Can Deirdre match royal tastes?
Her food-inspired millinery is seen everywhere from Royal Ascot to the Chelsea Flower Show, where her BLT-themed headwear was the talk of the day. She has treated Prince Charles to a crown of cookies – creating a cap spilling over with silk-sculpted Duchy Original biscuits – and was even taught her trade by the Queen Mother’s milliner, Rose Cory, courtesy of an award from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust. But hat-maker Deirdre Hawken admits she has all but given up hope of designing a hat for the Queen. ‘My hats are theatrical and also surreal, but I’m afraid I don’t think they’re quite the Queen’s style,’ says Deirdre, 54, whose cauliflower creation currently graces the Stephen Jones exhibition at the V&A. ‘The hats are meant to be witty, but they are also styled around the person who will wear them.
