I think I know why Her Maj looks so utterly disgusted in this photo...

...she heads all the way to Newmarket -- and pulls the rare two-hat-one-day feat -- and then they make her do manual labor!  (Looks like I was right when I suggested over at Royal Romance that royals must have to take a mandatory Tree Planting 101 course.)

At least she chose one of her best hats to shovel in.  We haven't seen it since last January -- and I'm glad to see it get another outing!

Time to bid farewell to President Patil (and launch the 2010 Commonwealth Games baton relay as well).  But not time to buy a new hat, apparently -- this one's a repeat.

I don't dislike this hat, but don't you think the buttery yellow color is a bit out of season for late October?

One more Tiara Alert before the Prez of India heads home: this time it's the Duchess of Gloucester at the traditional Guildhall Banquet.  This is a great view of Birgitte's Russian Palmette Tiara, which she also wore at the Guildhall Banquet last March for the Mexican state visit.  She's got the kunzite center stone in again as well.

Quite the sparkly little ornament, isn't it?  Not my favorite British tiara, but it's definitely eye-catching!

It's that time again: okay, look to the top of the photograph and squint, everybody.  There's Princess Anne, in a white dress and a rather elaborate hairstyle.  It looks to me like she's wearing a very simple gold bandeau-style tiara, but it's not one that I recognize at all.  Any of our expert royal readers recognize this one?

The tiaras just keep on rolling tonight ... here we've got Camilla in the Boucheron Honeycomb Tiara, the tiara she tends to wear most frequently.

The Boucheron was one of HM The Queen Mother's favorite tiaras.  She inherited it in 1942 from the estate of The Hon. Mrs. Greville, a society hostess.  It had been made for Mrs. Greville by Boucheron in the 1920s.  The arches on the top aren't actually original to the piece; they were added during the Queen Mum's lifetime by Cartier.

When the Queen Mum died in 2002, all of her jewelry was left to The Queen.  However, she's never worn many of the major pieces associated with her late mother; instead, Camilla has begun to wear jewelry associated with her husband's beloved grandmother.  This honeycomb tiara is apparently one of her favorites.

Tiara Alert!

And it's one we haven't seen for a while: the Burmese Ruby Tiara, last worn during the state visit to Slovenia and Slovakia last October.

I've said before that it's not my personal favorite, but I do quite like it here with a gold dress and accessories.  Looks very regal, doesn't it?

Full disclosure: my favorite color is any deep, vibrant shade of violet or purple.  So you all know that I loved this:

Looking lovely, Camilla!  The shape of this is nice, and I don't even mind the feathery explosion embellishing the brim.  The color is just to die for.  The Duchess looks fabulous in these bold, saturated shades, doesn't she?  If only she'd trade in her pastels for something like this more often, we'd really be in business!

(And out of curiosity -- Matthew and other royal jewel experts: any insight on those interesting brooches she's wearing here?)

I think we all know why HM's smiling so brightly -- she knows I'm going to praise her chapeau again!  She's really on a roll lately, isn't she?  I love the contrast of the dove gray and the black, especially with the black fabric lining the underside of the brim.  And that silver curlique is a perfect addition to make the hat a little whimsical and fun.  Lovely!

A little whimsy is always necessary when inviting foreign heads of state over to the house, isn't it?  Lilibet is all dolled up today to meet Pratibha Patil, the president of India.  I love that the Brits hold state visits at Windsor Castle -- it's such a proper castle.  I'm going to have to pop in the DVD of Windsor Castle: A Royal Year this evening to watch the footage of the state visit from France in 2004, just to imagine what all the pomp and circumstance is like there tonight while we all wait for tiara pictures!

HM's out in blue again today on a visit to Gloucestershire with her hubs.  She certainly has embraced the color lately, hasn't she?  It is one of the more flattering shades on her, I think.

The hat's a flattering shape for her, as well.  I like the color, and I even like the crossed-feather embellishments.  What I'm not a fan of: the glittery bow and edge of the brim.  There's plenty of extra adornment on this outfit already, with the feathers and the flowery neckline and the omnipresent blingy brooch.  I just think the sparkles are overkill, honestly.

Another Tiara Alert, and another new queen for the blog!  Say hello to Queen Sonja of Norway, everyone!

On a superficial note, before considering the tiara, doesn't Sonja have great royal hair?  I love that she has a modern and stylish short hair cut that still looks great with a big blinging tiara sitting on top of it!

The tiara itself is Queen Josephine's Diamond Tiara.  The Queen Josephine in question is Josephine of Sweden and Norway, who was herself a granddaughter of Empress Josephine, wife of Napoléon Bonaparte.  Josephine was the wife of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway, and was Queen Consort from 1844 to 1859.

Josephine's granddaughter, Princess Louise of Sweden (later Queen Louise of Denmark), inherited the tiara.  She and her daughters wore the tiara at various times -- Princess Thyra of Denmark, for example, was photographed wearing it at the wedding ball for her brother, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, in 1935.  Louise's daughter, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, inherited the tiara, and then gave it to her niece, Princess Märtha of Sweden.  Through Märtha, the tiara came back to Norway, as she had married Crown Prince Olav of Norway in 1929.  Märtha was the mother of the current king of Norway, Harald.

It's a lovely historical tiara as well -- it's just large and intricate enough to seem truly royal without overwhelming the wearer.  Very nice!