Let's Discuss Royal HATitude

Watching the Royal Wedding guests as they made their way into Westminster Abbey was a sight to behold as they waved and held on to their hats. Oh, those magnificent hats! One might even elect to click on this link here to find what many considered to be the best and worst 18 hats of the "parade" at http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/amazing-hats-at-the-royal-wedding.com

Pictured above left to right, we see Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, and Zara Philips, daughter of Princess Ann and soon to become a bride herself as she marries on July 30 of this year. Not shown here, but quite worth noting were the two hats worn by sisters Princess Beatrice with the blush rose-coloured oversized Seussical bow and the teal Peter Pan-ish fascinator dipping on the forehead of Princess Eugenie. Perhaps they selected their hats in the dark while sailing on an ocean of waves which scrambled their gray matter? The bride's Mum, Carole Middleton, wore a most becoming hat in dove gray/blue.

I also enjoyed the peachy hat worn by Princess Victoria of Sweden.

Which brings me next to the Royal channeling my sister and I did when planning our Royal Tea Party outfits. She dressed, surely, to look like the Queen herself. She had jewelry, pins, a chest sash, a huge ring from the Royal vaults and her modest day tiara which was eventually traded in for the much less modest tiara worn by Lady Elizabeth.

I, on the other hand, looked far more like the beloved Queen Mum. My two piece ensemble featured a jacket and dress and was Vintage Design. Several strands of pearls hung around my neck. I, too, wore a veiled aqua hat. My hair was curled, sprayed and impenetrable. Gloves, most certainly!

Not wanting my party guests to feel the sting of having to purchase a hat (did you realise those concoctions worn at the wedding were hundreds, if not thousands of dollars?) I supplied them with hats from my vintage collection which featured mostly floral and pastel selections. Thanks to Ellie's draped high chair and a spare mirror from the storage vault (known as the basement) a hat-trying-on stage was created. Here the sister guests tried on this and that to find just the right "look" for the party.

Shown below, Lady Elizabeth and her sister, Lady Martha Jean. Lady E flew in to the area from California just to be a participant in the televised wedding viewing and festivities. Most impressive.

We were our own paparazzi with cameras. We were in jolly good form, I might add. Here are the three Ladies - Lady Diann, Lady Elizabeth and Lady Martha Jean now ready to sit down to the Royal Tea Party about to commence in the dining room. Lady Diann looks none the worse for wear after having had her sister, Lady Debra, accidentally poke the hat pin into her scalp just moments before this picture was taken. Ah, the price one pays for dressing like a Royal with HATitude!