Hattery Who’s Who
Who are all of these royal women wearing ridiculous hats, you ask?
Well, here are your answers! I’m building this section to provide thumbnail biographies of all of the royal ladies from around the world who are featured on this site. Hope this helps you keep track of who’s who in the world of Mad Hattery!
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Click on the country to learn about its royal hat-wearing women…
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Denmark
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One of the most, um, interesting hattery styles in the world of royalty belongs to Margrethe II, better known as HM The Queen of Denmark. Margrethe has an unusual sense of fashion and flair; she’s an artist, and her pairings of clothing, colors, and hats is certainly often outside the norm. Look for her to wear lots of embellished berets and oversized chapeaux — and regardless of what we all think about her everyday hattery, get ready to squeal with joy when she brings out her tiara collection! |
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| Her mother-in-law may have a penchant for hattery mishaps, but HRH The Crown Princess of Denmark has embraced a much more classic and elegant style. Aussie-born Mary has blossomed into something of a fashion maven since marrying Crown Prince Frederik in 2004; she favors wide-brimmed hats, unusual berets, and delicate headpieces. And just wait until you see her wearing the family’s Ruby Parure Tiara! She’s definitely got the makings of a truly glamorous Queen Consort. |  |
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One of our hatters-in-training on the blog is the adorable HRH Princess Isabella of Denmark, the daughter of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. Things are looking bright for this little princess, whose mother has already started teaching her daughter how to wear a hat regally. So far we’ve seen little Isabella in hats designed to keep her warm and cozy in the Scandinavian winter, but I can’t wait until we see her wearing her first fascinators and tiaras! |
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| One of the newest members of the Danish royal family is HRH Princess Marie of Denmark, who married Queen Margrethe’s younger son, Prince Joachim, in 2008. Marie was raised in France, and her hattery choices retain a certain French flair — sometimes for better, sometimes not so much for better. When Marie gets it right, as she has so often with casual sun hats, she gets it so very right … but sometimes her choice have been a little costume-y. We can’t wait to watch her come into her royal own in years to come! |  |
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HRH The Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Queen Margrethe’s younger sister, often lends a royal hand at Danish events. She’s a traditional sort of lady, favoring neutral colors and classic shapes, but she always manages to look polished. She’s also one of the recipients of the tiara inheritance left by the late Queen Ingrid, so watch out for the impressive sparklers she wears at banquets and galas! |
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Great Britain
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HM The Queen is the big cheese of the British royal family – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth Realms. Whew! Daughter of the late HM King George VI and HM The Queen Mother, Liz has been the monarch since 1952. As such, she’s the one parading about in hats most often, opening hospital wings, unveiling plaques, and visiting schools and businesses. She’s also got the best and brightest of all regal headwear: check out the “crown” and “tiara” tags to see for yourself! |
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| Alas, HM The Queen Mother is, today, only wearing new hats in statue form: she died at the ripe old age of 101 in 2002. When she was alive, she was famous for wearing the same hat styles over and over again, so her entries on the blog might have gotten a little monotonous – except that she had one of the biggest collections of blingin’ tiaras in all the kingdom. Today you can frequently see those tiaras crowning the heads of her daughter, HM The Queen, and her granddaughter-in-law, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. |  |
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HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy, has not only one of the longest titles in the family but also one of the most elegant hat collections. The first cousin of HM The Queen and daughter of HRH Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark almost always looks calm, cool, collected, and ready to order about a wayward servant at a moment’s notice. I love her and her hattery so much that I’ve nominated her to put Kate Middleton through princess school should William ever get around to popping the question. |
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| All hail the maddest of all hatters, HRH Princess Beatrice of York! The erstwhile daughter of HRH The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York earned her title by wearing the big butterfly fascinator, which is radical all on its own but takes on a whole new level of hattery madness when you remember that she wore it to a wedding where she wasn’t the bride! Bea tends to favor fascinators with architectural flair and lots of random embellishments sticking out at unusual angles. |  |
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While HRH Princess Eugenie of York may not have yet reached the hattery heights achieved by her big sis at the Phillips-Kelly wedding, I appreciate that she always gives it her best – most recently with a bizarre satellite/frisbee concoction at Royal Ascot. Eugenie recently abandoned the royal arena of London for university in the wilds of Newcastle, but I think we’re all crossing our fingers that she’ll use her summer vacations to hat about to the best of her abilities! |
