The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the 1st Battalion Irish Guards for their St Patrick’s Day Parade today at Mons Barracks, Aldershot. The couple continued the tradition of presenting Shamrock to members of the regiment started by Queen Alexandra in 1901.
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The Duchess wore a new hat in deep teal green fur felt. The pillbox design features an indented domed crown and is trimmed with a knotted bow at the side.
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The saturated colour is beautiful, showing the smooth lines of the beautiful fur felt to great effect. The shaping of the felt to appear as if gathered by the bow gives some lovely movement to the hat, emphasized by the jaunty angle it was worn today. The hat pairs beautifully with this tweed coat, combining to make an elegant ensemble for Kate.
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Designer: Awon Golding for Lock and Co. bespoke version of the ‘Mayfair’ Pillbox Hat. Coat by Laura Green London.
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Prince William wore the full dress uniform of his rank of Colonel of the Irish Guards, complete with cap, smartly trimmed with a fresh sprig of shamrock.
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I think this is a great addition to Katie’s millinery wardrobe- what do you think?
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Royal Hats 
It’s nice to see a pillbox with a more forward placement, and this shade of green is flattering for Kate, as we have seen in the past; this is also much better than 2015 when she wore all brown, including a very similar pillbox (as Jimbo mentioned; it looks to potentially be off the same block).
I do wish she would wear her green hats more than just for this event and Christmas. Her 2019 hat was so beautiful, and it’s a shame we haven’t seen it since (And where is the Gina Foster hat hiding? If Kate doesn’t want to wear it anymore, I will more than gladly take it off her hands! 😉 )
Kate has a very military vibe today – the hat and coat do look better together in the sunlight. I prefer the slightly brighter emerald green shades we have seen on her in the past. Today’s pillbox resembles her brown one (both Lock & Co., posted in a comment earlier this week) very closely, and its forward placement is more appealing to me.
I love this new hat for The Duchess. The colour and style are gorgeous.
I really like this hat, and as Shanon has said, so lovely to see the milliner overjoyed to see their head atop the royal head. I reckon this hat will get a fair bit of use in Kate’s neutral section of her wardrobe.
What I’m a bit meh about is the coat and the pairing. The coat is nice enough, but it’s style is not a million miles from what she wore last St Patrick’s. I just feel she could rewear a little more… and the colour matching is close, but not quite – as we’ve said before, a clear clash or an exact match is needed. I wonder if it matched better in daylight? She looks elegant as ever, but it’s not my favourite look from her.
For an event that occurs annually and is associated with a specific colour scheme, I can understand why the Duchess of Cambridge has avoided rewears. In my opinion, rewearing the same coat/hat within the same few years could make the event feel less “special” for the other participants, and potentially makes it more difficult to distinguish photographs from year to year.
Such a gorgeous hat! I’m so glad we got to see another new one the Duchess of Cambridge. If anyone is on instagram go to Awon Goldings page. She’s so excited the Duchess wore her hat and everyone, milliners included, were congratulating her. What a wonderfully, supportive community!
As much as Kate and William looked spectacular, they were completely overshadowed by those adorable kids. Holy cow that little lady who gave Kate flowers is adorable! The photo Chris Jackson took of her father putting his bearskin on her head, with William and Kate cracking up, is priceless (second gallery above).