Tag Archives: Queen Camilla

Trooping the Colour: British Royal Family

Posted on by

Much of the Queen’s immediate family joined Her Majesty for her official birthday celebration this morning. For this event, the Duchess of Cornwall repeated her cream straw picture hat with up-swept brim. The smoothly curving lines of this hat and the gossamer straw it is constructed from combine to give it a dramatic shape that feels very airy and light. Not everyone can pull off such a large hat but I think Camilla wears it well.

Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn:  June 19, 2013; June 14, 2011; April 29, 2011; June 16, 2009

In her first official engagement since Princess Charlotte’s birth, the Duchess of Cambridge attended today’s festivities in a new hat. A structured piece made of white sinamay trimmed with curled feathers, this saucer hat is a substantially larger piece than the hats Kate has worn in the past year. While I’m not sure about the shape (the high rim of the saucer makes it more of a basin than a saucer), the hat made a great pairing with Kate’s beautiful blue and white coat.

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Silvia Fletcher for Lock and Co. It is a bespoke version of the Marisabel design. Coat from Catherine Walker.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Princess Beatrice topped her grey silk coat dress with a black headpiece lavishly embellished on one side with sparkling beads. The headpiece has a beautiful sense of movement and texture and I loved the way it tied in with her belt. The piece also brought a welcome edgy contrast to the Peter Pan collar on Beatrice’s coat and made for an ensemble that is the best of retro chic.

Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Juliette Botterill
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Princess Eugenie topped her tan and black dress with a beautiful new saucer hat. Made of cream pinopok straw, the percher hat is trimmed with a silk rose and curling, bleached pheasant feathers and a slim straw bow. The proportion of this hat is just right for Eugenie and the colour is a lovely contrast against her dark hair. This piece was by far, my favourite saucer hat of the day.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Juliette Botterill. It is the Rose and Feather Trim Percher
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Prince Andrew repeated his black silk top hat while Prince Harry wore the uniform and cap of his ranking of Captain of The Blues and Royals.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

While he did not wear a hat, all eyes were on Prince George who made his royal balcony début. Dressed in the same pale blue outfit his father wore for his first Trooping the Colour in 1984, George was absolutely adorable.

Embed from Getty Images

I felt the absence of the Countess of Wessex at this event (she and the Earl were in Stockholm for the Swedish Royal wedding) but there were still a number of show stopping hats worn in this group. Did any stand out especially for you?

Photos from Getty as indicated

British Royals Celebrate Women’s Institute Centenary

Posted on by

100 years of the British Women’s Institute was celebrated by a large garden party at Buckingham Palace yesterday, attended by four female members of the royal family and over 8000 members of the WI .  The Duchess of Cornwall led the quartet of royal hosts in a large cream straw picture hat. This hat, which features an oblique crown and wide, gently upfolded brim, is trimmed with folded bands of wide navy and slimmer cream straw around the brim; a cream multi looped bow and large feather on the side of the hat finish it off. The classic navy and cream scheme give the hat crisp elegance that fit well with Camilla’s dress and tailored coat.

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: May 22, 2013; July 11, 2009;  May 8, 2009; June 8, 2007; July 14, 2006; July 20, 2005; and June 28, 2005 

Princess Alexandra repeated a natural straw hat with tall, rounded crown and flat brim. The hat, which has been in circulation since at least the mid 1990s, was trimmed with an array of colourful silk blooms around the base of the crown and a swath of widely woven cream net veil. The hat coordinated perfectly with Alexandra’s Chinoiserie silk jacket and while it borders becoming a 1990s cliché garden party hat, Princess Alexandra’s innate elegance forces me to simply smile at this hat and move on.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 20, 2012; June 1995

The Countess of Wessex repeated her pale grey mushroom brimmed picture hat trimmed in swirling black feathers and cream curling organdie ribbon. We have seen Sophie in a plethora of beret-based cocktail hats of recent and I adore that she chose a picture hat for this event.

Designer: Jane Taylor. Dress by Emilia Wickstead. 
Previously Worn: May 17, 2014;  August 9, 2013; June 4, 2013

The Duchess of Gloucester looked lovely in pale blue from head to toe. Her hat, a modern take on a cloche shape with squared crown and flared base, was all about shape and texture- texture gained through the use of this unusually woven straw. While there is a distinctly ‘overturned bucket’ vibe about this piece, I love to see mature royals experimenting with creative millinery shapes. With her streamlined blue coat, I think this ensemble is both interesting and very elegant (just different placement on that pair of brooches next time, please!)