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| Few members of the royal family have taken to their roles with as much gusto as the always-entertaining HRH Princess Michael of Kent. Born the daughter of a German baron and an Austro-Hungarian countess and married to HRH Prince Michael of Kent, a cousin of HM The Queen, Marie-Christine seems always to remember that she’s royal and therefore must flaunt it. Look for her in hats with theatrically-oversized brims or ‘60s-style pillbox contraptions, dah-ling. |  |
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HRH The Countess of Wessex is a working lady at heart, and sometimes she seems to stumble in her efforts to grasp the brass hattery ring. Not so great for Sophie, but excellent for those of us who write hattery blogs! Reportedly HM The Queen’s favorite daughter-in-law, Sophie’s been known to sport fascinators with wild attachments, feathers from multiple exotic beasts, and flying saucer hats that could summon observatory watchers. And I love her for it! |
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| If there’s one royal hattery you can always expect to toe the line between country-style, heading for a hunt hattery and over-the-top feathers and fur, it’s HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. Camilla, whose best hattery moment may have come when she chose a brilliant golden feathered fascinator for her 2005 wedding to HRH The Prince of Wales, either generally gets it just about right or spectacularly, spectacularly wrong. But she’s always got a smile — and access to the late Queen Mum’s tiara collection — to make up for it! |  |
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What can you say about HRH The Duchess of Gloucester? Birgitte, wife of HM The Queen’s cousin, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, was born and raised in Denmark — and her hattery does sometimes have a slightly Scandinavian quality about it. She likes neutrals — sometimes to beige-y boringness — and classic shapes, but don’t put it past her to sport the occasional turban, too. And she’s got a tiara collection that almost (almost) rivals that of The Queen herself. Not too shabby, eh? |
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| We see HRH The Duchess of Kent out and about at royal functions so infrequently these days, it’s almost tough to tell what her hattery style really is like. Katharine, who is married to HM The Queen’s cousin, HRH The Duke of Kent, has chosen to eschew royal life in her advancing years, favoring a quiet career as a piano teacher instead. But when she does show up in the royal spotlight, her hattery choices tend to be unexpected — bright, colorful, and sometimes, well, fascinating. |  |
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If it weren’t for the existence of her two nieces, the York princesses, HRH The Princess Royal would almost certainly hold the Mad Hattery crown, based on her infamous scrambled-egg wedding hat alone. Anne, ever the practical lady, tends to be utilitarian in her hattery, favoring basic colors and shapes. Every once in a while, though, she busts out something truly remarkably unusual — and we all wonder if her lively daughter, Zara, has been having a little fun dressing up her mother again! |
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| Miss Chelsy Davy is the on-and-off girlfriend of HRH Prince Henry (Harry) of Wales, grandson of HM The Queen. Chelsy is a free-spirited soul who seems to relish fun times with almost as much gusto as Harry himself. Born in Zimbabwe and now working toward a law career in the UK, a hattery sighting from Chelsy is quite the rare appearance — but when we do see her sporting a chapeau, it tends to be of the feathery, head-sprouty fascinator variety. |  |
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A truly promising royal hatter — someone who really could bring both elegance and insanity to hattery events should she marry her way into the family — is Miss Kate Middleton, the steadfast love of HRH Prince William of Wales, grandson of HM The Queen and future king himself. Kate has taken a lot of heck since hooking up with William at the University of St. Andrews, but I think she seems like a good egg. Now, if only we could get her to tell the difference between hats for weddings and funerals with more ease, we’d really have something on our hands! Calling Princess Alexandra for princess lessons! |
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| Who doesn’t love Miss Zara Phillips, one of the most outgoing and fun-loving of all of HM The Queen’s grandchildren? The daughter of HRH The Princess Royal is heavily involved in the equestrian world, meaning that many of her hattery moments include baseball caps and top hats — but it’s her more formal hattery that often has a real touch of fun to it. From architectural wonders to towering fascinators, you never know what you’re going to get from Zara! |  |
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Here’s a rarely-seen hatter: Mrs. James Ogilvy, née Miss Julia Rawlinson, the daughter-in-law of HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy. Julia generally only pops up at major family hattery events, like the Trooping the Colour parade in June. But when we do see her, she tends to favor traditional hats in soft colors — wouldn’t want to upstage the royal hattery egos! |
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| My favorite little Canadian Maple Leaf hatter is none other than Mrs. Peter Phillips, who was born Miss Autumn Kelly in Canada. She’s adjusted nicely to life on the royal periphery; though her mother-in-law is HRH The Princess Royal, Autumn only has to pop out in a regal hat a few times a year, often for Christmas, Ascot, and various equestrian events. She has an eclectic, almost scattered hattery taste — you never know if you’re going to see her in a cowboy hat, a wide-brimmed sunhat, or even one of her mother-in-law’s tiaras. I only wish she and Peter were out and about with the royals more often! |  |
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Every now and then we see a formerly front-and-center royal hatter — Sarah, Duchess of York — show up at an event in a chapeau. The ex-wife of HRH The Duke of York was once a powerhouse on the royal hattery scene, showing up in all manner of ribbons and bows and floofery back in the ’80s. Now a single career-minded lady, we generally only see her wearing hats for practical reasons. But she has given perhaps the greatest gift of all to current royal hattery circles: her two daughters, HRH Princess Beatrice of York (the Maddest Hatter of All) and HRH Princess Eugenie of York. Thanks, Fergie! |
