Our weekly discussion question falls on a date too fortuitous not to utilize. So, dear readers, let’s embrace the silly side of things – which royal hat has the craziest, most ridiculous decoration?
Photo from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats
The Bold, Beautiful and Bizarre World of Royal Millinery
A few hats for me can win “craziest trim”: Zara Tindall on the 5th of June 2012.
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Princess Laurentien on the Wedding Day of Prince Pieter-Christiaan and miss Anita van Eijk: Embed from Getty Images
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i’m a bit late to the party, as it took me ages to track down a postable image of the Duchess of Windsor’s “angel wings” hat. Miami 1940 https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/wallis-simpson-and-edward-albert-christian-george-andrew-news-photo/1193330906?adppopup=true
I doubt it is ever a good idea to wear a pair of anything on the top of your head that could be mistaken from certain angles for animal ears, horns, fairy wings or insect antennae.
To her credit, the video shows the Duchess carrying off those birdy wings with considerable presence and poise.
https://youtu.be/xoHKa7MoLXs?t=41 from 0:24 -1:13
Mcncln, Instead of going to the dentist, think she should have gone to a hat shop! Thanks for sharing the crazy fly-away hat!
I just lost an hour of my life, getting off an 82 member Zoom meeting! I’m going out to mow the lawn now!
Happy weekend, hat lovers!
Ok, mcncln, I think you’ve won the Historic category! How about the flamingo brooch — very appropriate for Miami.
Yes mittenmary, I had the pleasure of seeing this brooch from about a foot away, at the Cartier exhibition when it came to Australia in 2018. Nothing beats seeing jewellery up close. The size of this whopper is just right — corsage size — not overwhelming, surprisingly non-heavy in appearance, yet impossible to ignore.
It’s not just the trim, the whole hat looks weird to me. In the profile shot it’s clearly only half a hat! Princess Caroline in 2002.
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Veering back into tea-cosy territory is Princess Laurentien in 2007.
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She looks as though she teaches at Hogwarts!
ROFL!
Perfect!
Congratulations, Hat Queen! You’re on a winner here: this thread really hit the spot! I’m a retired academic and, if I might say, the research skills demonstrated by participants to this post (and many others) are of the very highest order. Enjoying the fruits of your labours hugely!
Princess Maxima, as she then was, in 2012. I should have entered this in the feather search! It’s not quite the ‘whole bird’ that was noted about the Countess of Wessex, but it’s not far off.
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The Dorito chip! I really like this one and always thought of the ‘chip’ as a stitched, felt mini sculpture.
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How can we forget this one?! Diplomatic dressing at its most obvious
(The Duchess of York on a visit to California)
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LOL, I remember that “L.A.” hat! Those hatpins are probably too short to be used for knitting, but if she put little hooks on the ends of them, she could crochet.
I think there are a few we need to include from Queen Maxima. Her Ascot hat was the very best of crazy trim- beautiful but still a bit bonkers!
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Remember the bird?!
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And these feathers?!
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This one so reminds me of a hat you might see in a Dr Seuss book … sort of like a question mark hovering there. I don’t dislike the hat though and if anyone could pull this off it would be Max. Love her.
The chocolate sequinned claw?!
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The squashed front with flat bow?
This one is truly strange. What could the designer have been going for?
Another hat that has always driven me nuts is Queen Margrethe’s Adidas striped pink one.
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thankyou hq for the posts – some of Maxima’s are new to me. whilst not to everyone’s taste, you have to give respect for trying something new, and ‘out there’.
but your post on (the also new to me) queen Margrethe and the ‘adidas stripes’ was tops – it really made me giggle. thankyou!
You’re welcome! Your comment somehow brought to mind Princess Benedikte’s burgundy faux fur hat embedded with ‘brain coral’ looking ruffles. I don’t understand this.
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now dont get me wrong – i think the cowessex is beautiful, and has great style, and i applaud her for trying out new things. she has some amazing hats, especially from recent years as her sense of style has developed, but you have to admit that there have been a few mistakes on the hat front.. here’s a few feather explosions (the first is rather eye-catching, and she looks beautiful, but for me there is a sense of a ‘bird flies into hat incident’!)
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You have a point, sirlancelot, especially about that first one! Also in the category of lovely countesses in OTT hats is this one from HQ’s Ascot archives: https://royalhats.net/2019/04/10/ascot-hat-from-the-past-6/
Sirlancelot:
1. I had to read “cowessex” twice before I got the idea – my first thoughts had something to do with the BBC and David Attenborough!
