bringing you the very best in ridiculous royal hats
Yee-haw! Kate has now officially hurdled yet another obstacle of princess-dom: wearing local headgear with aplomb. Though I've gotta say -- I sort of think William wins this hat-off! Doesn't he look weirdly natural in western wear?
PHOTO CREDITS: REUTERS/Phil Noble
Hooray -- finally some slightly nutty, occasion-themed hattery from Kate! Perfectly appropriate and just a little zany. Next time maybe just one giant maple leaf on a fascinator? 
(Because you know there's going to be a "next time" -- I can hear the reaction of the crowds!)
PHOTO CREDITS: REUTERS/Blair Gable
Structural beret! How amazing is this, especially for a military engagement? Love the pleating, love the bow and feathers, love the jaunty tilt. I cannot WAIT for Canada. There had better be some major hatboxes in Kate's luggage!
(P.S. -- you can rate this whole outfit on my companion blog, Cambridge Chic!)
PHOTO CREDITS: Carl Court - WPA Pool/Getty Images
SO MUCH BETTER than yesterday! Love the whole thing. It's basically the same hat that Soph wore yesterday, interestingly enough, but I'm really loving the dove gray color. No use trying to compete color-wise on Garter Day; the feathers and velvet robes always win.
Good hat hair, too:
Lovely!
PHOTO CREDITS: Kirsty Wigglesworth/WPA Pool/ Getty Images, REUTERS/Kirsty Wigglesworth/POOL
Finally! A way to reuse all of those Star Wars spaceship models your little brother left in the attic when he went to college!
Seriously -- I just don't even like this headpiece one little bit. It's too small, it's too much blue, the top part is weird, etc. The outfit was way better with the china plate she wore with it last time around. This is just ... nope.
PHOTO CREDITS: Carl Court - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Who knew that becoming royal also made you able to multitask so well? Right after parading down the Mall with the fam for Trooping the Colour, Kate popped over to the wedding of her rumored re-matchmaker, Sam Waley-Cohen, with sister Pippa in tow.
Same hat from this morning, but I like it better at this event, I think. The hair's not whipping around quite so furiously as it was in the carriage. And I LOVE the dress -- we've seen it before, pre-wedding, yes?
But, ooh, Pippa, wrinkled pea green silk? And what's with the painted, embellished turtle shell you've got perched on your head, dear?
PHOTO CREDITS: PopSugar
Tons of you eagle-eyed hatters spotted that Kate Cambridge's Trooping hat is a darker version of the one Queen Sonja of Norway wore to Kate's very own wedding back in April -- that's the kind of hattery devotion I like to see!
Unfortunately, I'd also like to see Kate pull her hair back. I know lots of people wanted to see brighter colors on her here, but I tend to like her neutral palette. It's the hair blowing around that distracts me here. A sleek ponytail would have done wonders for this!
But regardless -- happy first Trooping, Kate! It's so fun to see people excited about the Windsors again. 
PHOTO CREDITS: CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images
Look who's out doing some post-honeymoon hatting at Epsom, chickadees! And she's embraced the structural beret! It's so CP Mary, isn't it?
A hearty welcome to the official royal fold, Your Royal Highness! Kate is now officially HRH The Duchess of Cambridge -- even the Prince of Wales's website has updated her bio to reflect her new status, and you know it's real if the internet says it is!
You guys: you have absolutely no idea how giddy I was when Kate showed up at her first official royal engagement in a hat. Way to keep the royal hattery tradition going, Kate! And not just any hat -- one that's a cross between a Michiko teacup saucer and a Sophie Wessex feather explosion!
The more I look at pictures of this, though, the more I like it. The wackiness is toned down a bit by the neutral colors, and it's helping to keep the hair out of her face in the wicked Welsh wind. (Also -- hair pulled back, everyone! Hooray!)
Plus, there are the embellishments:
Those are Prince of Wales feathers on the larger badge -- since she's going to be a part of the Wales family, presumably -- some reports have pointed out that they're also part of the cap badge of the Welch Fusiliers. I'm having trouble positively identifying the smaller one -- but to me, it looks like it might be a version of the RAF badge? Thoughts?
Anyway, there was clearly some thought put into even the details of this slightly-wacky hat, which, as a hat blogger, I appreciate thoroughly! Kate's clearly on her way to princess-hood. She even managed to tick two royal must-dos off the list today -- sing the national anthem of a principality in its native language, and christen a ship!
Even a rubber lifeboat counts. Well done, Your Almost Royal Highness!
ETA: Here's an excellent video of the event from The Sun, which features William's speech and Kate's big christening moment.
PHOTO CREDITS: PHIL NOBLE/AFP/Getty Images, Belga/PA
