One of my favourite hats in the Duchess of Cornwall’s closet is a deep teal green straw design by Philip Treacy with flat crown and sideswept brim, trimmed with velvet looped swirls, brim binding and hatband. Camilla has paired this hat with multiple ensembles, sometimes changing the look with a subtle change or blouse or scarf:
Look #1: Teal coat with black velvet shawl collar worn December 15, 2006 at the Sovereign’s Parade at Sandhurst and October 28, 2010 at visits the Battle of Britain National Memorial to The Few
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Look #2: With a second deep teal collared coat and coffee ruffle pleated blouse on a October 24, 2007 visit to the 7th Armoured Division Memorial, Thetford Forest.
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Look #3: With the deep teal collared coat and a teal petal collared blouse on a visit to Turkey on November 28, 2007.
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Look #4: Same deep teal collared coat, this time paired with a dove grey silk scarf (or blouse?) to attend Sunday morning services while on a visit to Canada on November 8, 2009.
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Look #5: Another pairing with the deep teal collared coat- an ivory and chocolate silk polka dot bow blouse worn March 3, 2010 to welcome South African President Jacob Zuma on state visit to the United Kingdom.
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Look #6: With a dark green collared coat, teal dress and scarf for the November 1, 2016 start of a Columbian state visit.
British Royals Welcome Colombian State Visit
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Look #7: With the same dark green collared coat paired with a green dress for an armed services memorial on March 9, 2017
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It’s a reminder to me how the most minor of tweaks can change the overall look of an ensemble! Which pairing do you think works best with this hat?
Images from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
The hat is wonderful, not only worthy of admiration for its construction but also a great hat when worn by Camilla. But to me it seems more green than teal, and the first two coats are just off in terms of colour (at least, they are in some lights / some photos, so not a perfect match!) For me, an outfit where the colours neither match nor contrast properly has to be pulled together in some really effective other way, and neither of these achieve that. So I’d definitely go for the last coat with the much better colour match, and of the two, I prefer the green dress (although because the coat matches the hat colour, the teal blouse also works quite well).
Both the hats from the Cheltenham Festival are fun and smart. The Duchess manages to carry off both looks very well.
Love the close-up of this standout trim! The contrast of velvet with the straw adds a lot to the look. I agree with several others that this hat (if it hasn’t been retired) would be great with something other than green. Navy, charcoal or black?
Might it work with her tartan suit?
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It so would!
I think so, too!
The velvet swirls are so interesting and unusual that I find the busy blouses at the neckline to be distracting rather than complementary — the swirls should be the focal point. Therefore, I prefer the first and last with just the pearls, with look #4 as the runner-up.
I like the last oufit best, it is the most elegant to my eye.
The last coat matches the hat better, but I like the 1st coat the best. In agreement with JamesB, (we stick together) either a perfect match or a complete contrast is best. I hope it’s OK to include two contrasting hats to the 1st and 3rd coat, even though we’re talking the teal hat today. Interesting to note: both below were worn at the Cheltenham Festival, with the dotted dress underneath.
March 14, 2012: IMHO, the brown is even less successful.
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March 11, 2020
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James, Jims and Jimbos must always stick together!
The dots! She loved that dress, I imagine it must have fallen apart in the end because it was worn under everything. I rather like the cheeky fedora with the green coat; it’s arguably a bit too casual for the coat, but quite foxy actually.
I used to have arguments … erm “discussions” … with my late sister about dark green and teal. I am convinced we simply saw those colours differently, because to me the combination is jarring. But this is a beautiful hat, worn so nicely by the Duchess of Cornwall, especially with the last coat featured, as it’s a better colour match to my eye.
I love all of the Duchess’s wide brimmed hats and this one in teal is gorgeous. The velvet swirls are so unusual. It is surprising how many different looks have featured it, but I too prefer the final ensemble. It’s simpler palette let’s the hat sing. I would love to see this hat teamed with a new colour.
Catherine, what do you think of this close-up shot of those fantastic swirls? Simply awesome!
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Such a great photo. Those swirls continue to make me swoon.
Beautiful!
I think the last coat is by far the best as the colour match is closest. Either has to match exactly or be a contrast. That last coat is beautiful and very flattering.
The second coat which is mainly worn with this hat is lovely, and it could just be the light (as the felt coat and straw hat will show up differently), but one looks more teal, the other leaning more to green.
The hat’s done a lot of duty. I think she can splash out on another green number now! (Especially when you consider just how many cream hats she has!)
I agree that this is an excellent hat. Several of the pairings are close….but I can’t get over being slightly put off by the mismatch of colours. Teal is a tricky colour and, to my eye at least, greens don’t quite work with it. But photos, computers and lighting in different situations may be causing this issue for me.
I would love to see this hat paired with an outfit where teal or green plays a part but is not the dominant colour.