Paving the way for future generations
A young Princess Elizabeth crowns herself with a summer hat during a visit to the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, London, in May 1947.
Wearing an elaborately-designed spring hat, Princess Elizabeth leaves the London Stock Exchange after meeting the Duke of Edinburgh in this photograph dated 1949.
As Princess Elizabeth, Britain's future queen is again seen wearing a hat of feathers in this 1950 picture, taken as she tours the English town of Crawley to open a new road.
And this is where it all started. Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, seen here aged two, replete in a baby bonnet. The late monarch wore hats as part of her formal public wardrobe since infancy.
Sources (The List) (Poetry Foundation)
Most of the press photographs taken of Queen Elizabeth II up to the late 1960s are in black and white. This April 1965 image shows her in headwear based on a feather design.
Pictured during a 1980 tour of Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II is wearing a green tam o'shanter, the traditional Scottish bonnet worn by men. The name derives from Tam o' Shanter, the eponymous hero of the 1790 Robert Burns poem.
This rose-pink outfit contrasts well against the Union Jack flags waved by crowds greeting the Queen during a 1984 public and very patriotic royal walkabout in Kent, England.
Queen Elizabeth II is pictured in this wonderful April 21, 1988 floral portrait smiling in the garden of Government House in Perth, Australia, as thousands of well-wishers sing and wish her a happy 62th birthday. The Queen always celebrated two birthdays, her actual one on April 21, and an official birthday, usually on the second Saturday in June.
Queen Elizabeth II visits the Isle of Man in August 1989. She is wearing a hat by Philip Somerville and an aquamarine brooch.
In this 1995 royal portrait, Queen Elizabeth II is caught by the camera attending the Old Comrades Parade at the Cavalry Memorial in Hyde Park, London.
Her March 1996 visit to Cambridge University in England saw the Queen adopt a somewhat preppy look in crimson.
Seen during her first overseas visit of her Jubilee year in 2002, the British monarch wears an outfit designed by Hardy Amies and a hat designed by milliner Frederick Fox for her tour of Kingston, Jamaica.
Queen Elizabeth II is obviously happy in her role as head of the Commonwealth as she attends a Commonwealth Day Observance Service at Westminster Abbey in London in March 2002.
Combining scarlet with maroon and fuchsia, the British monarch is all smiles as she starts a tour of the London suburb of Forest Gate in May 2009.
A fuchsia-colored profile of Queen Elizabeth II as she arrives to view the world's biggest passenger liner, the Queen Mary 2, at her home port of Southampton in England in January 2004.
Wide-eyed under the brim of her hat, Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a cavalry display by the elite Cadre Noir riding college in Paris in April 2004, held in honor of her three-day state visit to France.
Dressed in lilac-blue, Queen Elizabeth II attends the Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey in April 2005 in London.
Wearing a rose-colored hat with an upturned brim, Her Majesty attends the Queen's Cup Final polo match at Guards Polo Club in Egham, England, in June 2005.
A beaming Queen Elizabeth inspects the King's Royal Rifles Corps—one of the most famous military regiments in the country— during their 250th-anniversary celebrations in Winchester, England, in July 2005.
Matched in maroon, Her Majesty arrives at Aberdeen Children's Hospital in October 2005 during a royal visit to the Scottish city.
From the moment she took the throne in 1952 to her death in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II is estimated to have donned more than 5,000 different pieces of headgear. Indeed, the colorful and wonderfully varied hats she wore, replete with feathers, plumes, bows, and flowers, helped accentuate the late British monarch's fashionable dress sense.
Want to catch a look? Then click through and take your hat off to Queen Elizabeth's best headwear moments.
Dressed warmly and rather soberly, the Queen ttends the official opening of the new National Assembly for Wales building in March 2006. The Senedd, as it's known, is home to the Welsh Parliament.
Queen Elizabeth II wears a spearmint-colored hat designed by Philip Somerville and silk coat and dress by Karl Ludwig as she inspects an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Istana (presidential palace) in Singapore in March 2006.
A bow and feathers crown the late monarch as she visits BBC Broadcasting House in London in April 2006 to mark the 80th anniversary of the granting of the corporation's Royal Charter.
Wearing her Nizam of Hyderabad diamond rose brooch to complement her orange outfit, the British monarch attends the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Buckingham Palace in October 2021 in London, England.
A solemn Queen Elizabeth II attends the National Service of Remembrance at The Cenotaph in November 2020 in London.
The Queen, wearing her gold and ruby floral trellis brooch and looking delighted, watches her horse, Sign Manual, run in and win at Newbury Racecourse in England in April 2013.
All in blue, Queen Elizabeth II attends a garden party at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in August 2012.
The King George Day racing meet at Ascot Racecourse in July 2012 in Ascot, England, is graced by the presence of Her Majesty.
A flower-powered Queen Elizabeth visits a new maternity ward at a hospital in the English town of Stevenage in June 2012 as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom.
Dressed in lilac, Queen Elizabeth II unveils a painting of the ocean liner QE2 during a visit to Southampton dock in England in 2008.
The former British monarch tours Queen Mother Square in the town of Poundbury in Dorset, England, in 2016. The square was named after her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
An all-smiling Queen Elizabeth visits Chester Town Hall during a tour of the English city in 2018.
The Queen opts for a simple but effective two-tone color scheme during the June 2010 International Fleet Review in Halifax, Canada.
Are you aware that royal protocol decrees that Queen Elizabeth II always had to wear a hat in public on formal occasions, while her face must be visible at all times? That's partly why the late British monarch became known for her bright and bold hats. According to British media reports, she owned around 5,000 hats and was rarely seen wearing the same one, at least not in the same year.
Queen Elizabeth II's hat style over the years
Hats off to the late British monarch's fashionable headwear
CELEBRITY Royalty
From the moment she took the throne in 1952 to her death in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II is estimated to have donned more than 5,000 different pieces of headgear. Indeed, the colorful and wonderfully varied hats she wore, replete with feathers, plumes, bows, and flowers, helped accentuate the late British monarch's fashionable dress sense.
Want to catch a look? Then click through and take your hat off to Queen Elizabeth's best headwear moments.