Kate and Camilla's Favorite Milliner Calls Royal Hats: 'A Piece of Magic'

The milliner responsible for making some of Kate Middleton and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall's most famous hats has opened up about his royal commissions in a rare interview calling the accessories "a piece of magic."

For a special issue of Country Life, a British magazine dedicated to country pursuits and rural communities guest-edited by Camilla to mark her 75th birthday, the duchess selected hat-maker Philip Treacy as a "living national treasure."

Treacy has designed hats worn by some of the world's most famous women including Kate and sister-in-law Meghan Markle as well as Madonna, Lady Gaga and Sarah Jessica Parker.

One of Treacy's most famous designs was worn to the wedding of Prince William and Kate in 2011 by Princess Beatrice, dubbed by the press as the "pretzel hat." This was later sold to raise money for charity.

Irish-born Treacy is known for his discretion and described himself to Country Life as a "preacher of hats."

"Hats are a piece of magic," he said of his work for the royals and beyond, adding that they are "an inexplicable object that can transform and transport."

After studying on the fashion program at London's Royal College of Art in 1988, Treacy showed his collection of hats to the style director of Tatler, famed editor Isabella Blow, who took him under her wing and introduced him to the biggest names in the industry.

For many years Treacy lived at Blow's London home with another of her protégés, Alexander McQueen. When Blow died in 2007 Treacy and McQueen collaborated on a special collection dedicated to their champion.

The milliner credits Queen Elizabeth II for "keeping hats alive in the imagination of people all over the world." Though the accessory has fallen in and out of fashion, the monarch is rarely seen on a public engagement outside her own home without a hat and is estimated to have worn thousands throughout her 70-year reign.

As the issue of Country Life that he was featured in celebrates Camilla's 75th birthday, Treacy was asked to describe the process of designing for the royal who has become one of his most prolific clients.

"Ah, my brief [from the duchess] is very loose," he explained, adding that he proposes and develops ideas for designs with her personally.

"She lets me do what I like, basically," he adds. "She gives me artistic freedom, but I have her head and interests at heart—and I like her!—so I've always found it easy to design for her."

One of the biggest commissions of his career came from Camilla when in 2005 she asked him to create the hats worn on her wedding day to Prince Charles.

The royal wedding, and Camilla's appearance, attracted an added degree of scrutiny as comparisons to Charles' first wife, Princess Diana, were inevitably drawn as the princess had died only eight years earlier.

There were two ceremonies on the wedding day, a legal act of marriage that took place at the town hall in Windsor and a religious blessing held at St. George's Chapel attended by the queen.

For the blessing Treacy designed a halo of golden feathers for Camilla that was widely praised at the time for its regal elegance.

Speaking of his inspiration for the hat, he said: "I think I thought of the historic nature of the moment and St. George's and the venue, Windsor Castle.

"You start with the personality—no matter who the customer is," he continued. "The most important aspect is the personality of the wearer you're designing for. But, in that instance, one could not but be aware of the significance of the moment—so it was a feather crown of sorts."

Treacy's designs were most recently featured on the world stage by both Camilla and Kate during the June celebrations for the queen's Platinum Jubilee, where the royals both wore his creations for Trooping the Colour and the national service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral.