Princess Eugenie Wears Over-the-Top Fascinator to Queen’s Garden Party
Princess Eugenie of York and her older sister, Princess Beatrice, are probably best known on this side of the pond for the incredibly, delightfully extra fascinators they wore to their cousin Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011. Alas, the duo didn’t outdo those outrageous hats at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s nuptials last month. But Princess Eugenie did sport a pretty over-the-top topper at one of grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s garden parties at Buckingham Palace this week.
The party, which took place on Thursday, was the second of three such celebrations that the queen hosts at the palace each summer. According to the royal family’s website, each of the garden parties is a chance for the family to meet with “a broad range of people from all walks of life,” all of whom have positively impacted their communities around the U.K. The dress code at these events stipulates that men must wear their formal morning coats, lounge suits, or military regalia, typically with a top hat, while women should don a day dress with a fascinator.
Princess Eugenie took a somewhat playful approach to this dress code: She paired her demure navy blue three-quarter sleeve, knee-length dress and matching pumps with a coordinating navy blue fascinator. The boater-style hat, from Japanese designer Misa Harada, featured a short, polka-dot net veil, a wide ribbon around the crown, and adorned with the word “love” written in silver beads. As Marie Claire notes, Eugenie’s “Nina” hat is still available in black on the Misa Harada website, where it retails for £191.67, or about $250.
While the princess’s bold accessory may have simply been her way of promoting what the world needs now, it could also have been a special message directed toward fiancé Jack Brooksbank. The duo announced their engagement earlier this year via a January statement from the royal family. And though Eugenie and Jack’s wedding, which will take place in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, the same venue as Harry and Meghan, was originally set for this September, the duo were reportedly asked to push it back to October due to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s travel plans. But there doesn’t seem to be any underlying family drama: If Eugenie’s hat is any indication, she’s got only love for her extended family.
