As the long Jubilee Holiday and Platinum celebrations draw near (with an extended holiday weekend in the UK stretching from 02.06.2022 through to 05.06.2022), a few words on the Queen’s millinery are timely.
Whether or not one is a Republican or Royalist, a Roundhead or Cavalier, there’s no denying that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is one of the world’s most well known hat wearers. Over the seventy years of her reign, she has been an unflinching supporter and advocate for British millinery. Indeed, she is rarely seen in public without a hat or, at the very least, without her trademark silk headscarf, knotted under the chin, for more informal, off-duty, moments.
Custom, etiquette and propriety are very much to the fore here. The most senior royal and monarch must follow protocol and tradition, both of which call for a traditional head covering. Marschner and Behlen (2003, p.3), curators of the Accessories From the Royal Wardrobe exhibition at Kensington Palace offer further insight on the strength of the link between the monarch and millinery, thus: “HM Queen Elizabeth II’s…accessories – her hats and handbags in particular – have a special and important role; and for many of us as observers they have become almost an insignia of office.”
One of the Queen’s most memorable hats, and the topic of much discussion and debate, just happens to have been designed and made for a previous Jubilee event, some 45 years ago, on 7th June 1977. Back then, the Queen was celebrating her Silver (25 years) Jubilee and, for the Service of Thanksgiving, an event which formed the centrepiece of the festive programming, she donned a striking, and extremely unusual, helmet hat (pictured). Covered in bright pink crepe to match her dress and decoratively stitched with green contour lines, the hat is noted for its dangling trim of twenty-five bell-like flowers, one for each year of her silver reign. The designer credited as making the hat is disputed. Australian born Frederick Fox (1931-2013) has most often been attributed as its creator but more recent research suggests that French born Simone Mirman (1912-2008) made the hat. Both milliners were given royal appointments and made tens, if not hundreds, of hats for the Queen during their long and illustrious careers as prominent Society hat makers. But, in this instance, the jury remains out as to a truly definitive answer or explanation of creative authorship/s.
At the time, the Silver Jubilee hat was not universally lauded as a style hit. Many felt the vivid shade of pink, combined with the dangly bells did not strike a suitably majestic tone, given the grandness of the occasion and the status of the wearer. Yet, others, felt the playful and jaunty styling of the hat was more than appropriate, working perfectly as a celebratory and joyful statement that was fully in keeping with the spirit of the anniversary. [And I must say, vibrant pink and vibrant green is one of Goodrum & Merryweather’s signature combinations, so I can’t help but confess a weakness here].
Whatever the reaction – and whomsoever the designer – one thing without doubt is that this particular hat has left a fascinating legacy on both millinery, and jubilee, history.
Goodrum & Merryweather 