As per your request, dearest readers, today’s question is dotty one- which royal hats can you recall with spots?
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats
The Bold, Beautiful and Bizarre World of Royal Millinery
As per your request, dearest readers, today’s question is dotty one- which royal hats can you recall with spots?
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Maxima, then Princess, in animal spots in The Netherlands, 2004:
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Camilla, also in faux leopard spots, worn to greet then-president Sarkozy to London in 2008.
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And Princess Michael of Kent in 2000:
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Queen Silvia Finland 1986 (?). I can’t locate on Getty Images, so you’ll have to check the link:
https://imsvintagephotos.com/portraitpictureofqueensilviainoneofhermanydressyhatsthepicturewastakeninconnectionwithastatevisitinfinland722677
Lady Sarah Chatto at the Sussex Wedding 2018 with cutout dots on her spectacular hat:
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Crown Princess of Norway.
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The Princess Christina of Sweden
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Those are both GREAT finds Silje! I love the subtle dots on Princess Christina’s hat.
I have been looking through Princess Diana’s hats (thank you for giving me an excuse to do this!) and learned that this peach silk hat has little dots in the silk that make it shine.
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I have noticed the dots on this before!
Oops- I meant to say I have never noticed the dots on this hat before!
I knew if I kept digging Anne would come up with the goods! Not in glorious technicolour alas, so these outfits are probably acid yellow and pepto-bismol pink!
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1977: New Zealand
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So it’s not a hat but Diana’s poka dot socks with RED HEELS are so epic I had to include them. The best of 1980s fashion!
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I’m surprised there aren’t more in Margrethe’s arsenal; she’s a polka dot kinda person I think. The only other I could find is this one, where the spots play second fiddle to many other things going on!
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Wow everyone- as usual, you have uncovered more hats than I imagined. There are some great ones (and some corkers!)! The only one I can think of to add is this dotted beret on the Countess of Frederiksborg in January 1997 for Queen Margrethe’s Silver Jubilee. Photo from Corbis.
I know this is super late, but here’s another one for the Countess of Frederiksborg back when she was Princess Alexandra:
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Queen Sonja has a red hat with many spots
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And from the front
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Also a red hat but with small spots on the net.
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Thanks for including Sonja’s hats here! I completely forgot about the red pillbox and suit in that cot-textured crepe fabric. She also wore a beret with silver grommet ringed cutouts for one of the Silver Jubilee visits in 2016. Photo by Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix
I think we have forgotten some spot hats in the Norwegian Royal Family! First Princess Astrid.
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Princess Beatrix in a hat with tone-on-tone spotted crown in 1976. Photo by Corbis
The then Crown Princess Margareta of Romania wore a stonking polka dot hat to a garden party in 2012. The dots being little balls ‘pinned’ into the hat give it quite a different look. Unfortunately, the only photo I can find of it is here: https://no.pinterest.com/pin/551057704399334050/
Perhaps one of our sleuths can unearth a better image.
Fluffy spots for Princess Michael of Kent at the 1997 Trooping of the Colour.
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Spots, but a paucity of them, on Lady Helen Taylor’s hat at Ascot in 2014. Pictured with her father, the Duke of Kent.
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I really can’t figure out what’s going on with the net on this hat as only 2 large spots are visible. Princess Anne, looking gorgeous in London in 1993.
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Here’s a better view
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Thanks. The large dots still don’t make much sense, though …
Matching … the Shah of Iran has a polka dot tie and Queen Soraya a polka dot hat. Worn during a 1956 visit to India. The couple were married from 1951-58, she being his second wife. They are generally depicted as star-crossed lovers.
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I think these spots count!
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Absolutely!
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I love the leopard spots!
Queen Margarethe in some different dots….printed pin dots and what appear to be assorted felt polka dots glued on the wider ribbon trim.
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Wow- dotted binding. I hadn’t noticed that. That’s a whole other level of dotty detail!
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Two interesting blue spotted hats on Empress Masako- first, a silk covered bumper worn on June 9, 1993 when she left her family home for the last time before her wedding. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images
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The second is a royal blue hat with beadwork that gives the impression of dots (who’s to say the dots can’t be sparkling ones?!). It was worn November 1994 in Oman and reminds me how much I loved her early jewel toned hats. (Photo by JMPA / Shufu to Seikatsusha
The royal blue hat is gorgeous! Wow!