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| One of the most accomplished women in the royal world, without a doubt, must be The Countess of Ulster — or, as her patients know her, Dr. Claire Booth. Claire, who is married to The Earl of Ulster, the son of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, is both a physician and a practical Yorkshire girl, so it’s no surprise that her hattery tends to be minimal. We usually only see her at grand family events — like weddings or military parades — when she’s inevitably sporting a rather brief fascinator. That’s okay for now, but when she inherits the Gloucester tiara haul someday, I hope she’s prepared not to leave them mouldering in a closet somewhere! |  |
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“Unconvential” is a word you might use to describe both the hattery and the royal life of The Lady Davina Lewis, daughter of HRH The Duke of Gloucester. Lady Davina has a degree in media studies — and a hunky carpenter husband, Gary Lewis, the first Maori person to marry into the Windsor family. We’ve seen Davina precious little since the inception of Mad Hattery, but we can all hope that she pops up more often in years to come, with her interesting hattery in tow! |
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| The Lady Frederick Windsor doesn’t just have movie-star good looks and movie-star-esque hattery taste; she’s also an actual actress. Born Sophie Winkleman, she married The Lord Frederick Windsor, son of HRH Prince Michael of Kent, in 2009. We tend to see her sporting classic berets and wide-brimmed hats at venues like weddings and tennis matches — definitely embodying the classic style of Old Hollywood actresses like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly (a royal spouse herself!). |  |
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Along with being a member of the Windsor clan, The Lady Gabriella Windsor is also a journalist, writing for magazines in Britain and abroad. The daughter of HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Ella doesn’t fulfill any royal duties, so her hattery choices are usually selected for family weddings, sporting events, and even the occasional utilitarian topper worn during research for a story. Still, she manages to be original and even sometimes flamboyant, so her hattery appearances are always something to look forward to! |
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| Of all of the current ladies of the House of Windsor, The Lady Helen Taylor often seems most like a throwback to the elegant royal hattery of old. She favors classic shapes, often with a ’50s vibe, and neutral colors. Helen, the daughter of HRH The Duke of Kent, does sometimes throw in a surprise or two, but for the most part, her hattery style is steady as they go. |  |
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The littlest hatter in the British Royal Family is the adorable The Lady Louise Windsor, the daughter of HRH The Earl of Wessex. Louise is the youngest granddaughter of HM The Queen, and she’s a ringer for her famous granny. So far, she’s been pictured in the kind of casual hats that are childhood staples, like ski helmets and baseball caps, but I can’t wait for the day we get to see her in her first real fancy chapeau! |
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| The rarest of all British royal hattery sightings is a spotting of one of the youngest generation of Kent girls — including The Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor, The Lady Amelia Windsor, Miss Flora Ogilvy, and Miss Zenouska Mowatt. It’s so unusual to see them that I’m still not entirely certain that the one pictured at right really is The Lady Marina-Charlotte! They’re all young girls, and when we do see them at events like Trooping the Colour, you can bet that there will be bright, feathery fascinators all over the place! |  |
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The Lady Nicholas Windsor, née Paola Doimi de Lupis, is the daughter of a family of Croatian nobles and is now married to The Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of HRH The Duke of Kent. With an eccentric pedigree like that, you know that Paola is sure to have an adventurous taste in hats. Whether it’s a cabbage flower atop her head at Ascot or a tribute to the Queen Mum’s famous hat shapes, I’m always hoping that Paola will pop up and add some color to the hattery landscape! |
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| The youngest daughter of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, The Lady Rose Gilman, is frequently seen sporting feathers and fascinators at family events, like weddings or the occasional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance. Rose, who works in media and was even an assistant on one of the Harry Potter films, has so far been no-fuss with her hattery — but surely someone so artistic is bound to pop out in a really ridiculous topper eventually, right? Here’s hoping! |  |
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The Lady Sarah Chatto may be the only daughter of the late HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, but she exhibits a hattery sensibility much more like that of her aunt, HM The Queen, rather than Margaret’s fabulous and glam styles. Sarah prefers low-key millinery, and can usually be found wearing one of her favorite shapes, a beret. |
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| How do you describe a hatter like Viscountess Linley? Serena is a difficult one to peg, hattery-wise — the wife of Viscount Linley, son of HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, Serena sometimes shows up in demure and simple styles. But then, on more thrilling days, she surprises us with spidery fascinators or hats that look like a really, really bad hair day. I always have my fingers crossed that the latter hatter will make an appearance! |  |
