Here's a pair of characters who are long overdue for an introduction on Mad Hattery -- Queen Mary, grandmother of the current queen and turban-wearer extraordinaire, and Princess Andrew, Prince Philip's mother who later wore her nun's habit to the coronation in 1953.

Queen Mary is, well, Queen Mary -- one of the grand matriarchs of the British royal family, Queen to George V and mother to Edward VIII and George VI.  She had a penchant for big hats and big jewelry -- much of the current collection of jewels in the Windsor collection is there courtesy of Mary.  Here, I first thought she was wearing animal print of some sort (!), but it's really just a patterned, monochrome purple fabric with a matching hat (and a hell of a plume).

Princess Andrew was born Princess Alice of Battenburg, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.  Though she was born with a German title and married into the Greek royal family, she was born in Windsor Castle and died at Buckingham Palace.  Princess Andrew is maybe the single most fascinating figure in the British/Greek line in the 20th century, and that's saying something -- I'd highly recommend reading about her intriguing (and tragic) life if you get the chance.

She was the sole representative of Prince Philip's immediate family at this wedding; he had three living sisters in 1947, but as all had married German princes who supported the Nazi party, it was thought best not to invite them to this particular royal bash so soon after the end of the war.  This is probably the last major British occasion where she wore mainstream dress rather than her religious garb -- it's a lovely purple, and it suits her well.

Here's another look at that color photo for reference:

Light purple for Mary, a deeper purple for Alice.  Very nice!