A very memorable image of HM….
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The Queen Mum in some very subtle polka dots….
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The Duchess of Rutland going a bit dotty at Ascot……
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I’m super surprised we don’t see Queen Max or Princess Haya here. Guess spots aren’t their jam.
I posted this one for the bows category, but it works for spots too! Embed from Getty Images
Diana is credited with most of the spotted royal fashion in the 1980s but Katharine’s spot game was strong!
I hadn’t thought of it before but polka dots are so cheery! I’m grinning ear to ear like a lunatic reading through these comments!
Hat Queen, a few years ago one of the Japanese princesses wore a hat with a large brim and it had polka dots. It sticks out in my mind for the brim and for those dots. Do you remember who it was?
Trish, click on this RoyalHats link, and scroll down to Princess Michiko. Enjoy.
https://royalhats.net/category/types-of-hats/
I was thinking of a different hat but I can’t believe there are 2 Japanese royal hats with big brims and dots!
Are you thinking of Princess Nobuko’s hat at the International Roses and Gardening Show in May 2018? Photos from Sponichi
The only other brimmed Imperial royal hat with spots I can think of is this large saucer on Empress Michiko.
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Princess Nobuko’s dots are my new absolute favourite thing, maybe ever!
Yes!! That’s the one! Seeing that it goes with a polka dot skirt AND jacket makes me love it even more!!
Princess Michiko’s hat is completely different than anything else I ever remember seeing her wear. Are the dots supposed to be berries?
LOVE Princess Nobuko’s hat!
JamesB, I’ve been agreeing with you all week. Apparently, I’m your stalker! ha ha That hat is pure FUN!
June 19, 1990: Royal Ascot
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February, 1972: Thailand (MOM and DAUGHTER!)
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You’ve taken it to a new level, Jimbo- two generations of royals in the same photo, both in spots!
Great find Jimbo! You always come up with the mic drops.
Are the dots on Anne’s cutouts? They seem to match her waistband. What a great hat.
a couple of red and white spotted from queen margrethe
2014 – https://royalhats.net/2014/07/31/queen-margrethe-opens-prison-church/
and 1966 – https://www.granger.com/results.asp?inline=true&image=0152529&wwwflag=1&itemx=40
a couple more hm classics – the spotted turban in mexico 1975
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and more up to date spotted bow in germany 2015
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The original hat for this coat also has dots!
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Of course Anne’s not immune to a few spots. And in erm, orange…. Embed from Getty Images
I was just going to post this gem!
I always loved this one. I don’t know how the milliner did it but there are some dots floating in the feathers.
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I don’t usually like turbans but I also love this hat! I never noticed the dots hiding in the feathers! It also looks to me that there are white and blue dots on the dress. You can barely see the blue ones but they are there.
I love this hat. It looks like dots but it’s actually dots and daisies!
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I remember in 1985 and 1986 Princess Diana wore several outfits with polka dots and we all followed suit. I always thought this dress and hat was so elegant.
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Diana in Canada, 1986
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This is a nostalgic one for me, Jimbo- this was the Day I met Diana! I’ll never forget that dotted Breton hat and the butterfly earrings and necklace pendant.
Would love to hear that story sometime HatQueen! I’ve often wondered about events in the lives of followers of this blog that caused them to develop an interest in the royals, and especially royal millinery. For me, it was an unexpected close encounter with Queen Elizabeth on a secondary school trip to London in the mid 70’s…..I have been a huge fan and follower ever since! (I was the only one in my college fraternity that subscribed to Majesty Magazine! That caused some raised eyebrows…..)
Oh yes, I find people look at me sideways when I can answer most quiz questions about the British Royal family, or even many of the other Royals of Europe. It’s a skill, I tell you!
I echo MrFitzroy, HatQueen, please do share your meeting Diana story with us! I was in the room when she visited the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York on her first solo visit there in 1989, but did not have the honor of actually meeting her, as only the large Brooklyn Academy donors did. She was there in her capacity as patron to the Welsh National Opera, who were then performing there (Falstaff). Here are some photos of the evening gala from the Academy’s own archive: http://levyarchive.bam.org/Detail/entities/7865. (Interestingly, Time Magazine’s special edition that came out after she died included photos of this event, which surprised me, because there were so many others that were much more glamorous.) I did get to watch the performance from the balcony, and was surprisingly seated right near David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who were still together at the time. That was the same occasion when I met and had a wonderful conversation with Tim Graham, the photographer while he was setting up his equipment earlier in the day.
