Princess Beatrice's hat up for sale

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May 18, 2011 – Princess Beatrice’s hat is so famous that it has now been put up for sale on ebay.

The 22 year-old Princess Beatrice who is, the oldest daughter of Prince Andrew and a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, put the flamboyant Philip Treacy creation on the online auction site with a starting price of £5,000 last Thursday. So far it has gotten bids of over £18,000.
Proceeds of the sale will be split between two charities: the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and British charity Children in Crisis.

The hat has been generating almost as much publicity as newlyweds Prince William and Catherine, but much of it has been highly critical.

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The hat has inspired its own Facebook page, “Princess Beatrice’s ridiculous royal wedding hat”, which has a following of 141,925 people.
“When my hat started getting so much publicity I really wanted to put it to the best possible use and try and raise some money for the children they help,” Beatrice said in a statement Thursday.

Treacy, a world-famous London milliner who has designed hats for a string of top fashion houses, said he was “surprised by the overwhelming response to the hat” but welcomed the princess’s decision to use this to help out a good cause.

“I hope that people all over the world will be generous and that this hat will benefit many. A hat is a symbol of positivity.”
One hour after the auction began at 1600 GMT, someone had already put in a bid for the full £5,000, but buyers still have a couple of days left to put in an offer.
The hat is described on the site as “a unique sculptural celebratory headpiece” made of tea rose silk, adding: “This is a gravity defying hat!”

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