fifty-one years to July 3, 1970 and the Women’s Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Princess Margaret presented awards to winner Billie Jean King and runner-up Margaret Court in a statement blue circle headpiece with large bow.
Embed from Getty Images
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Images from Getty as indicated
Amazing selection of hats in the box, that’s a pith helmet on Princess Alexandra! This was also the time before white shoes and handbag became a joke. The best looking is the lady in the white hat looking at the camera on the middle right. Very smart, the same cannot be said of the brown straw and ruffles next to her.
This post shows the Duchess of Cornwall in a hat described as a pith helmet, but personally I think that of the two, Alexandra’s is much more authentic looking. (I suppose that means that by modern standards, that is cultural appropriation and it would no longer be acceptable for her to wear.)
Sorry, I forgot to add the link to the post I was referring to — here it is:
https://royalhats.net/2020/10/13/guest-post-cultural-millinery-part-1/
Great memory!
This headpiece has been discussed before. I thought it looked familiar. Was it placed in the “bows” post?
https://royalhats.net/2017/09/28/querry-hat-type-quandry/
I quite like this! It’s a fun precursor to the headbands we’ve seen on the Duchess of Cambridge lately. I love how it circles her bouffant.
And Princess Anne’s fedora is quite nice as well, although a bit dark and heavy for a summer sporting event. I would like to see her or Zara give that a rewear at Gatcombe horse trials or other outdoor event.
Yes, Princess Alexandra’s hat is….unique. Not her current style certainly. One wonders if The Princess Royal might still have her hat.
Did you also see Princess Ann and Princess Alexandra in the front row with PM? Alexandra’s hat looks a bit like pith helmet with yellow wrapped around it! Ann in a sort of western style brown hat.
Margaret quite often wore bows in her hair.
Yes, I suspect Princess Alexandra’s hat wasn’t her usual style for formal engagements, but was chosen as suitable for a sporting event in the sun, albeit one where she was in the royal box. I’d be surprised if she wore it for more standard engagements, at least in the UK. I don’t know if she wore it when visiting hotter countries?!