And to segue into answering MrFitzroy’s question about how people developed an interest in the royals and royal millinery, I think I started out being more interested in the general area of royal photography before being interested in the royals themselves. I found this blog by accident while googling Lady Helen Taylor for an unrelated reason, and originally stayed because being a little on the crafty side, I was fascinated by the close-up photos of the embellishments on HM’s hats! My other millinery knowledge, such as it is, and any familiarity at all with the non-British royals was acquired much later, thanks to HatQueen and all of you!
That is quite a trifecta Matthew! a memorable day no doubt. And such an iconic gown on Diana (both the Auction Catalog cover, and the Madame Alexander Doll!). Really interesting to learn about how others came upon this interest and discovered the wonderful community of this blog!
Another one from Beatrice, with pearls providing the dots. I love how they are scattered, like stars: Embed from Getty Images
It’s Eugenie in the pearl trimmed hat. Great catch!
Eugenie, of course! She seems to like dots, doesn’t she?
Using the link to HQ’s post instead of just an image tto show off the exquisite work on this one: https://royalhats.net/2016/07/20/closer-look-ivory-and-red-pearl-pillbox/
3D millinery spots! Excellent catch!
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Princess Eugenie wore a wide brim hat to Epsom in 2011 with the fewest dots possible, but perhaps among the largest at the same time:
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Queen Sofia’s veiled bandeau hat at the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002 featured a lot of dots:
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Princess Aimee
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Wow! Dotted net veils are certainly popular! What about dots on the actual hat?
I always thought this was a very sharp outfit. The pattern is dots but you can see larger faint dots in it too.
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Spots within spots! Brilliant!
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August 4, 1978: Toronot
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Getty doesn’t seem to have any Ascot pics of Princess Eugenie in 2009, so a link instead:
https://www.zimbio.com/photos/Princess+Eugenie/Royal+Ascot+2009+Day+4/kPxlMvfLhNr
and scroll down to pic 4 for Anne in 1973. The interesting polka dots seem to be not a print, or embroidery, but individually applique’d.
https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/gallery/princess-anne-style?image=5dc9a1aab13bbb0008c2b605
I just couldn’t resist this next confection worn by Anne,(Sorry about the long link!) which she wore to the wedding of Camilla and Andrew P. Bowles in 1973.That really was the era when being told your outfit looked “crazy” was the highest compliment. The pillbox, trimmed with enormous floral applique’s from her printed dress fabric, is constructed of plain fabric latticed with stitched cutouts in polka-dot shapes on a net base. You can’t see it all in this pic, but bands of the same polka-dot cutout fabric are inserted into the floral dress in no less than 3 places. I’m not kidding.
HQ should we consider a new category for hats with cutouts?
https://www.alamy.com/jul-04-1973-july-4th-1973-princess-anne-attends-wedding-of-her-one-image69472751.html
Here’s one of Princess Eugenie at Ascot in 2009.
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This is a hilarious-looking hat, probably quite a good choice for a young aristo at Ascot, a sort-of take on a bookies’ hat, maybe?
Royal Ascot 2010:
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Then there’s this very unusual choice from the Queen Mum… Embed from Getty Images
thats a great one – seems such an unusual choice for her
I’ll start off with a deepcut I’ve been saving for this! Marina in a hat that seems to be covered in fried eggs! Embed from Getty Images
Indeed- it’s the fried egg pillbox! It’s brilliant!
Oh, my — that’s exactly what it looks like!
Sonja joining in. I like that the hat has self-coloured spots as well as the band.
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Here’s a better view:
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How about this one? More subtle..
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think weve seen this a few times, but it is v spotty..
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and a couple of diana’s classic polka dot looks;
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Another view of what was reported as the “Smartie” hat
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This oneEmbed from Getty Imagessprang to mind first
This is Fergie’s response to that outfit. This was an omission from the most veil category! I love how the spots on the veil reference the suit, it’s a very chic look from her.
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Great catch on Sarah’s hat- we see lots of dotted veils but seldom one where the veil and its dots are different colours!
This is also the first hat I thought of.
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This one is so sassy! I love the button trim! (She’s even wearing a circle brooch, if you look closely!)