I am back with two quick news updates, and then we look at the new hats worn by the Princess in 2023.
The first update is several days old, but when I added it to the previous post I neglected to hit “save,” so it was never published. In a Daily Mail column, Richard Eden reported the Princess is making good progress, traveling to Norfolk for the children’s school holiday.
The Princess of Wales, who underwent ‘successful’ planned abdominal surgery more than three weeks ago, is on the mend.
And, in a clear sign of her improvement, she was able to join her husband, Prince William, and their three children as they set off yesterday morning for a half-term holiday on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the King is also convalescing.
‘Catherine is recovering well,’ a friend tells me. ‘She was looking forward to a change of scene and will be able to take it easy in Norfolk while the children let off steam with William.’
The second update involves King Charles, who released a message of gratitude on Saturday for the support he has received from the public. 
The King was seen attending church at Sandringham with Queen Camilla on Sunday.
WATCH: Video of the King’s arrival at church in Sandringham. The first time he’s been seen in public since retreating there after getting his first round of cancer treatment.
Charles and Queen Camilla attended the 11am service at St Mary Magdalene Church.
🎥 @DuncanCStone pic.twitter.com/aQfDunR5O4— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) February 11, 2024
Yesterday, the couple traveled from Sandringham to London, where it is believed the King had another treatment for cancer.
Embed from Getty Images
I will update (and hit ‘save’!) with any significant news about the health of the King or the Princess of Wales.
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We’ll start our review of the new chapeaux with the hat worn on March 1st to mark St. David’s Day with the Welsh Guards. The design by milliner Juliette Botterill (£600, about $750 at today’s exchange rates) was crafted in peachbloom felt, a high-end material milliners use that has a soft, velvet-like feel. 
The percher-style hat is trimmed with a double bow and two arrow feathers. The milliner’s website notes, “This style is worn on a slim headband and hat elastic in your choice of hair color.”
Our next design was worn to the annual Commonwealth Service in mid-March when the Princess accessorized her Erdem suit with a dark blue hat by milliner Sean Barrett.
It is described by the experts at Royal Hats as “navy felt with a rounded crown and wide brim, simply trimmed with a large bow on the side.” 
We saw a new design on St. Patrick’s Day when the Prince and Princess visited the Irish Guards, the first time the Princess attended the parade as Colonel of the Regiment. She paired a Jane Taylor hat with her Catherine Walker coat. 
The Clio hat (£1550, roughly $1950 at today’s exchange rates) is described as “A wonderfully romantic hand-sculptured heart-shaped cocktail hat. Made from a luxurious…felt with a matching black pleated crin detail which fans around this stunning-shaped hat.”
These photos show how well the color matched the plumes in the Regiment’s bearskin hats worn for ceremonial parade events. (The photo on the right shows Prince William at Trooping the Colour in 2022.)
When attending an Easter church service in Windsor, the Princess wore the Mayfair Pillbox hat ($1034) by Lock and Company with her Catherine Walker coat.
The velour-felt design is described as “light as a feather and incredibly comfortable.” It fastens with an adjustable elastic at the nape of the neck and is made to be worn at an angle. If the design looks familiar, it may be because the Princess wore the style in green on St. Patrick’s Day 2022. 
At Trooping the Colour in June, the Princess chose a bespoke hat by Philip Treacy. 
The broad-brimmed style featured a pert bow in the back topped with one of the decorative buttons from her Andrew Gn dress.
The ensemble produced this iconic photo of the Princess. 
Two days later, the Princess wore another Philip Treacy design at Order of the Garter. 
She accessorized her Alessandra Rich dress with the saucer-style piece. 
When attending Ascot in June, the Princess wore vibrant red hues, including her Alexander McQueen dress and Philip Treacy hat. 
The pros at Royal Hats noted it was a “…new saucer hat with extended brim in red sinamay. The design is trimmed with a large silk bloom and wired silk ribbon tails that swirl around on both the upper and lower sides of the brim.” There was serious attention to detail, as Royal Hats pointed out that the embellishment under the brim of her hat was “knotted and shaped just as on Queen Camilla’s hat,” also by Philip Treacy. 
