57 years ago to the January 30, 1965 funeral of Winston Churchill. Queen Elizabeth wore a black velvet tam by Aage Thaarup with tall stem and tiny rows of impeccable vertical stitching.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret both wore dramatically shaped black turbans,
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester ore a draped embroidered turban style hat while her sister-in-law Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood, wore a black toque. The Duchess of Kent and Princess Alexandra wore veiled black pillboxes.
Princess Marina of Greece wore a draped halo turban while and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands wore a large brimless fur hat. Prince Berhard starts on Queen Juliana’s right while on her left are are Charles De Gaulle and Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, all of the men in military uniform and caps.
While the hats at events such as these are not the focus, they speak to a particular moment in time, and to the importance of the event to which they were worn.
Images from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
This is a wonderful visual historical event. Everyone was grandly attired and the hats were perfect.
The hats are all elegant and somber, perfect for this stately event. I read that former president Eisenhower represented the US, but I couldn’t spot him in the photos. Anyone?
A fascinating look at such a poignant day in British history. I recall watching it all, spellbound, on a tiny black and white television with my parents and brothers. The Royal ladies’ hats capture that moment in time. Thank you Hat Queen.
HQ, it always amazes me how detailed and accurate your descriptions are of the Royal hats, especially if all you had to go by were these photos. I hope you don’t mind that I included here a fairly decent video with wonderful closeups of the Royal arrivals, starting at 3:28. The Queen Mother looked so grand and Royal as she climbed the steps. (I had an amusing, personal incident happen to me AFTER climbing those very steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral some 30 years ago.)
Brilliant inclusion! I am so focused on sleuthing photographs I keep forgetting to check for available video.
There is something in the narration of this video that confuses me — the Queen arrives accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. But this is 1965, and Charles’ investiture as the Prince of Wales was not until 1969. Was he known by that title even before the investiture?
Yes, he was declared Prince of Wales in 1958, but as he was only 9/10 then, they didn’t hold an investiture until 1969 when he was 21.
Thanks, JamesB, I did not know that. I appreciate your reply!
Is that Mary, Princess Royal & Countess of Harewood in another turban-esque next to the Duke of Gloucester? Looks like the pair of siblings to me. We also see Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in their military caps next to Queen Juliana and President de Gaulle (you know I like to make certain none of the royal hats on men are missed!)
I was just going in to update the post with these additions (not wanting to omit the men!). Indeed- I think you are correct on all accounts.
Interesting photos