Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Bonnet

A color photo from the 1897 Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It’s a shame her bonnet was hidden under a parasol — “When the procession reached St Paul's, the frail Queen stayed in her carriage, where she was joined by the clergy.” —
photo DailyMail.com

The Queen’s Jubilee Bonnet

The Duchess of Bedford lately told a girls’ needlework society in Mile End that the bonnet which the Queen wore at the Jubilee service was practically made by the Princess of Wales. “It was sent home,” said Her Grace, “looking heavy and ugly. Nobody dared return it to the milliner without the Queen’s orders, and nobody liked to ask Her Majesty for such instructions. 

“So the Ladies in Waiting showed it to the Princess of Wales, knowing how clever she is in all such matters, and her Royal Highness with her own hands altered it and twisted it till it became the extremely becoming and tasteful head-dress which we all admired on that memorable occasion. Everybody who saw it thought that the Queen had never had a prettier bonnet, but how it came to be so pretty is news of today.”—London Tit-Bits, 1892

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia©️ Etiquette Encyclopedia