2. All these feathery confections that you have so wonderfully shared today remind me of all the ornithological activity I’m witnessing in my yard these past 3 weeks. A once seed-covered Christmas gift is now home to a Carolina chickadee. Really cool.
thanks Jimbo. sorry for any confusion – ive just read it back, (and no offence meant to hrh – perhaps i should left a gap ie co wessex). and your yard scene sounds beautifully springlike. post us some pics…
And we thought Queen Maxima had killer hatpins…
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These look like knitting needles! Health & Safety, or indeed commonsense, should have dictated strippers on the ends!
Indeed! The other design in Queen Silvia’s closet that I find odd is this one. On its own, the hat is an odd proportion (weirdly tall for a brimless hat) which seems emphasized by the black and silver firework on the side
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My thought exactly! I was thinking that if the day’s festivities were exceptionally boring, she could at least get some crafting in on the sly.
Ha, ha … ‘stoppers on the ends’.
I assume a hatband counts as trim, and this one on Mathilde is certainly a bit crazy and ridiculous IMO:
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Not even Margrethe would go this far in matching I think!
Of course, Astrid’s two-hat hat with random feathers pictured in the original post takes first place in the craziest, most ridiculous trim stakes for me.
The fact that the skirt is all one color helps this outfit not be OTT crazy to me.
Jake, call me crazy but I actually don’t mind this hat of Mathilde’s. I’d change two things:
1. Make the band the same solid dark color of the pattern. (I can’t tell if it’s chocolate or licorice . . . can you tell I’m hungry as I write this?)
2. I’d ditch all that fray trim.
The examples shown on this post have inspired me to think that all of us could now turn to designing hat embellishments out of whatever things we have laying around our houses, since we are not allowed to leave them. My first effort will involve a box of obsolete cell phone chargers.
(With apologies to Wies and any other professional milliners who design actual beautiful hat embellishments!)
Cell phone chargers sound very avant-garde, Matthew! Maybe I can try to remember how create flowers out of tissues, a craft project of my youth. On the other hand, I may need those tissues…
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I can’t find the headpiece worn by both Max and Beatrice Borromeo that consisted of two feather spines. Anyone?
Spoke too soon!
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Here are some more views. Yes, this headpiece is unusual but the sweeping curve of those feathers is so elegantly beautiful. I love this piece… unlike Queen Maxima’s very pale imitation
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Here are more views. Few headpieces have annoyed me more than this one. Queen Mathilde’s is marginally better – the curve of is much more elegant but the way those feather spines are wrapped at the bottom is so awkward – but still not great. Both were from Fabienne Delvigne and I thought it was highly suspect that they appeared a year after Beatrice Borromeo’s beautiful Philip Treacy (which had appeared in his collection so had been in the works even earlier) design.
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HQ, your comments help me discern the difference between the Phillip Treacey and the two knock-off versions. I’m still not sold on the idea, but I can appreciate the artistry of the original. Of course, it helps that BB is so stunning — she can sell just about any look.
No doubt- this is an avant garde headpiece that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. You’re right- it’s not just the design and its execution that are important, but how it works for the wearer. And what clothing it’s paired with! That’s why, whenever possible, I include a head-to-toe photo of each hat we admire so we can evaluate it in context!
Queen Mathilde in 2006. I look at this and think of ‘The Jetsons’!
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Great inclusion! I always loved this hat, better than it’s hot pink cousin
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Queen Beatrix at the 2004 wedding of her son Johan Friso and Mabel. Feathers on feathers … but it works for her.
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I actually love this on PBea…it’s exuberant like she is!
Princess Margaret (1966). I’ve long been waiting for an opportunity to post this one, it’s bonkers. There used to be a front shot available through Getty but I couldn’t find it today. The ‘hat’ is sort of like a half tea-cosy with the bow right on top of her head.
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Mr Fitzroy has posted a link to a profile shot below.
I featured this in a “Hat From the Past” post- in the comments there are several great links to photos of this hat from all angles.
I should have known!
xx
holy schlamoley…a snood on steroids?
I always thought the pair of feather pigtails on this hat was over the top
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Same here
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Pigtails! I can’t unsee that now. LOL!
Sorry! I can’t think of how else to describe them!
Princess Margaret’s 1969 Ascot hat … I presume there’s a crown behind the brim and it isn’t just a halo of flowers!
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I’m not sure if this qualifies as trim as it’s hard to see where the hat ends and the trim might begin. But goodness, Princess Margaret looks radiant in this 1961 photo:
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You know, if this were anyone else but Princess Margaret, you might also say “where the hat ends and the hair might begin” for a hat in the 1960s!
