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 demands royal women always wear hats on certain occasions. Formal ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, and the annual Trooping the Colour parade call for hats, as do special events like the Royal Ascot horse race. Queen Camilla not only holds to that standard, she embraces it by choosing toppers sure to make an impression.
While she does wear small understated hats every so often, she’s more likely to be seen in broad-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 lace trim and a large white flower; for the clergy blessing, she switched to a band-style chapeau resembling a waving sheaf of gold wheat. But her most famous headpiece of all, of course, is the grand Queen Mary’s Crown she wore at King Charles’ coronation. It was the first time in three centuries that a queen consort had chosen to reuse a crown, rather than commissioning a new one.