Philip Treacy: Milliner to the Royal Ladies

Garden Parties, Ascot, Trooping the Colour and Royal weddings are every milliners dream event and the current favourite of within the British Royal Family is Philip Treacy. image1 Born in Ireland in 1967, Treacy has become ONE of the world’s greatest milliners therefore it is not surprising that his client list includes the Duchess of Cornwall, the Countess of Wessex and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York as well as many minor royals. His designs tend to be based around large bows, flowers or lots of feathers. An average hat can cost anywhere between £200 to at staggering £5000.

Camilla and Sophie

Treacy received huge attention following the wedding of Camilla and Prince Charles for the two stunning hats he designed for that day. image2 , image3 Special attention was drawn to the unique gold spiky feather creation worn for the marriage blessing and this style of fascinator has become a favourite of the Duchess of Cornwall’s with many future creations inspired from that design. image4 (Garter Day 2005) image5 (Trooping the Colour 2008) image6 (Peter Phillips wedding May 2008) Camilla solely wears Philip Treacy’s hats for engagements, although unlike the Queen she tends to only wear them for special occasions such as national services or significant royal events.

More photos of Camilla in Treacy’s hats: image7 (pale green leaf hat), image8 (leopard print hat), image9 (green shamrock hat), image10 (classic black and white hat).

Some of Philip Treacy’s hats are inventive, flamboyant and outrageous which can either praised or criticised. The Countess of Wessex has worn some of Treacy’s inventive hat pieces in recent years these have included the “flying saucer” hats image11 , image12, the fascinator explosion image13, unusual shapes image14 or oversized flowers image15.

More photos of Sophie in Treacy’s hats: image16 (a simple butterfly hat), image17 (explosion of feathers), image19 (simple white and black hat).

Younger Royals in Philip Treacy Hats

Many people often comment that hats tend to only be worn by the older generations of royals yet the young British royals certainly seem to enjoy wearing fantastic and eye-catching hats. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie frequently wear Philip Treacy’s designs, and often they will borrow each other’s hats for engagements. In recent years the two York girls have developed their style more and more and are becoming increasingly adventurous in their choice of hats. image20 , image21 , image22. Few royal watchers will forget the explosion of butterflies by Philip Treacy (image23) that Princess Beatrice wore to the wedding of her cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly in May 2008. Zara Phillips and Lady Gabriella Windsor are also keen followers of Treacy’s designs. image24 , image25 , image26 and image27.

Philip Treacy has become the leading royal milliner, and his client list also includes Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. It is not surprising that Kate Middleton chose Philip Treacy’s hats on a number of occasions including William’s Sandhurst passing out and notably at his installation as a Garter Knight in June 2008. image28

Philip Treacy’s website may be found here. The ready-to-wear section shows a number of designs that have used to create hats worn by members of the Royal Family.

For regular updates of British royal hats check out Ella Kay’s blog Mad Hattery!

Filed under The United Kingdom
Tagged Fashion, Hats.