For decades, it was considered essential for British royal women to wear hats whenever they were outside the palace walls. (Going bareheaded may have been considered as undignified as taking off a coat.) Today, the rules have relaxed somewhat, but protocol still requires royal women to still wear a hat on certain occasions. Formal ceremonies such as weddings, funerals and the annual Trooping the Color parade call for hats, as do special events like the Royal Ascot horse race. Queen Camilla doesn’t just meet this standard, she embraces it by choosing toppers that are sure to make an impression.
Although she occasionally wears small, inconspicuous hats, she is more likely to be seen in wide-brimmed numbers. For cooler days, she’s been known to choose a faux fur-trimmed hat; other times, she’ll opt for colorful felt hats like the one seen here. Even her wedding hats were memorable: for her state wedding ceremony, Camilla wore a wide straw hat with a lace trim and a large white flower; for the blessing of the clergy, she changed to a band-style hat resembling a waved sheaf of golden wheat. But her most famous headpiece is of course Queen Mary’s Great Crown which she wore at the coronation of King Charles. It was the first time in three centuries that a queen consort chose to reuse a crown rather than commission a new one.
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