grey stripe, and feather pouf trim.
Many of us have previously praised this hat’s colour scheme – that grey stripe of brim binding sets it off so beautifully – and I’ve come around to its mix of textures (fabric on the crown, straw on the brim), which give some soft contrast to the design.
Designer: Angela Kelly. Made by Stella McLaren.
Previously Worn: Feb 10, 2019; Mar 14, 2017; December 2, 2016; June 26, 2015
The Countess of Wessex wore the same camel felt fedora with overlapping pheasant feather hatband she wore to church last Sunday, pairing it with a slightly different beige coat and animal pint silk scarf.
The ensemble is saved by the patterned scarf and hat’s feather hatband, which give some interest to an ensemble that is, to quote one of my favourite comments of all time here on the blog, “It’s a whole lot of biscuit.”.
Designer: Suffolk Fedora in Camel from Hicks & Brown. Max Mara coat.
Previously Worn: Dec 22, 2019; Aug 25, 2019; Dec 23, 2018; May 14, 2018
Princess Anne’s tan felt trilby with side spray of pheasant feathers and darker brown ribbon hatband is the most mysterious hat worn today. The shape is something we’ve seen on Anne before and one she wears very well.
Anne first wore during her August stay at Balmoral, a week after debuting a very similar (slightly darker) brown trilby trimmed with a side bow. It’s always interesting to see two similar hats added to one’s millinery wardrobe (I’ve searched Anne’s archive back to the 1960s to see if this one was previously worn) and this pair of brown trilbies is so close, it has me scratching my own head.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Sep 1, 2019
I’m afraid today’s church hats weren’t very exciting- what do you think of this brown and yellow trio?
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
QUEEN ELIZABETH: Perfect as always, HM never disappoints.
SOPHIE: “casual chic!” Here’s an article, mentioning the hat. (95 GBP/125 USD)
https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/royal-style/2019122982483/sophie-wessex-hat-royal-family-attends-church-sandringham/
ANNE: Looking closely at the earlier photos, she wore two different hats at Balmoral this past summer.
August 25, 2019
September 1, 2019
Embed from Getty Images
LADY IN THE CROWD: The best of the four!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, HAT LOVERS!
It looks to me that the hat worn yesterday is the same one as the second worn at Balmoral on September 1.
Now we know she has two nearly identical hats.
This seems inconsistent for Anne, to have TWO new, similar hats, and yet, she still wears 30+year old clothes.
To be fair, her new hats over the past year have been accompanied with new outfits.
I agree with you Maja, it looks like yesterday’s hat is the same as the September fedora. The trim looks the same (as opposed to the bow from August), and I think the lighting/moving car plays a bit a havoc with photographing the material of the hat; to me it looks like the fuzzier (presumably fur felt) texture of yesterday. Finally, I think the crown of yesterday/September’s fedora is more tapered than that of August’s fedora, if that makes sense.
On multiple looks back, I think you’re both right, which is even more perplexing- it seems even more unusual to debut two very similar hats a week apart from each other. I mean- why travel up to Balmoral with two nearly identical new hats? Why not just take one and wear it both Sundays?!
I expect that Anne’s fashion choices will forever remain a mystery to us mere mortals.
My guess is that one of these hats is brand new and the other she’s had for a while, we just never got a photo of it.
The comment, “It’s a whole lot of biscuit” has now become a common saying in my household. I mentioned it to my husband when he tried to wear a pair of khaki trousers with an ivory shirt and a beige sweater, and he thought it was hilarious. Now our two grown daughters have picked it up from me and use the phrase often as well. I can’t remember which commenter used the phrase originally, but I certainly thank them because it always brings a smile to my face when I hear it!
It was reader Cepe in a comment on Twitter about an ensemble the Duchess of Cambridge wore to a Northern Ireland garden party– ivory and gold brocade coat with a beige straw hat with a swirled rose shape on the crown (nicknamed the Cinnamon bun hat).
It’s a great expression and, like Rose, I smile when I see it used here!
We never saw a repeat of the cinnamon bun hat, did we? Hope it comes back with a non-biscuit ensemble.
This isn’t my favorite yellow ensemble for HM, but as my favorites are in lemon yellow, this buttery yellow seems more seasonally appropriate.
Nothing more to say about Sophie’s fedora, except I’m a little disappointed we’re seeing it repeated for the same event a week later. I suppose this one is easy to travel with than other hats with more fragile trims and shapes (as we’ve also seen it for church in Scotland).
Definitely looks like a different fedora for Anne based on the material of the hat (at first glance I also thought it was a repeat from August). It’s a nice look and I like the feather trim, but seems a bit odd for our favorite thrifty princess to have two extremely similar hats.
Finally, like trickymum, I love the cranberry fedora with the fabulous feather trim on the woman in the crowd! Get her to Cheltenham!
Jake, that is a good explanation for the repeat of Sophie’s fedora on country church outings. She may not have the room in her luggage for hatboxes as HM would. Come to think of it, that is a practical reason for all the holiday bandeaux we saw this year.
Well, I once bought a great turquoise sweater that turned out to be almost identical to one I already had (which I didn’t remember till I got it home), but I liked it so much I decided to keep them both — it’s not out of the question that a Royal could make the same “mistake”.
I was happy to see HM’s yellow/grey ensemble, it’s been one of my favorites since I first saw it, and it’s always nice to see a sunny color on a crisp day.
Thinking about the idea that these hats weren’t very exciting or that the same hats are often worn again and again to church, I wonder if there’s something to be said for the idea that going to church for a regular Sunday service is supposed to be a spiritual experience, not a fashion show?
Add my thumbs up for the hat on the lady in the crowd!
You make a very good point, Matthew- if there’s ever a time for hats not to be glamorous showstoppers, it’s when they are worn to church.
Matthew, I agree with you that ultimately what one wears to church doesn’t matter; I’m just a sucker for variety in life! And while I personally believe that clothing choices matter little in attending church, there are others who disagree, saying showing up in one’s “Sunday best” is a sign of respect for the Divine. I can also see this argument and most Sundays I will try to dress better than I do during the week; but I also come from a pretty informal church, so my dressing up may also be a sign of rebellion haha. I just need to be more grateful to see beautiful hats when I do!
Actually, Jake, I didn’t mean at all that what one wears to church doesn’t matter, but rather that in my experience, the tendency for a regular service has seemed to be toward subdued and dignified (i.e. tan fedora every Sunday perfectly fine), rather than a high fashion look that might be chosen for a special event (christening, etc) that happens to be in a church. But of course, I’m sure this varies from one area to another, and even from one congregation to another within the same area.
Tan/beige may not be particularly interesting, but I thought P. Anne looked quite well put together here and the shape of this hat really suits her.
The Queen, of course, looked impeccable!
H. M’s primrose yellow hat has always been one of my favourites, right from its first appearance in Germany a few years ago. The colour is lovely, the grey band sets it off marvellously, and the feathers – wow!
I agree completely! Fabulous hat!
It’s the lady in the crowd wearing the burgundy fedora for the win! I actually love all of these outfits, being quite a fan of greige! I much prefer the fedoras to the plethora of hatbands on view at Christmas.
Princess Ann and Countess of Wessex colour schemes are close but different . They have a USA western touch. Seems too informal after the hats and outfits worn in the past. However, the fedora is my favourite style. I guess there is no consulting between the royals as to what they are going to wear at events.
The Queen looks outstanding.