It can’t be a party without a beribboned Princess Margaret……the coat looks interesting too!
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/princess-margaret-with-hat-news-photo/1174005874?adppopup=true
And who could ever forget this…….ummmm…..conglomeration. That one wan purple note….and in this shot, the way the buttons on the coat behind actually appear to be levitating off the hat!
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MrFitzroyCBE is on a roll today!
This hat wins the prize! Ahh, what is seen sometimes cannot be unseen.
Veiling — pearls — feathers — great wads of tulle….probably some flowers tucked in someplace…..one knew the Queen Mother had to have some cunning contenders!
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/queen-elizabeth-the-queen-mother-chats-with-a-group-of-news-photo/613464750?adppopup=true
Prince Harry with an Angry Bird on his head:
http://www.gadgethelpline.com/prince-harry-spotted-wearing-angry-birds-hat-revelling-royal-reps-rovio/
Thank you, thank you, HQ, and everyone else who has submitted photos!
The hats with the fruit and the blue “pot scrubber” are my favorites. You can’t make this stuff up.
Really appreciate this blog now, more than ever.
A reader shared this gem on Twitter
winner!
This is the one!
a peach gingham lily anyone??? worn in madrid and sydney, so hm must have approved
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I think a large knotted bow with trailing tails centered on the crown of one’s hat qualifies!
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I really like the two toned pink hat and outfit.
I realize that the hat below was just recently posted, but it fits in again with today’s theme.
PS HQ, the absolute best April Fool’s post was several years ago, with HM and Hyacinth Bucket wearing the same hat! BRILLIANT!
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-royalty-the-queen-opening-the-national-museum-king-edward-building-108476695.html
You mean, this post?!
EXACTLY! Actually, this isn’t the first time such a fashion faux pas took place. Apologies if the comparison below has been addressed before.
https://billygraham.org/story/billy-graham-and-the-queen/
http://hyacinthbucketscookbook.weebly.com/ch-9.html
You just know that whatever Hyacinth saw on the Queen she liked, she would have rung up Freddie Fox and ordered the same, in a different colour, of course!
Haven’t got a photo (sorry) but Beatrice hat from Williams and Kate’s wedding
I actually like the hat, but the saucer trim is a bit “over the top” for my good taste!
https://cheezburger.com/template/4569695
Hmmm, not sure whether this counts as trim or shape, but too it’s too goofy not to share. The always-tasteful Duchess of Castro at Prince Albert’s wedding:
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STREWTH, HATQUEEN! (I’ve learned a new word while staying home!) Have you opened up some floodgates that can NEVER be shut!
June, 1990: Royal Ascot
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Love the Mary Englebreit-esque look here!
Oh, you’re right about Mary Engelbreit! Life is just a chair of bowlies!
Guilty as charged.
in my browsing, i have just realised that i am quiet partial to a butterfly hat… love these
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in a similar vein to princess anne’s fruity number below, there is also this black and yellow hat (classic hm 80’s styling) worn in 1988, which has the odd balls/fruits? strangely attached – i dont quite understand the need or point of them???
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in more recent times (2003), i didnt understand hm’s choice of this blue fish-netting covering this hat either ?
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Oh, dear, it looks like a giant pot-scrubber! And I’m fond of the butterflies, too.
wow the blue hat is ………
The yellow and black looks like a molecule model has been attached. Perhaps a science related venue?
With regard to the black and yellow hat above, I’m thinking that perhaps there was a shortage of silk at that time, so, being unable to obtain silk flowers, the milliner put those fruit-like round balls on the hat instead.
the first that came to mind for me was this very odd hat worn by the princess royal easter 2009. i am a fan of anne, her quirky clothes sense, and her penchant for recycling, and i appreciate anne does not particularly follow fashion, but this was just odd for me. its a very simple ‘rustic’ hat with a few crazy fruit pieces (marzipan fruits???) stuck on the back!
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And then there’s whatever is going on underneath? Help!
Princess Claire 2008:
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-princess-claire-of-belgium-attends-the-traditional-military-ceremony-54462854.html
Especially bizarre with the Mondrian coat!
Ah yes, Dahlia-Jun, Princess Claire is a strong contender; I think she’s right up there with Princess Beatrice. The 2008 tulle dandelion you cite gives her a total of 2 jaw-dropping entries. I’m not sure if it counts as a hat — but what a fascinator! surely it originated in a bridal salon. I swear I have seen modern veiling like this one on brides in “Say Yes to the Dress”. Embed from Getty Images
I love this