Queen Elizabeth’s Maundy Thursday Hats: Part 1

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Last year, we looked back at the hats Queen Elizabeth has worn this century on Easter Sunday. Sunday service, however, isn’t Her Majesty’s only outing during Easter weekend. At the conclusion of Maundy Thursday service, she (or a royal representative) hands out symbolic alms to elderly recipients – a tradition that goes back to 1210 when John, King of England, gave food and clothing to the poor in Knaresborough, Yorkshire. We will undoubtedly see Her Majesty this week at the Maundy Thursday service and in preparation for that, I thought we’d take a look back at the hats she has worn to this event in years past:


1935; first public engagement as sovereign in 1952, 1953 and 1955 (in 1954 she was away on the Commonwealth Tour)


1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959 (in 1960 she did not attend due to Prince Andrew’s birth)


1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965 (Prince Edward’s birth prevented her attendance in 1964)


1966, 1967 and the same orange ruffled turban in 1968 and 1969

The hat shape evolution here is interesting- the 1950s calots grow in volume to the 1960s turbans, with that brimmed halo hat in 1966 (in vibrant blue) for some contrast. I didn’t know that Her Majesty’s first public engagement as queen was to attend the 1952 Maundy Service until researching this post and the beautifully veiled capulet she wore that year shows how young she was.

We’ll continue our look at the Queen’s Maundy Thursday hats through this week- stay tuned!

Photos from Universal Images Group, PA Images, PA Images, Ullstein Bild, PA Images, Gamma Keystone, Keystone-France, PA Images, PA Images, Popperfoto, Bettman, Stringer, PA Images, PA Images, Popperfoto and PA Images via Getty

Dutch Princess Visits Exhibition

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On Saturday, Princess Beatrix visited an exhibition of the work of the late artist Ad Dekkers, hosted by the Heemschut Heritage Association (of which she is patron) in a park in Bergeijk. For this visit, she reached deep into her millinery closet for a hat that’s not been worn publicly in a long time. In plum straw, the brimmed design features a domed crown and wide, bumper-like hatband.

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The brim gives an interestingly new take to the bumper shape we see so often on Princess Beatrix- ironic to call the shape ‘new’ as the hat is nearly two decades old! I can’t help thinking the shape would be further softened by some trim, even though there’s not much space between the hatband and brim edge to fit a flower or pouf of feathers.

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Designer: unconfirmed. Likely Susanne Moulijn
Previously Worn: Sep 24, 2011 and likely more

It’s lovely to see Princess Beatrix out and about. What do you think of her hat?

Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Last Friday, April 5, Princess Beatrice visited the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre in a black leather bandeau headpiece. While it looks eerily similar to one recently worn by her sister, the two pieces are different (the central knot on this bandeau is visibly bigger).

On Wednesday, members of the Imperial Royal Family visited the Emperor and Empress to offer congratulations on their 60th wedding anniversary. All the princesses were in hats- Crown Princess Masako in a repeated cream pleated bumper; Princesses Kiko, Mako and Kako in cuffed calot hats; Princess Hanako in a pink brimmed hat with ruffled feather trim; and Princess Yuriko in a green silk covered bumper hat with side flower.
 
Princess Nobuko repeated a green silk bumper hat with lace covered crown and Princess Akiko wore a yellow silk bumper hat previously worn by Princess Hanako. Princess Yoko repeated her peach textured pillbox, Princess Tsuguko repeated her peach silk bumper with pleated leaf motif around the outside brim and Princess Hisako repeated a royal blue silk ensemble with bumper hat.