In July, we saw another Philip Treacy design at Scotland’s Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication.
The satin teardrop shape hat was a percher that coordinated perfectly with the Catherine Walker coat seen on Easter Sunday last year, initially worn to the Commonwealth Service in 2022. 
In September of last year, the Prince and Princess were in Wales to mark the first anniversary of the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Princess accessorized her Eponine London coatdress with a teardrop-shaped piece in velour felt by Sahar Millinery. 
This was a new designer for the Princess. Sahar Freemantle is an award-winning milliner based in London and a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust winner.
The Princess debuted a bold Jane Taylor hat during the state visit in November welcoming Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol and the First Lady, Mrs. Kim Keon Hee.
It was a broad-brimmed style likely made of luxury felt. 
At the Christmas Day church service, we saw a familiar style in a new color, the Juliette Botterill Bow and Arrow Percher hat in blue to match her Alexander McQueen coat. 
You saw the Princess wearing this style earlier in the post when celebrating St. David’s Day with the Welsh Guards.
And now it’s time to vote!
I will leave you with a look at an engagement a year ago yesterday when the Princess of Wales visited a nursing home in Slough, about twenty minutes from Windsor. 
On that ‘Pancake Day’ (also known as Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, the day before Lent begins), the Princess tried her hand at making some pancakes. 
And she flipped a few. 
The Princess paired a turtleneck with Roland Mouret trousers for the visit. 
Some may remember Pancake Day 2011 when Kate Middleton tried her hand at the same task during a pre-wedding visit to Belfast.
For this engagement, then Kate Middleton was in a Burberry raincoat
Corinne
Thursday 22nd of February 2024
I am a regular hat wearer in a country where almost anyone wears hat, not even for special occasions such as weddings etc pp. My hats are almost exclusively worn during the winter, so I dont own fascinators ( it would look silly on me). Although I prefer wider brimmed hats for me, I prefer fascinators on the Princess of Wales ( I know, my opinion doesnt count). I dont think 2023 was a good hat year for her, the only hat I did like was the Philipp Tracey for the Order of the Garter. The fascinators were bland, the shiny bkue thing hideous and the pillbox hat should he banned forever. It did only look good on Jacqueline Kennedy. I didnt like the green hat for the Trooping of the Colours nor the hat worn with the Alexandra Rich dress.
Nicky
Wednesday 21st of February 2024
There are some beautiful hats here! The workmanship is exquisite! I fall hard for the wide brimmed hats, so it was a tough choice between them. I voted for the green Phillip Tracey.
Misty
Monday 19th of February 2024
Thank you for this, what a fabulous selection of new hats. So many shapes and colours. I voted for the green Philip Tracey, I loved that whole Trooping the Colour outfit. For me it was perfection.
Caroline
Tuesday 20th of February 2024
@Misty, Same! The hat, the dress, all perfect.
Larissa
Monday 19th of February 2024
This was a tough poll! Kate debuted some stunners this year, and some that I am absolutely not a fan of – including, shockingly, the one in the lead. I went with the Juliette Botterill in black because I liked it slightly better than the blue version at Christmas, but honourable mention goes to Order of the Garter hat, the colour of the burgundy hat, the charming pillbox, and the attention to detail on the St Patrick's Day hat.
Sue V
Sunday 18th of February 2024
Goodness, 2023 seems to have been a stellar hat year! And very difficult to select just one favourite. I found myself drawn mostly to the ‘big’ hats - Ascot red one, Commonwealth Service (being quite plain it really set off the Erdem outfit - one of very few of his that I actually rated), Philip Treacy for Trooping the Colour, that one got my vote, a stunning effect with the matching ‘button’ on the back.
Honourable mention to the St Patrick’s Day parade, I love the pleated detail and that time I really appreciated that coat, shoes, hat were all the same shade.
The red Jane Taylor for the South Korea visit was inspired, teamed with the ‘Beau-baton’ cape: no embellishment and a rather sophisticated take on old school winter uniform ‘pork pie’ hats. I can honestly say mine was nothing like that and none of the girls at my school were flattered when wearing our red wine brimmed winter hats!