Were the wide-brimmed hats of the royals at Ascot a silent tribute to the late Queen?

As milliner to the stars, Stephen Jones OBE was of course at Royal Ascot last week, seeing his creations in all sizes, shapes and colors on numerous heads. Yet one absence was deeply felt.

“For most of us it was the first Royal Ascot without Her Majesty the Queen,” says 66-year-old Stephen.

“But she was there in the millinery. The reason why the hat business is so strong in Britain and people all over the world see hats as British is because of the Queen – and the Queen is the reason people still wear hats in 2023 as a tribute to her and what she tells us has given the years.

‘She is the patron saint of British millinery. Do not forget that the symbol of the monarchy is the crown. It’s not the royal shoe.’

Of course, the royal family was in attendance, donning a whole host of headpieces, from Queen Camilla’s asymmetrical light green creation with feather brim, to the Princess of Wales’s wide-brimmed scarlet hat with blooming flower detailing and Zara Tindall’s cheery teal saucer.

Stephen has made hats for Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, as well as making Pippa Middleton’s ethereal wedding veil, but he never worked for Camilla and only designed one beret for Kate, for the 2012 Epsom Derby.

‘[Camilla and Kate] are very loyal to others [milliners]’, he smiles, sitting in his airy, pastel shop-cum-studio in Covent Garden, surrounded by wonderful treats.

He has also – sometimes privately, sometimes in his capacity as milliner of the House of Dior, a position he has held since 1996 – made several hats for the Duchess of Sussex.

While Dior recently denied that Meghan would be a brand ambassador, Stephen will not be drawn to the subject, saying only with typical diplomacy that he found her “charming, elegant, generous and a great hat bearer.”

His biggest royal client was Princess Diana, for whom he started working in 1981, when he was only 23.

Diana was great. [Designer] Jasper Conran introduced me to her. She had just married Charles and was the most famous person in the world.

“We walked into the room at St James’s Palace with our boxes of hats and she was the only person in there. I was completely baffled. My face was bright pink, but she was charming.

“Later, while trying on, she listened to Wham Rap! on her walkman.”

Within a few years, fittings often took place while Diana tried to feud Princes Harry and William at the same time.

“They’d be running around, fascinated by what Mama was doing with those strange things on her head.

“It wasn’t like Diana had a lot of nannies. They’d pick up rows of veils and watch them unroll.”

Should Stephen reprimand the two royal toddlers? “Diana said, ‘Stop that!’” he grins.

With his inquiring eyes, amused expression and soft voice you can understand why all of Stephen’s customers love him: he is funny, curious and seems relaxed, even though with the English season, weddings and upcoming fashion shows in Paris, this is his busiest time of the year. year.

It seems he’s worked with pretty much everyone, including Grace Jones, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. “I’m like an Uncle Stephen figure to Rihanna,” he says.

Another client is former Prime Minister David Cameron’s wife, Samantha, who was criticized for not wearing a hat at the wedding of the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

“She wasn’t comfortable with hats at the time. I went to number 10 and got 20 or 30 hats and we had a big fitting session. Then she sort of relaxed about them.”

‘Follicly challenged’ Stephen always wears a hat outside, often a beret, and is also a big name in men’s hats, with many celebrity male clients, including his friend Mick Jagger, who often wears his hat on stage . “He really knows how to use hats.”

Stephen grew up in the Wirral, the son of an engineer father and a housewife mother, who dragged him to art exhibitions (‘I’ve inherited a bit of both, because what I do is some kind of engineering’).

Stephen attended his father’s old boarding school in Liverpool and then won a place to study fashion at the prestigious St Martin’s College in London, but while there he completed an apprenticeship at the Mayfair couture house Lachasse.

‘Next to the tailoring was the millinery and I had a bit of a eureka moment: millinery just seemed much more fun, structuring something, without having to cut meters of fabric.’

After graduation, he became part of the coolest gang in town, the Blitz Kids who, in the late 1970s, hung out in outrageous outfits in the eponymous nightclub yards of where his shop is today.

The group included the late Steve Strange, Sade and Spandau Ballet and spawned the new romantic fashion trend.

Another friend (and early wearer of his hats) was Boy George. “I remember George sitting in the back of my minivan singing.

I said, “You have such a beautiful voice. George, you should be a singer. He said, “I’d love to be, but I’m not sure I have the confidence.” ‘

Stephen raises a crooked eyebrow. “How things have changed.”

Stephen is so humble you forget he spent most of his life flying around the world to runway shows and clients – he flew to Hollywood for Joan Collins and was recently in Mexico City for the Dior Cruise Show.

So he can advise on the best way to pack a hat – something that bothers me every summer vacation.

“Put it in a sturdy case!” he instructs. ‘Fill the crown with all the little things, underwear, scarves. Lay the brim flat on the bottom and wrap around it so it doesn’t get squashed.”

And if, most likely, I still manage to crush it? ‘Take a bottle of champagne from the minibar on arrival, because champagne bottles are heavier. Place the cap on the bottle, fluff out the crown and leave it there overnight.

‘In the morning the wrinkles have probably fallen out, especially in a humid climate.

‘Or put the bottle in the bathroom and take a shower; the moisture in the air will seep into it. Twelve hours later it will be fine. But don’t take an iron for it. ‘

Other tips include removing dirty stains with a crushed piece of white bread or baby wipes (never harsh dry cleaning fluid).

It’s fantastic to hear such practicality from someone in such an (often) pretentious company.

“Oh, I’m perfectly normal!” exclaims Stefan. He has been married for nine years (and together for 34 years) to Craig West, who runs his soft hat workshop, and they live in Battersea, South London.

Do they talk about shops all the time? “No, we’re talking about friends and family. He’s the reason I can escape my job, otherwise it’s all encompassing.”

Stephen is certainly more approachable than some of the flamboyant designers he collaborated with for their runway shows, including John Galliano and the late eccentric Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld. “I found Karl intimidating, but he was always charming.”

Another friend and collaborator was Dame Vivienne Westwood, who died last year. “Some people called her Queen Vivienne: I made her a Harris tweed crown in 1985. She was a force of nature.

Now everyone is talking about her activism, but I remember her as an extraordinary designer.

“At her memorial service everyone said, ‘Vivienne highlighted climate change’ and then Helena Bonham Carter stood up and said, ‘Actually, no, it was all about the clothes.’ It was refreshing.’

Stephen is far from serious or self-righteous. ‘Life can be very serious. Sometimes we need to be cheered up with a sugar pill,’ he says with his mischievous grin.

“I like the fact that fashion can mean nothing. It could mean anything, but it could just be something that makes you feel good on a fun night out. I’m not trying to change the world with a hat. It’s just a hat.’

• stephenjonesmillinery.com