Tag Archives: Queen Camilla

British Royal Wedding Ten Years On: Immediate Families

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Royal Hats Today marks the tenth wedding anniversary of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. After looking at the bride’s spectacular millinery, we now turn our attention to the hats and fascinators worn by members of the couple’s immediate families.

Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the groom, matched her cream textured wool crepe coat to her hat by using the same fabric to cover the crown. The brim of the hat and a triple pleated band around the base of the crown were made in a pale yellow and cream floral print and the hat was trimmed with wispy ostrich feathers. The angular lines of the squared crown were balanced by the light feathers, a large silk bow and a slight upturn of the brim on one side of the hat. This hat was all about texture, something that is lost from a longer distance view. It is a very pretty hat on Her Majesty and she was clearly fond of it, as she wore it numerous times following the wedding.

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Camilla’s sister, Anabel Elliot, topped her slate blue silk suit with a statement hat designed by Philip Treacy. The blue silk base of the hat was wrapped in embroidered tulle net and the hat’s trim, a large bouquet of slate blue trimmed feathers, coordinated with the firework embroidery on Anabel’s jacket. This is certainly not a hat for the faint of heart and Anabel proved that millinery bravery runs in the family.

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Camilla’s daughter, Laura Parker Bowles, contrasted her mint green military coat dress with a fantastical Philip Treacy fascinator. The center of the headpiece, a multi-looped gold straw bow, was wrapped in a whirl of arrow-trimmed feathers. At the time of the wedding, I could not figure out the connection between the fascinator and the coat but ten years on, I appreciate the style contrast between these two pieces. I particularly love the match between the headpiece and Laura’s gold pumps.

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Sara Buys, who married Camilla’s son Tom five months later, wore a black brimless hat trimmed with small white flowers and a swath of black net. The hat, a calot shape that Sara wore on the side of her head instead of on the back of her crown, coordinated with her black and white suit. While Sara, a fashion editor at Harpers & Queen, was well known in the fashion industry (her Alexander McQueen wedding dress is now credited as the Duchess of Cambridge’s introduction to the label), I don’t think this hat is memorable.

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On the spectrum of timeless to trendy, where do you think these decade-old hats rate today?

Later today, we’ll look at the hats worn by the remaining members of the British Royal Family.

Photos from Getty as indicated

British Royal Wedding Ten Years On

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Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall

Ten years ago today, a royal wedding was scheduled to take place in Windsor. After being postponed by one day (to accommodate the funeral of Pope John Paul II), the world watched as Prince Charles finally married his long time love, Camilla Parker Bowles. Camilla’s long time relationship with the prince made her rather unpopular and let’s be honest- hopes for her wedding fashion were not running high. With just six weeks to create two bridal ensembles for this second time bride, designers Antonia Robinson and Anna Valentine and milliner Philip Treacy had an immense royal challenge. What they created not only wowed on the day but began a complete transformation of this admittedly no-fuss and outdoorsy woman into a future Queen.

Charles and Camilla’s wedding began with a civil ceremony at Guildhall in the town of Windsor. For this, Robinson Valentine created a simple silk chiffon dress hemmed with vertical rows of appliqued paillettes made in Switzerland. A single row of these round disks finished the neckline of the dress.

The dress was topped by a beautifully tailored coat in oyster basket weave silk with herringbone stitch embroidery. Camilla pinned a pearl and diamond Prince of Wales feathers brooch on the lapel of the coat and wore pearl drop diamond earrings. Her pale beige suede shoes were from L.K. Bennet and her cream leather and suede clutch purse was from Launer’s “East/West” collection.

Camilla’s elegant ensemble was topped by a show stopping picture hat. Made of natural cream straw, the hat featured a flat pillbox style crown atop a large mushroom shaped brim. The lattice woven brim and crown were overlaid with ivory French lace and the front of the hat was adorned with feathers – curling feathers, arrow trimmed feathers and a spiky dahlia flower also made of feathers. The use of lace gave the hat a distinctly bridal aura while the shape and feather trim made it so modern and chic. It was, in a word, perfection.

For the religious blessing, which took place in a service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, Camilla changed into a floor-length porcelain blue chiffon gown. The gown was topped by an exquisite blue silk coat which swept into a short train. The coat’s subtle ikat pattern was painted onto the silk, then hand-embroidered with gold thread and the result was an ethereal gown that shimmered in the light. Clarence House released a statement about the coat and dress, saying, “Robinson Valentine believed the dress required a sense of occasion for St George’s Chapel and so the aim was a flowing, elegant line, concentrating on proportion, fit and silhouette.” They certainly nailed it.

Philip Treacy drew from the coat’s gold embroidery, designing a spectacular headpiece of gold leafed feathers tipped with Swarovski crystals. While the piece was considered rather avant garde ten years ago, the proportion was perfect for Camilla and worked beautifully with her colouring and hairstyle. The headpiece was a wonderful pair to Robinson Valentine’s exquisite coat and heralded Camilla’s arrival as someone to watch in the world of royal millinery. You can watch Philip Treacy’s thoughts on creating this headpiece in a video at this post. Camilla’s earrings were family heirloom pieces that you can read about at this post over at Her Majesty’s Royal Jewel Vault. 

