The Duchess of Cambridge celebrated her 39th birthday over the weekend. To mark this event, we’ve diving into her millinery closet to inventory her grey hats. Here they are, in order of introduction:
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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan; Jane Corbett; Jane Corbett
Introduced: June 13, 2011; June 16, 2012, September 29, 2012
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Designer: Jane Taylor; John Boyd
Introduced: April 20, 2014; March 14, 2016
It’s a diverse group from a wide array of milliners that covers multiple shapes, scales and mixes of material. There’s something about each design here that makes it sing- the feathers and overlay trim on the first saucer, the lace applique on delicate #3, the wonderful bows on #2 and #4, and the sleek sweeping brim of #5. Grey is is not my favourite shade on Kate but these hats, thanks to their great design and excellent execution, each work very well for her.
What are your thoughts about this group of hats?
Photos from Ikon Pictures/Shutterstock and Getty Images as indicated
Royal Hats 
I love them all but especially #5. I don’t think I’ve ever hated any of her hat/fascinator choices. She always looks polished and appropriate.
They are all very elegant and suit Catherine well, but my favourite is #5
This is a very good group of hats, and, as it turns out, choosing grey results in a good representative sample of all the different styles that Kate wears. I’m least fond of number 3, but the other four could stand among Kate’s best, I think, in their different ways. I particularly like numbers 2 and 4, as they have a strong character of their own. I really like number 5 too, but I think it’s less distinctive.
Agree!
The other hats are, I think, too fussy and not flattering.
I think all the hats are elegant. Maybe the bow in #2 could be smaller but I think it is still a beautiful hat.
I love #5 – I wish she would wear more hats with this shape.
Grey is the new neutral.. You see it everywhere! I really like #5 with the ‘slice’ style brim..but the actual hat looks too big. Maybe its the camera angle? (Psst to hat queen: I think you meant 39 for her birthday)
I really like #5 – I like a wide brim on Kate and am Glad she’s building more of them into her collection. That said # 4 is a beautiful percher, and was a lovely match with that very chic coat.
I think my issue with the first three is they’re nice enough but a bit fussy, and slightly twee. She did have quite a few of these very ‘jeune fille’ hats a while back, but her later acquisitions have become more streamlined, relying on shape rather than embellishment, and I think they’re much better for it.
I think the large-brimmed grey hat of 2016 is beautiful, and I hope to see it again topping a coat with a different neckline.
Yes to a coat with a different neckline! The color and texture of the coat and hat pair beautifully, but the collar, hat and hair are crowding her face. This combination could work better with an updo, though. Anyway, it’s my favorite of these hats, and I hope she repeats it.
I appreciate grey is not everyones favourite colour – it can be very colour-draining, or dull and boring, but this very stylish group of hats definitely proves otherwise – in my opinion they are tres chic. And they all suit her dark hair (though preferring up-do’s, as shes maturing). I find them all beautiful designs, and would love to see them again (maybe with the exception of #3 – as its a little too twee for me).
Well stated sirlancelot about the color grey. I think it’s a great base color like white or black and complements everything. The Duchess of Cambridge looks wonderful in grey. I particularly like the shade of grey in hats #4 & #5. Both look great on her and both are so different (percher versus large brimmed). She really can wear hats, can’t she? I have also liked #1 for a long time. The netting detail on the hat is quite striking to me.
39th (but who’s counting?) I never liked the first hat – a bit too frilly, but the second hat was always a favorite.
It seems to me like I remember a pink hat very similar to #2, also.
In checking the inventories I guess I am wrong, though I did find a white/cream hat that looks very similar. Maybe that is what I was thinking of in my mind.
Next time look in “Twin Hats” for multiple versions of the same style. You are right- #4 is duplicated in Kate’s wardrobe in both dusky pink and palest ice blue https://royalhats.net/2015/03/16/seeing-triple-the-duchess-of-cambridge/
I’m sure this isn’t what you’re thinking of, but to me, number 2 is very reminiscent of that favourite maroon hat Kate wore at an early Christmas that has never reappeared. It isn’t the same at all, but the overall placement, height at the rear, size, and bold cutting, with the embellishment and hat itself looking all of a piece, recall it to me.
o yes – i thought of this plum beauty with complementary binding too, as similar to #2 (though i appreciate its also v different side by side)
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