Queen Elizabeth arrived in Scotland yesterday to embark on a week of engagements known as “Holyrood Week” in reference the Palace of Holyroodhouse, her official Scottish residence. For her arrival yesterday and the traditional Ceremony of the Keys, she repeated a pale blue sinamay hat with tall, domed, straight-sided crown and a short, downward facing cartwheel brim with hatband and silk blossoms in shades of purple and blue.
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The flowers on this hat have been substantially trimmed since its first outing at Ascot in 2019:
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It’s an interesting way to make an Ascot hat more suited to every-day events! I was going to lament the loss of exuberance to the hat until I saw the ensemble complete with peek of the patterned dress, which adds that lightness and fun. It’s lovely.
Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan. Dress and coat by Stewart Parvin.
Previously Worn: June 19, 2019
The Earl and Countess of Wessex also attended the Ceremony of the Keys, the Countess in a natural textured straw hat with slightly indented crown wrapped several times with a green scarf hatband and a flat boater-style brim.
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The classic shape suits Sophie well, her green dress pairing well with the natural straw and other cognac accessories. My issue is with the hatband, which looks like a hastily applied last minute addition. It’s a good example of how not all shades of green coordinate well together.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Today, the Queen attended an Armed Forces Act of Loyalty Parade at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on June 28, 2022 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. She wore a new hat covered in lilac crepe with a diagonally sloped crown with point on one side and a reverse mushroom brim. The hat is trimmed with a hatband that vertically crosses at the front and two faceted burgundy buttons also used on the matching coat.
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The hat is impeccably made, with not a pucker or even visible stitch in sight. While the colour is lovely, I think the combination of side pointed crown and flying hatband put the design off balance. It feels like another design with just too much going on.
Designer: Angela Kelly. Made by Stella McLaren
Previously Worn: This hat is new
What a treat to see Her Majesty looking so well in this pair of hats in Scotland!
Images from Getty and social media as indicated
Royal Hats 
Wonderful seeing HM out and about in Scotland. The trimmed version of the pale blue hat is a big improvement. (Less is more.) I’m not a fan of Sophie’s green combinations. Not all greens play well together. The queen’s lilac ensemble is great, and Angela Kelly has been experimenting with new styles – nothing wrong there. I LOVE the surprise burgundy buttons, also, like the claret trim on a forest green hat back in March.
This hat was worn by the Countess of Wessex at Ascot in 2004. I think it’s better with this dress and she looked lovely also the Queen looked nice.
I’m sorry I mistaken this post with the other one (with Prince Charles and Princess Anne).
No worries! I’ll post that shortly!
I also like the ‘new’ version of this pale blue hat on Her Majesty. It ties in beautifully with the floral dress and I like being able to see more of the hatband.
While I love The Queen in lilac , I’m not a fan of this new hat yet but I think I’m slowly warming to it. I feel some other burgundy trim rather than the buttons could have picked up the colour of the buttons on the dress.
It’s absolutely wonderful to see The Queen able to participate in Holyrood Week. It’s such a striking setting for Royal events.
I really like the Countess’s new hat. I think the shape and size are perfect for her. I think I can forgive the rather casual hatband.
Just wanted to leave another comment, as I’ve been looking at the lilac hat again in view of the divided opinions, and really, it’s one of my favourites on the Queen for ages. I like the angled crown, and overall I feel it combines crispness / sharp definition with drama in a very satisfying way, which also works for the outfit as a whole. Many of the Queen’s outfits have softer elements in terms of design and trim, but this is a refreshing change that’s striking without being eccentric.
Well said and points well taken. You’ve all made me already warm to those buttons!
I actually love that we have divided opinions on this hat- fashion is so personally subjective, there’s bound to be different opinions. I’m so proud of the opening listening, considering and sharing present in our discussions here.
Buffy, you are not the only outlier as I also like the first hat better with the reduced number of flowers, but I also agree with others that the upward facing brim of the lilac hat suits HM better than the downward cartwheel brim. And what an interesting idea Jake has put forth that the lilac might have been a Jubilee weekend ensemble that didn’t get worn. I’m sure there would certainly have been plans to wear new things for all of the Jubilee events, and this is just the sort of over-the-top hat that would have fit the bill on such an important occasion.
To Buffy’s suggestion regarding interchangeable hatbands, the “regular” ladies around here do that all the time, though unlike Royals, they mainly wear their hats to the beach or when out and about on hot bright days. Plus if I remember correctly, Crown Princess Mary has several hats where the embellishments have been swapped out multiple times, though not just the hatband, I don’t think — didn’t we once have a post on those changeable hats of hers?
To JamesB regarding the brooch on the coat, the puckering does not seem that major to me, but just from a balance standpoint, I agree that it would have looked better in this case to put the brooch on the right rather than with all those buttons.
Without seeing it in person, I’m not sure that Sophie’s hatband doesn’t match her dress — blue-green is a hard color to photograph and to see accurately on a screen. If you swap back and forth between photos 3 and 4 in the first gallery, the color of the dress looks quite different.
By the way, I recommend that everybody go back to the post for the previous wearing of The Queen’s blue hat, where Wies Mauduit has written an excellent explanation of making of silk flowers!