Finding the right balance of elegance and glamour is tough for any mature bride. I think in Camilla’s case, the challenge was even tougher. While the world was waiting to tear her to shreds (again), she stepped out looking tranquil, elegant and the most beautiful she has ever looked. After years of much publicized Camilla bashing, it was such a great sight to see.

Stay tuned first thing tomorrow for the hats worn by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall’s immediate families.

Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

Princess Anne, Zara and Mia Philips in casual hats at the Gatcombe Park Horse Trials (Getty)

Sweet photos of Prince Laurent and Princess Claire with their twin princes making Limburg pies in a Hasselt bakery (Svenskdam)

The Duchess of Cornwall in one of her ‘old faithfuls’ at The Prince’s Countryside Fund Raceday at Ascot Racecourse last weekend (Getty)

Great interview with Canadian milliner David Dunkley (who trained under Rose Cory, longtime milliner of the Queen Mother) who shares a secret about the Queen Mum’s hats (The Globe and Mail)

Royal Hats

The Duke of Edinburgh spotted driving a carriage around the town of Windsor this week (Daily Mail)

Review of Crown Princess Mary’s fashion on her recent trip to Japan (Royal Order of Sartorial Splendour)

Interesting photo gallery of Queen Elizabeth II and the 12 Prime Ministers of her reign (so far) (Getty)

Seeing Decuple: The Duchess of Cornwall

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Royal Hats

Last week, the Duchess of Cornwall appeared at the Cheltenham Festival in a lovely taupe glen plaid version of the “Frost” hat by Lock and Co. Hatters. Previously known as the “Natalia” style, the maker of this hat describes it as ” a ruched crown showerproof tweed hat with faux-fur cuff”.

Embed from Getty Images     Lock and Co. Frost

Duchess of Cornwall at the Cheltenham Festival, March 11, 2015 and the “Frost” design by Lock and Co.

The Duchess of Cornwall is a great fan of this design. Amazingly, I believe this is the tenth version of this style we have seen her wear since 2008.

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2. On a  January 27, 2012 visit to Portsmouth (in the same hat she wore this week in the USA )
and 3. a March 21, 2010 trip to Prague

Embed from Getty Images Duchess of Cornwall, February 17, 2012 in Lock & Co. | Royal Hats

4. November 2008 visit to Wiltshire and 5. At the Sandown Racecourse, February 17, 2012

Embed from Getty Images  Duchess of Cornwall, February 26, 2013 in Lock & Co. | Royal Hats

6. At the Cheltenham Festival on March 14, 2012 and 7. On a February 26, 2013 visit to Devon

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8. At the Cheltenham Festival  March 12, 2014  and 9.March 25, 2012 while on state visit to Denmark

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10. Christmas Day, 2017

I think the key for this incredible number of hat repeats is the word showerproof. This is clearly a working hat that I suspect, is used in lieu of an umbrella on drizzly days and ‘works’ as much in Camilla’s private life as it does her royal life (did you see #7 on the CNN interview last weekend?). This makes it a tough hat to critique. For country walks on rainy days, I think this hat is perfect. But for royal engagements? The ruched crown in this design can easily look slouchy and sloppy. Even the versions with more structure (like #2, which Camilla wore this week) seem overly informal for a royal hat.

Informality aside, this hat has obviously become a staple in Camilla’s millinery wardrobe and shows her practical approach to fashion. The basics of a royal hat wardrobe include numerous pieces which cover multiple shades of the black/grey/taupe/brown spectrum and it seems that Camilla found this style, liked it, and ordered nine more of the same. It’s not a terribly creative or style-concious approach to filling the contents of one’s millinery closet but it gets the job done.

What do you think of the Duchess of Cornwall’s much loved slouchy faux fur hat? Which version do you like best?

Photos from Getty as indicated; Lock and Co. Hatters; Bauer Griffin, Flynet Pictures and Bauer Griffin via Zimbio

Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall Visit USA

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The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall spent the second day of their visit to the United States with stops at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, George Washington’s Mt. Vernon estate and the Shakespeare Company. Camilla began the day in a new coat topped with one of her go-to wool winter hats trimmed in faux fur around the brim (the same hat we saw her wear last week).

Duchess of Cornwall, March 18, 2015 in Lock & Co. | Royal Hats

Photo courtesy of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association

Duchess of Cornwall, March 18, 2015 in Lock & Co. | Royal Hats

Photo courtesy of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association

Designer: Lock & Co.
Previously Worn: March 13, 2015; December 10, 2013; February 7, 2012;  February 6, 2012; January 27, 2012

Update: according to several people who attended these events, Camilla started the day without her hat and added it half way through. Reports are that it was a breezy day and I suspect Camilla added hat hat to protect against the wind. Whatever the reasons behind this addition, it created a very unusual sight as we seldom see royal women carrying their hats.

I have promised a closer look at Camilla’s many hats in this style- stay tuned for this later this week, after we get through all of these state and foreign visits!

Photos from Getty as indicated. Special thanks to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association for graciously sharing photos as well.