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
One of our favourite royal hat wearers, Queen Elizabeth, celebrates her 89th birthday today. As we do on royal birthdays, we are going to surround our best wishes for Her Majesty with suggestions of hats we would most like to see her repeat in the coming year. After intense deliberation, my pick is her famous Wedgewood inspired hat in porcelain blue with white lace trim. I love the delicate feel of this hat, its classic simplicity and its perfect shade of blue. Since it hasn’t been seen in public for nearly a year, I think it’s high time for another outing. What hat would you like to see the Queen repeat this year?
Royal Hats 