Since I activated the website about my forthcoming book – TRAVELS WITH MY HAT – several people have enquired about “The Hat” of the title.

The original blue denim hat, noticed by Her Majesty on our tour of Arabia, was wrenched off my head during a monsoon squall and sank beneath waves in the Bay of Bengal.

The present Hat has been my travelling companion for twenty-five years. And I still wear it. Most recently on a visit to the Western Sahara. But now that it has become famous – its picture is on Twitter – I’m naturally nervous that it too, might fly off when least expected.

Hopefully not. For it must be around for any book signing when I shall certainly wear it. I wouldn’t dare not.

Hail to The Hat! Some of the countries it has visited include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tahiti, Oman, Egypt, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Tanzania.

Like the original one, it was bought at “River Island” in Oxford Street, London which now sells hideous headgear. No sign of anything in blue denim …

Images of The Hat from left to right:
1 In the Luangwa Valley in Zambia
2 Tiger-fishing on the Zambesi
3 With Masai elders in Kenya
4 On safari in Amboseli National Park
5 When the Hat was young— Federated Tribal Agencies of Pakistan
www.travelswithmyhat.com