Tag Archives: Queen Camilla

Royal Couple Attend Service at Westminster Abbey

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The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended a service of thanksgiving and rededication for the the Battle of Britain Fighter Association this morning at Westminster Abbey. Camilla repeated her ice blue picture hat with inverted edging, straw and crin bands around the crown, and mass of straw and crin curled bow loops on the side. I adore this hat- the scale and colour is beautiful on Camilla and the light feel of the hat, amid ALL that trim, is remarkable. The Duchess can carry a large hat like few others and I thought she looked marvelous in this hat. Your thoughts, dear readers?

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Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: June 18, 2014

Seeing Double: Duchess of Cornwall

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Royal HatsLast week, the Duchess of Cornwall wore a new black straw hat from Lock & Co. While this black hat was new, it was certainly familiar- Camilla has a twin, in natural straw. The upturned brim on the natural hat is far less pronounced and the crown has an ever-so-slight domed top but the two hats are most certainly related.

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Black version for her brother’s memorial, September 11, 2014 

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Tan version for a July 19, 2012 visit to Guernsey, Channel Islands

Unlike other royals with two versions of the same hat, this pair of hat twins makes sense to me. I suspect that one can never have too many black hats in one’s royal millinery closet – the shape of this one prevents it from being too boring while the simple embellishment keeps it away from being fussy. In natural straw, this hat is a neutral and versatile piece that can easily be dressed up or down. What do you think of this pair of straw hats on the Duchess?

Photos from  Getty as indicated

British Royals Attend Memorial

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Members of the British Royal Family joined the Duchess of Cornwall today at a memorial service for her brother, conservationist and writer Mark Shand, who died in April. Camilla looked very elegant in a simple black straw hat with upturned brim on one side and looped bow on the other.

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Designer: Lock & Co.
Previously Worn: I believe this is a new hat

Princess Beatrice wore a small black cocktail hat with beret base, trimmed with a curled ribbon tail.

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UPDATE: The designer of this hat, Michelle Boyt of Butterfly Hats, has sent us a better view of this hat! As you see below, the beret base is trimmed with round, flat metal studs and three curling felt tails are attached to the side with a black and silver button. Up close, the hat has much less of a “cocktail party” vibe that several of you raised concerns about- it reads much more as a daytime hat closeup than it did from afar. It is a decidedly modern hat that I think was a great choice for Princess Beatrice and appropriate for this more serious event.

Butterfly hat

Designer: Michelle Boyt of Butterfly Hats 
Previously Worn: I believe this is a new hat

Princess Michael of Kent wore a large straw saucer-shaped picture hat topped with an oversize arching feather.

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Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn June 18, 2010

Lady Gabriella Windsor was also in attendance. While I was not able to secure a photo to share, you can see her black straw hat with indented crown, trimmed by black and white feather spines at this article at The Daily Mail. Her hat was also designed by Philip Treacy and I believe it is new.

Photos from Getty as indicated

Planning a Royal Hat Dinner Party

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Royal Hats I was interviewed on the marvelous royal blog, Luxarazzi yesterday (you can read our chat here). The last question asked if I could invite six royals (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would find an invitation in their mailbox? It was an incredibly difficult question to answer but here is my response:

There are six particularly fearless royal hat wearers who immediately come to mind: Queen Elizabeth, Princess Beatrix, Queen Mathilde, Queen Máxima, the Countess of Wessex and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, Sheikha of Dubai. I would love to hear each of these royal ladies’ approach to hat wearing, their funniest stories involving hats and how much input they have (or would like to have) in the design process. Of course, dinner would not be complete without asking about their favourite and least favourite hats.

 After more thought, I need to stretch my dinner table to include the Duchess of Cornwall as well.

Queen Máxima, March 18, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog  Countess of Wessex, March 31, 2013 in Jane Taylor | Royal Hats  Princess Beatrix, May 21, 2014 | Royal Hats

3  2013-07-21 2b  Queen Elizabeth, June 6, 2014 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats  Duchess of Cornwall, June 14, 2014 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

As we move into the weekend, dear readers, I pose this same question to you:  If you could invite six royals (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would find an invitation in their mailbox? I look forward to hearing your responses!

Photos from Patrick van Katwijk via Monarchy Press; Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty; Remko delWaal via AFP;  Stephen Lock/Rex Features via i-Images ; Dean Mouhtaropoulos, Chris Jackson, and Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty      

Seeing Double: The Duchess of Cornwall

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Royal HatsOne of the more interesting pairs of ‘hat twins’ can be found inside the millinery closet of the Duchess of Cornwall. When Camilla married the Prince of Wales on April 9, 2005, she was one of the few royal brides who wore a hat. And WHAT a hat it was! Made of cream straw in a delicately woven lattice pattern, the flat crowned hat featured a wide mushroom brim covered in lace and trimmed with a dramatic sweep feathers. I always thought that Philip Treacy knocked it out of the proverbial royal park with this design and that Camilla looked beautiful in it.

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Camilla has worn this hat a number of times since her wedding, giving us a chance to see the amazing detail in closer view.

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At the Order of the Garter Service, June 15,  2009

Last June when the Royal family arrived for the Service commemorating the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, numerous royal watchers assumed Camilla had again repeated her wedding hat. If you look closely, however, you will see it was not the same hat. In palest blue, the feathers on this hat are slightly different and the lace trimming the brim is in a scalloped pattern. While the shape is the same, the pattern of the straw is the same , the approach to the feather and lace trim is the same, and the designer, Philip Treacy, is the same, this is certainly a different hat.

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Celebrating the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, June 4,  2013

 I am always intrigued when royals choose a ‘twin’ to a hat they already own and wear. This pair of twins is even more interesting as it involves one of the most famous and recognizable hats Camilla has ever worn- it seems odd to me that she chose to ‘twin’ her wedding hat. I suppose it’s a sign of her affection for this hat and that is a factor I can’t argue against. Individually, these are both magnificent hats.

Incidentally, Camilla has not worn her wedding hat since unveiling this pale blue ‘twin’- perhaps it has been retired to the royal dress archives and this new hat was commissioned as a replacement. We will simply have to wait and see. In the meantime, dear readers, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts about this pair of hat twins.

Photos from Georges de Keerle, Chris Jackson and Samir Hussein via Getty