Tag Archives: Queen Elizabeth

British Royals Commemorate Magna Carta

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Queen Elizabeth, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of Cambridge,  The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral  Sir Timothy Laurence attended a service at Runnymede Meadows in Surrey this morning to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. Queen Elizabeth repeated her pale blue-grey straw hat with teardrop shaped crown and curved black brim, edged in a wide stripe of the same blue-grey fabric as her coat. The shape of this hat has always seemed a little catroonish to me although I must compliment the balanced use of the two contrasting colours.

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: June 1, 2013; June 11, 2011; May 4, 2010; April 1, 2010; October 27, 2009

Princess Anne repeated a navy crin headpiece trimmed with navy feathers. In the past, Princess Anne has worn this in the middle of her head and I appreciated today’s placement, set off on a gentle angle to the side.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: November 15, 2008; June 17, 2004; June 19, 2001 and likely, multiple others

British Royal Family, June 15, 2015 | Royal Hats

In their multiple shades of pale blue and navy, don’t you wonder if the British royals today had a deliberate plan to coordinate their appearance for this engagement today?!

Photos from James Whatling/Splash News via Corbis and Getty as indicated

Queen’s Birthday Celebrated At Trooping the Colour

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Queen Elizabeth’s official birthday celebration, Trooping the Colour, took place this morning in London. More than 1,000 soldiers took part in this royal salute to the Queen, who eschewed her long held practice of repeating previously worn hats and surprised us with a new one!  The hat, made of the same palest peach textured wool silk as her coat, featured a square crown and gently upturned brim on one side. A flat peach silk bow adorned the side of the hat which was secured by a gold hat pin. The warm colour looked quite pretty on Her Majesty and enabled her to stand out in a sea of red uniforms.

Queen Elizabeth, June 13, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats

Designer: Angela Kelly. Coat by Angela Kelly (previously worn for the Diamond Jubilee Pageant in May 2012)
Previously Worn: This hat is new

The Duke of Edinburgh joined the Queen to preside over the military parade. A member of the Grenadier Guards (indicated by the white plume on his bearskin hat), Prince Philip wore the uniform of his his rank as Colonel.

The Prince of Wales, who is Colonel of the Welsh Guards (green and white plume), the Duke of Cambridge, who Colonel of the Irish Guards (blue plume) the Princess Royal, who is Colonel of the Blues and Royals, all rode in the ceremonial parade.

Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Hats

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A Retrospective  Tomorrow, the British Royal Family will celebrate Trooping the Colour, a parade held on Horse Guards Parade in London in June each year to officially celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Similar to national day celebrations we see in other countries, there is much pomp and circumstance that surrounds the event, which is capped off with a balcony appearance by the entire family. Here are all the hats Queen Elizabeth has worn to this event over the past 15 years:

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A bright pink straw hat by Philip Somerville in June 2000; pale green straw hats in 2001 and 2002

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Dark and light blue Philip Somerville designs in 2003 and 2005; a graphic mint and yellow hat in 2004

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A purple Angela Kelly in 2006; vibrant green and turquoise Somerville designs in 2007 and 2008

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An aqua and red Rachel Trevor Morgan in 2009; quirky Angela Kelly designs in 2010 and 2011

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Yellow and blue designs from Angela Kelly (all made by Stella McLaren) in 2012, 2013 and 2014

Based on this history, what hat do you think the Queen will choose to wear tomorrow?

Update:  Since this post was published, Queen Elizabeth has worn the following hats for Trooping The Colour:

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Pale pink textured hat by Angela Kelly/Stella McLaren in 2015; bright green hat with pink flowers by Rachel Trevor Morgan in 2016

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Pale blue straw windowpane brim by Philip Somerville in 2017; Turquoise fabric and straw Angela Kelly/Stella McLaren design in 2018

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Ecru woven fabric, sloped crown cloche by Angela Kelly/Stella McLaren in 2019; Jade straw Rachel Trevor Morgan design in 2020; Grey hat with pleated crin, feathers and yellow flowers by Angela Kelly/Stella McLaren in 2021

Photos from Getty as indicated

Queen Presents New Colours to Royal Welsh Guard

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Queen Elizabeth was at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff today to present new colours to the Royal Welsh Guard. For this ceremony, she repeated her sky blue felt hat trimmed with chrysanthemum blooms fashioned from feathers. While I have previously said all I want to say about this hat, today’s outing again proves how well the Queen and her dressers take each of her engagements individually into account when it comes to choosing her outfit and hat. On an ordinary day, this shade of blue might not stand out in a crowd. On a day with theatrical lighting, an arrival in the back of a convertible SUV and a massive group photo with officers in loden green and red uniforms, this was exactly the right colour.

Designer: Angela Kelly. The hat (including handmade feather flowers) was made by Stella McLaren. Coat designed by Stewart Parvin  
Previously Worn: April 5, 2015; October 24, 2014; April 8, 2014; October 23, 2013

Photos from Getty as indicated

Hat From The Past: Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee

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Royal Hats The vintage hat I have had most requests to cover is the iconic pink piece worn by Queen Elizabeth for the Service of Thanksgiving during her Silver Jubilee, thirty eight years ago today.

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Designed by the Queen’s long time milliner Simone Mirman, the rounded hat, a stylized take on a tam cap, was covered in the same pink silk crepe as her dress and coat. The fabric was stitched in closely repeated contoured lines that followed the shape of the hat and gave it considerable texture.

While the helmet-like shape was unusual, what stood out most on this hat were the 25 bell-shaped flowers attached to it.

Exact replica of Queen Elizabeth’s June 7, 1977 hat without stitching detail

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These flowers were anchored to the top of the hat, leaving them to freely swing back and forth as the Queen moved.  This excerpt from her speech that day gives an example of this movement.

A  whimsical touch, the handmade ‘pink-bells’ were beautifully detailed with yellow stamens and green silk cord stems.

In 1977, this hat caused a sensation and the response was not entirely positive. The hat’s helmet shape, bright shade of pink (seen in greatest accuracy above) and almost cartoonish swinging flowers were seen by many as too fanciful for such an important day. Looking back nearly 40 years later, the hat is certainly playful but it is also surrounded by a demure simplicity that makes it very grand.

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While worn during a significant moment of her monarchy, this hat will be remembered equally for the occasion it attended and for the great occasion it created. Few royal hats can claim such legacy.

Exact replica of Queen Elizabeth’s  Silver Jubilee hat worn on June 7, 1977 hat without stitching detail.
Fabric and flower trim are leftovers from the original hat and the hat block was used to form both pieces. 

UPDATE: While this hat has been widely attributed to Frederick Fox (and at the time of his death in 2013, reported as the most famous of the 400+ hats he made for Queen Elizabeth during the almost 40 years they worked together and, according to a former apprentice, verbally confirmed by Mr. Fox himself as one of his designs) it was confirmed by the Royal Collection Trust in August 2016 to be the work of Simone Mirman. Jump over to this post for further explanation.

Photos from Getty as indicated; Douglas Kirkland via Corbis; Powerhouse Museum, BBC  and and Cristina Polizzi