Secret of the royal bonnet: It’s a gift from the nanny’s mother
NEWBORN Princess Charlotte melted hearts on Saturday as she left hospital in an adorable knitted bonnet.
And at not even a day old, she was already sparking trends – as mothers rushed to dress their babies in a similar look.
But when asked where the bonnet had come from, Kensington Palace refused to comment, saying it was a ‘private’ matter.
It has now emerged that the item was a gift from the mother of Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, the Duchess of Cambridge’s live-in Spanish nanny.
The widow sourced the present from an exclusive children’s boutique called Irulea in San Sebastian, northern Spain.
It is understood the nanny’s mother, who is also called Maria Teresa, told the shop’s owners she had read about their beautiful clothes and asked for some pictures to be sent to her, before visiting to make her final choices.
In the end she settled on the bonnet as well as several other pieces in an ivory colour – including a coat, shoes, pram cover and mattress – and arranged for them to be sent to London around a month and a half ago.
Susana Villar, 57, runs the boutique – which was founded by her grandmother 82 years ago – with her sister Ayago. She said yesterday: ‘We had no idea the clothes were for Princess Charlotte. It was a complete surprise and we’re obviously delighted.
‘Some clients of ours phoned us to tell us they’d just seen the new royal leaving hospital wearing one of our bonnets.
‘ It was bought as part of a matching outfit that included a little coat and shoes. ‘ The woman who bought them ... was very discreet and never gave anything away.
‘All she said was that she had a daughter who was in London.’
She said the buyer had bought neutral-coloured gifts as she did not know the baby’s gender.