King Carl Gustaf in his trusty fedora on Thursday for a visit to a solar farm
Crown Princess Mette-Marit shared these snaps of her family enjoying a day out skiing
The Cambridges were spotted at Burnham Market international horse trials in Norfolk where they joined Mike and Mia Tindall to watch Zara compete. Prince William sported a natty flat cap.
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Princess Charlene was at the Turffontein Racecourse in Johannesburg, South Africa yesterday to attend her namesake race day annual event. She topped her royal blue dress and bolero jacket by Terrence Bray with a black floral and crin fascinator
Rachel Trevor Morgan, Noel Stewart and Edwina Ibbotson have curated a hat exhibition ‘Unveiled- The Craft of Millinery’ that will be open May 8-12 in London (May 8-10 at the Artworkers Guild and May 11-12 at Fenwick of Bond Street). Featuring the work of 14 milliners, the exhibition will also include workshops and a curators talk you can register to attend here. Also launched this week was this year’s Royal Ascot Millinery Collective. So lovely to see an Australian milliner (Jill Humphries of Jill and Jack Millinery in Melbourne) included in this year’s lineup!
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The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Autumnal orange felt sidesweep with fantastic feathers by Australian milliner Neil Grigg
Luxuriously smooth lines on this pale pink leather percher with bow by British milliner Fi Graham
Whimsical wired floral black headpiece of dotted net by Australian milliner Lisa Hughes
Eye catching oversize purple straw saucer with orange straw twists by UK brand Rebecca Couture Millinery
Love the classic 50s vibe on Jane Taylor’s white straw and black patent braided pyramid hat
Adore the movement on this royal blue feather headpiece from Melbourne-based Jill and Jack Millinery
Punchy black and citrus yellow scheme on this floral trimmed black straw percher by British milliner Jess Collett
Beautiful cream straw sidesweep with golden peach flying bow by British milliner Vivien Sheriff
Orange straw fez with orange & fuchsia sleek square flowers by Irish brand Martha Lynn Millinery
Bold navy felt halo headband with pinwheel bloom and curling quills by UK brand Hatonista Millinery

And from British milliner Natasha Mobey, this wonderfully creative handwoven basket of straw folded cranes, created for London Hat Week.

This summer’s special exhibit at Buckingham Palace focuses on Queen Victoria’s reign with a wonderful look at pieces from the 1851 Stuart Ball.
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Lovely portrait of Princess Ariane released Wednesday for her 12th birthday

Photos from FNN; The Asahi Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun

Queen Enjoys Spring Newbury Races

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Queen Elizabeth took in one of her favourite past times today, attending the second day of the Dubai Duty Free Spring Trials Weekend at Newbury Racecourse.  For this day at the races, the Queen repeated her modified dark green felt cloche with high, stacked asymmetrical crown and short brim. The hat is trimmed with a wide dark green felt hatband punctuated with an under-hatband in lime green, a knot in these two green shades and a pair of curved dark green quills.

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I really appreciate the textural contrast between the felt hat and nubbly wool coat and admire how those small lime green accents lighten and brighten the dark hued hat. While I love the knotted trim (something we just don’t see often), it’s the quills that make this hat for me, giving the design such a lovely sense of movement. Overall, it’s a restrained piece but I’m OK with that, particularly when we think about some of the other hats in Her Majesty’s millinery wardrobe that are more exuberantly trimmed. What is fascinating, however, about today’s ensemble is <gasp>… the complete absence of a brooch. We certainly don’t see that very often.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: Jan 21, 2018

What do you think of this hat today on its second public outing?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Inventory: Crown Princess Mary’s Green Hats

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Hello everyone! After a lovely break, it’s great to be back… even if the royal hats are scarce these days! Thank you so much for keeping the conversation going while I was away. On this quiet Friday, we’re going to look at another inventory of hats- this time, all of the green hats in Crown Princess Mary’s closet. There are just two so far:

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Designer: unknown; Neil Grigg
Introduced: May 12, 2004; March 10, 2005

While the first hat gets points for boldness, the more flattering and wearable design here is the second hat, which you can see from different angles here and here and here. Mary tends to stick to neutrals for her hats (the easier to mix them with different outfits, I suppose) so it’s not entirely surprising to see the green shelf in her millinery closet rather empty…. but we can still hope for some new additions here, right?!

Photos from Getty as indicated; Ryan Pierse via Getty