Inventory: Princess Beatrice’s Blue Hats

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Princess Beatrice celebrated her 32nd birthday on Saturday. To celebrate this, I thought it was high time we dove into her millinery closet for an inventory. Surprisingly, she has publicly worn 20 different blue designs:

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Designer: All are Philip Treacy
Introduced: December 25, 2002; June 12, 2010; June 17, 2010

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Designer: unknown; Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren); Stephen Jones
Introduced: June 16, 2011; July 30, 2011; June 5, 2012

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Designer: Sarah Cant; unknown; Sarah Cant
Introduced: June 4, 2013; August 11, 2013; June 17, 2014

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Designer: unknown; Laura Apsit Livens
Introduced: November 19, 2014; June 18, 2015

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Designer: Juliette Botterill; unknown; Laura Apsit Livens
Introduced: June 19, 2015; May 26, 2016; June 16, 2016

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Designer: Gina Foster; Laura Apsit Livens; Emily London; 
Introduced:  June 18, 2016; May 16, 2017; June 17, 2017 

18. 19. 20. 
Designer: Juliette Botterill; Stephen Jones; Juliette Botterill; 
Introduced: December 25, 2017; May 19, 2018; June 19, 2018

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Designer: Bundle MacLaren
Introduced: June 18, 2019

UPDATE: Since this post was published, Princess Beatrice has worn the following blue hats:

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Designer: Juliette Botterill
Introduced: June 3, 2022

There’s considerable diversity of shade and shape here- saucers, boaters, fedora, bandeau, pillbox, teardrop and button perchers and brims of all sizes. Seeing this collection reminds me how well Beatrice wears hats, how much we underestimate her millinery sophistication and how wearing the work of numerous milliners (at least nine here) pushes her style and saves her from falling into a single signature look. The wide brimmed Sarah Cant and Gina Foster designs (#9 and #15) remain long held favourites for me because they are just so beautiful, along with the wonderful blue embroidered Bundle MacLaren Matador (#20). I also have a soft spot for the pair of blue and orange Laura Apsit Livens designs (#11 and #14) that were punchy, bold, and very unexpected choices that certainly stood out in the crowd. And you know, I love a hat that stands out!

Which blue hats in Princess Beatrice’s hat closet are your favourites?

Photos from Max Mumby/Indigo; RMA Sandhurst; Max Mumby/Indigo, Paul Ellis / AFP, Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse, Samir Hussein/WireImage, Gareth Fuller – WPA Pool, Chris Jackson and Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty and Getty as indicated

Hat From the Past

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Royal Hatsto 1906 and a royal stay at Abergeldie Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Queen Mary, who was a princess and young mother at the time of these photos, dressed in a marvelous flowered and plumed hat for play in the garden with her children.

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Photo from Getty as indicated

Monday Multiples: Crown Princess Mary

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Crown Princess Mary’s tall crowned pink straw hat by Danish milliner Susanne Juul with its elegant lines and very pretty, transparent brim, is such a lovely summer hat. It’s also very versatile- Mary has paired this hat with eleven different ensembles:

Look #1: With an ecru coat and muted pink dress, scarf and leather gloves for a June 20, 2005 visit to the Faroe Islands

 

Look #2: With a cream silk blouse and skirt and a dusky pink coat September 4, 2005 for a parade celebrating Hans Christian Andersen’s centenary (notice the flower trim moved to the other side!)

 

Look #3:  With a deep pink dress for a May 4, 2006 visit to Odense

Look #4: With a printed brown and pink silk Maline Birger dress worn to open an International Rotary congress in Copenhagen on June 11, 2006

Look #5: With a fitted grey jacket and patterned pink and purple striped skirt for a June 18, 2008 visit to Svendborg on the annual summer cruise

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Look #6: With a tailored cream coat with box pleated skirt worn during visit to Greenland, June 21, 2009

 

Look #7: The hat, without the floral trim, paired with a grey silk blouse and pink pleated floral skirt on August 15, 2010 for a service at Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen to mark the Danish navy’s 500th anniversary.

Look #8: Flower trim reinstated with a draped dress in deep mulberry and printed scarf on August 22, 2011 for a stop in Skagen during the annual summer cruise

Look #9: With a new silk rose trim on the hat and a black and white floral dress for a November 22, 2011 stop in Canberra during an Australian visit

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Look #10 Back to the original flower trim on the hat with a grey silk Hugo Boss dress and pink cropped jacket on June 13, 2012 to welcome the Chinese President

Look #11: With a pale pink silk Prada dress (shown below with a different hat as no photos are available) worn May 18, 2013 for Prince Nikolai’s confirmation

Which coat do you prefer most with this hat?

Photos from Keld Navntoft/Scanpix; Tim Rook via Shutterstock; Bauer Griffin; BestImage; Niels Henrik Dam via Getty and Getty as indicated 

This Week’s Extras

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The closest thing to a royal hat worn this week was Queen Silvia in a navy bowed hairband to award prizes for this year’s idea garden competition at the Swedish summer residence, Solliden
Town and Country magazine named these 15 hats as “The Best Royal Hat Moments” – do you agree with their choices?
The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Burgundy leather button percher with stitched bow and veil by Dutch milliner Wies Mauduit
Handwoven straw fedora with textured crown and extended, striped brim by Italian brand Borsalino
Loveliest dark green felt halo bandeau with bow by Australian milliner Lauren Ritchie
Handsome blue felt hat with deeply creased crown and braided leather hatband by UK milliner Carrie Jenkinson
Halo bandeau of light-as-air braided pink crin by UK brand Hostie Hats

Fantastic oversize brimmed black hat featured in “Black Is King” by American milliner Jo Miller
Gold sinamay halo bandeau trimmed with Indian floral, sequinned embroidery by UK milliner Josephine Willis
Verdant green straw teardrop percher with delicate flowers & butterflies by Spanish brand Montesinos Vilar Millinery
Palest pink straw sidesweep saucer with pink crin swirl by British milliner Tracey Miller
Two-toned ivory and coffee straw brimmed hat with chocolate hatband and bow by Czech milliner Jolana Kotabova
Graphic almond and black Natural and black pinok pok trilby by British milliner Dillon Wallwork

 

The prettiest floral bandeau with hand painted, silk anemonies and sweet peas by UK brand Angharad Rose Millinery
Patterned straw boater hat in the most toasty tan and walnut tones by Australian milliner Meg Rafter
For our dear gents, a blue chambray stitched newsboy cap with double brim from Dutch brand Atelier Pauline
Statement pink button percher with pink and red flying sinamay ruffles by US brand Suzanne Couture Millinery
Black felt sidesweep with tutti fruitti tweed crown and velvet hatband by Australian brand Millinery by Mairead

It’s not every week a former king goes into exile- here’s a good synopsis of the situation from the Financial Times
Interesting editorial penned by the Duke (and Duchess?) of Sussex. Read the article here. 
Finally, Princess Eugenie shared this lovely photo to celebrate Princess Beatrice’s birthday yesterday (we’ll celebrate with a dive into Beatrice’s hat closet next week!)

Photos from social media as indicated

Stripes?

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We often see hats with hatbands or brim bindings in a contrasting colour that give a punchy note of contrast but, dearest readers, can you think of royal hats with multiple stripes?

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Photo from Getty as indicated