London - Queen Elizabeth II is famous the world over for her hats. But few know the man responsible for the distinctive designs which have graced the royal head for more than three decades.
Frederick Fox, her milliner of 34 years, died aged 82. Between his 1968 appointment and his retirement in 2002, he made around 350 hats for Her Majesty, all the while adhering to strict rules — namely that the hat must give a clear view of the queen’s face, help her stand out in a crowd and stay secure in a wind.
Having been furnished with her head measurements, he relied on a postage stamp on his workbench to remind himself of the queen’s facial features.
However, Fox showed that he also had an eye for the future when he worked on Stanley Kubrick’s box-office hit film 2001: A Space Odyssey, designing the stewardesses’ futuristic egg-shaped helmets. - Daily Mail