Princess Diana became a global icon after the entire world saw her marry Prince Charles on live television in 1981. It's too early to tell whether the terrible headpiece Princess Beatrice of York wore to today's royal wedding (the proper name of which is, suitably, a fascinator) will have the same kind of staying power, but the early results are encouraging. A Google search for 'Beatrice wedding hat' yields 1.6 million results. The ceremony's curious seating chart is also playing out to the hat's advantage--because Beatrice sat behind Queen Elizabeth, there isn't a photo of the queen at Westminster Abbey that doesn't have a flesh-colored blob hovering somewhere in the frame. The Internet has rewarded the headpiece with the following status symbols, all in under twelve hours...

A Facebook page

As of this writing, Princess Beatrice's ridiculous Royal Wedding hat has more than 10,000 likes on Facebook. On the fans are arguing over what and owner most closely resemble. Among the more specific comparisons: "Mary Lou Who all grown up and on steroids," "a larval crustacean," and "a spasticated beige scorpion."

A Tumblr

It was only a matter of time before the comedic potential of that big empty space in the middle of her hat was realized by Photoshop savvy Tumblr user. Prince Beatrice and Her Hat emerged as the one-stop clearinghouse for retouched images like this.

A fake Twitter account

The hat's backstory was fully developed by @beatriceshat. Apparently it came from an ocean ("My work here is done, I can return to the deep") on an alien planet, is pursuing a career in media ("I'm inviting offers from quality media outlets. ITV can suck my loops."), admires the heck out of Lady Gaga ("My creator is Philip Treacy by Lady Gaga is like my holy spirit"), recently broke up with a fez ("Not as cool as they look"), and is related to the"face hugger" from Alien. Also, it hates Prince Harry.

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Ray Gustini