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: May 28, 2015; June 12, 2010; February 4, 2009; June 2, 2007
What did you think of this quartet of British royal hats at yesterday’s all-female event?
Photos from Getty as indicated

British Royals Attend State Opening Of Parliament

Posted on by

Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Princess Royal attended the State Opening of Parliament at the House of Westminster today. As she does each year, the Queen arrived wearing the incredible diamond and pearl George IV Diadem (read more about it over at The Order of Sartorial Splendor or The Court Jeweller and peruse great photos over at The Royal Collection). I adore the patriotic floral bouquets between the crosses (thistle for Scotland, rose for England and shamrock for Ireland) which add both feminine and nationalistic notes to this piece. With her lace gown, fur stole and jaw dropping diamond jewels, the Queen looked most regal.

For the ceremony, the Queen wore the greatest piece of royal headgear in existence today, the Imperial State Crown.

You can see more detailed photos of this famous piece here at the Royal Collection and I encourage you to watch the short documentary on it below, presented by the Queen herself.

The Duchess of Cornwall wore the Greville tiara (see an excellent history of this tiara here). The honeycomb design of this piece suits Camilla very well and its pairing with her magnificent white embroidered gown was absolutely stunning.

Princess Anne wore her uniform as Colonel of the Blues and Royals. While it sadly, was not a gown or tiara, it is a uniform that Anne wears so very well.

It was a rather glittering day in London for the British Royals today. Any day where royal tiaras see the light of day is a good day, don’t you agree?!

Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

Posted on by

Royal Hats

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg in a simple navy pillbox for the 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII last weekend (Cour Grand Ducal de Luxembourg)

On Tuesday, members of the British Royal Family attended a memorial for the late Duke of Wellington (Daily Mail)

Princess Anne held a reception to acknowledge some hard working teens (Bucks Press)

Princess Alexandra of Kent opened a retirement village in Hampshire (The British Monarchy)

Lovely coverage on Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg’s university graduation (Luxarazzi). You can also see a photo of Grand Duke Henri and Prince Sébastien here

Some young British royal cousins having great fun at the Windsor Horse Show (Daily Mail)

Infanta Elena in one of her chic fedoras for a book release in Lorca (Hola)

Royal Hats

Great interview with Prince Harry last weekend in New Zealand (Sky News). Early this week, he participated in a traditional Maori Haka at the Linton Military base (New Zealand Herald)

British Royals Host Garden Party

Posted on by

The first royal garden party of the 2015 summer season was held yesterday at Buckingham Palace. And a royal garden party, dearest readers, means royal hats!

Queen Elizabeth looked very summery in her textured yellow, grey and white striped hat and coat. The hat, with a square, stove pipe  crown, was trimmed in a waterfall of overlapping yellow organza leaves. When we first saw this hat least year, I was not a fan of either its shape or the messy looking trim. While it still, sadly, looks like an overturned bucket to me, I thought the colour was perfect for this outdoor engagement. No matter the occasion, the Queen knows exactly how to dress so that she stands out.

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: June 25, 2014

The royal princes all added dapper black silk top hats to their morning suits.  The Duchess of Cornwall surprised in a new hat in the most beautiful shade of cornflower blue. Made of straw, the focus of this large hat is a sweeping, rounded brim that grandly curves up over the crown. The dramatic shape and scale of the hat is further emphasized by a wide band of textured straw around the outside of the brim. Camilla has several hats in this shape but the beautiful colour of this one makes it a stand-out for me.

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

The Countess of Wessex repeated one of her embellished cocktail hats. While very few photos of this event were released, this one of Sophie gives us a view of the delicate appliquéd lace on the beret-base of this ecru design and the wonderfully balanced pale peachy-pink feathers and handmade silk cabbage rose. It’s a hat with exquisite detail that works perfectly with Sophie’s fair colouring and was beautifully complimented by her cream coat and rose dress.

Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: June 17, 2014; May 17, 2013

I suspect you have some clear opinions about this trio of summery hats at Buckingham Palace yesterday, dear readers, and I can’t wait to hear you weigh in.
Photos from Getty as indicated