For me, whilst I have warmed to the Ascot version, I do prefer this paired back look on the light blue hat (still not a fan of these fake-looking flowers). Its a good comparison with the new hat, and I think these recent upswept brims do suit HM’s more frail appearance, as they appear lighter. The lilac hat is marvellous (although perhaps would have been perfect without the added buttons, as there is quite a lot going on here). It looks impeccably made. Wonderful seeing HM looking on form, as there have been some slightly concerning recent pics.
As for Sophie, I do quite like the relaxed look of the scarf on the boater, though not 100% on the shade of green against the gorgeous green dress. Nice for a change though.
The flower reduction on the RTM hat probably was a good idea, but it makes the hat look like the standard hat-matches-coat and flowered-trim-matches dress theory.
The new lilac outfit does stand out in a crowd. When I first saw the hat, I was amazed as how impressive the whole outfit is. If an onlooker saw these two outfits of the Queen simultaneously, one’s eye would be drawn immediately to the lilac simply because of the exaggerations on the hat. I suspect this is what the Queen wants.
Incidentally, should anyone wonder what the matching lilac dress looks like, it looks like a matching lilac dress with those same two-faceted burgundy buttons:
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I’m with Buffy in that I like the scaled back floral trim this time on the pale blue hat; previously I thought it was a bit too random and too much having it all the way around. I’ve also been trying to determine if HM’s gloves are a pale stone grey, but I suspect they are the traditional white and the lighting is just weird; I think the pale stone would be a wonderful change though!
I love everything about Sophie’s look except the hatband; it makes this hat look much more suited for the beach or gardening rather than a formal appearance with HM. If it was refined and maybe had a large simple bow (a la Dillon Wallwork), I think this lime green would work with the jade dress (I have argyle socks with these exact shades of green on a grey base, so I have faith it could work!).
At first I was wary of this new hat for HM, but I’ve grown to appreciate it more. That said, I will never warm up to this brim style on HM and with the hat completely covered in fabric (minus the upper/inner part of the brim) it all looks a bit heavy and I personally would’ve chosen a softer shape. I’m also generally not a fan of being too matchy, but the use of the gorgeous bejeweled buttons as simple trim on the hat works well for me (and I love them on the coat). Do we think this was a Jubilee weekend ensemble that didn’t get worn?
Despite my problems with some details, it’s so delightful to see HM out and about and looking well in Scotland!
I’ll be the outlier as I like the blue hat better now after the retrimming. The full wreath before just looked awkward and too much to me. The lilac ensemble is beautiful on HM and the burgundy/purple buttons are an unexpected touch that works. This hat *should* be awkward and too much on description it sounds like something I would hate, but somehow it works and I kind of love it. I wouldn’t want a bunch of these shapes and trims in HM’s closet but for something different it works. The obvious back center seams still bug me though I don’t know how you get around a seam somewhere. Sophie’s boater is a nice shape for her. I don’t mind the different greens but it does look like she just hastily wrapped a scarf around it to dress it up when they realized HM was going to be in attendance. Are interchangeable hatbands a thing? Is it possible? Maybe there’s a marketing idea there…
It’s impossible to cover a hat in fabric without a seam!
I think what puts the lilac hat into “too much” territory for me is the point on one side of the crown. I’m not a fan.
Yes, I agree about the slanted crown. If it had been rounded, or at least symmetrical, the unusual buttoned trim would not have looked so out of place
and I’m sure most people don’t notice things like seams and wonky trims, just us eagle eyed hat lovers!
Actually I really like the lilac hat very much, I think it can stand the exuberance of the shape and the hatband because the trim is really restrained and simple, and the result is a nice clear graphic look. And it’s a lovely colour.
I do like the pale blue hat too. However, I’ve noticed in recent photos that the Queen has visibly shrunk and got thinner, and seeing her in this hat has made me realise that what suited her previously may not be such a good look now. I find the downward-facing brim of the blue hat is a little overwhelming on the Queen now, and I think the upward brim of the lilac hat suits her better.
While its addition may well have been hasty, I didn’t mind the colour of the green headband on Sophie’s hat. There’s such a contrast to the green of her dress that it seems to work, to my eyes.
But oh dear the Queen’s lilac hat. Two or possibly three hats melded into one. A disaster!
I also disagree with you about the lilac hat – I love the flying hatband and button trim and don’t think it’s too much.
I slightly regret the pruning of the flowers on the first hat, but I like to see a retrim rather than an exact rewear.
I do agree that Sophie’s wrapped scarf looked last-minute and not quite right. Pity, as I liked the dress and the shape of the hat.
The Lilac hat is divine. The Queen looks beautiful in this color.
Oh I definitely lament the haircut the lovely Ascot hat has had – it’s still really beautiful, just the full wreath of flowers gave it something different from so many of her other hats and it’s a shame for it to be a bit more normal.
I loved Sophie’s outfit, and the different greens worked for me strangely.
And the lilac was also a triumph for me, I found the wrapped band and buttons to be the right amount of graphic sitting behind the brim. A quibble was the coat where the tailoring is pulling a bit, but I suspect that the brooch was too much weight for the fastening; had it been worn on the right shoulder it would have worked better I think.