Are YOU posh enough to wear a powerband? Half hat, half headband, they’re the crowning glory of the society set yet women either love them for covering roots or think they belong on Alice in Toryland

The State Opening of Parliament doesn’t usually offer much in the way of cutting-edge style, unless page-boy knickerbockers and buckled shoes are suddenly back in vogue.

But on Monday, the Prime Minister’s girlfriend, proudly watching her beloved from the House of Lords gallery, put paid to that.

She may have been dressed demurely in navy and tartan, but the oversized navy hair band framing her sweet, round face screamed high fashion.

No society do of late has been complete without one. Whether it’s aristocratic actress Cressida Bonas in a bright red headpiece at Ellie Goulding’s Castle Howard wedding, or the Duchess of Cambridge at the St James’s Palace christening of her youngest child, Prince Louis, no posh girl worth her pink Himalyan salt has stepped out without a £300 piece of croissant-shaped fabric (prices can rise to an eye-watering £900) atop their shining heads.

Don’t get me wrong. Some bright young things — certainly, those with deep trust funds — can carry off this curious hair accessory with aplomb.

Yet while model Vogue Williams and I’m A Celebrity’s Georgia Toffolo prove you don’t have to be an aristo to nail it, mere mortals usually struggle — even on Carrie Symonds, the effect seems a little off-kilter. For though, at 31, she has youth on her side, her band did not so much signal her fashion credentials as leave her looking somewhere between Alice in Toryland and Miss Goody Two Shoes.

What a difference a few months in Downing Street makes! Gone is the bright, fun-loving blonde for whom Boris Johnson finally abandoned family life.

Here was a subdued, solicitous companion, her hatband — she hoped — creating a halo of humility as her pale left hand, still devoid of an engagement ring, fluttered over her heart.

From some angles, she looked like a Tudor Queen in fear of losing her head. And I thought it was only U.S. ‘tech expert’ Jennifer Arcuri who fancied herself as Boris’s Anne Boleyn . . .

Full marks to Carrie, though, for trying hard on Boris’s big day. But did she try a little too hard?

For there’s one thing we know for certain — this former Conservative communications director knew the cameras would monitor her every move. Indeed, ever since she stood outside No 10 as Boris gave his first speech as Prime Minister — her bright pink floral frock standing out amid a sea of dark blue suits — Carrie has been the mistress of image control.

And her choice of on-trend hatband this week was no exception, on more levels than one.

For on closer inspection, the layers of navy leaves that encircled her honeyed head called to mind a ceremonial laurel wreath, the sort seen on statues of Julius Caesar saluting his victories on the battlefield. Whether Boris, a passionate classicist, looked up during the Queen’s Speech to notice the allusion, is doubtful.

But one thing’s for sure, all eyes were firmly on Carrie.

And if that wasn’t her intention all along, I’ll eat my hatband.

It’s a facelift that covers those roots, says CAMILLA RIDLEY-DAY 

As the rain bucketed down this week, a date with an elegant friend loomed in the diary. A blow-dry was pointless and a hat too full-on, meaning there was only one solution: my trusty hatband.

Chunkier than an Alice band, it’s wide enough to cover any unsightly roots and can deal with all sorts of bad hair days, especially rainy ones.

It also pulls the hair back enough to provide what feels like a mini facelift: what’s not to love?

It’s the red lipstick for your hair when you’re feeling tired. The beautifully cut jeans when you’re feeling bloated, and my secret weapon for early-morning starts.

Although I remember the Alice band of the Eighties, and had a simple velvet one as part of my school uniform, I hadn’t worn one for years when I chanced upon the latest generation at a fashion event earlier this year.

It was Italian designer Miuccia Prada who started the trend in early 2018. Her chunky, bold, regal ‘power bands’ were worlds away from their childhood counterparts.

Retailing at around £200, they added extra inches in height without heels and were there to be noticed (and so they should be at that price!).

Soon the High Street was awash with them — from elaborate bejewelled or embellished versions to plainer ones with a top knot or in a pleated satin or velvet fabric.

Hair accessories are having a moment, but while pearl slides and scrunchies are best for long hair, the hatband looks just as chic on a bob.

They have taken the place of the dreaded fascinator, that pointless cluster of feathers we used to stick on our heads for a wedding that was more of a sneeze than a statement.

At Ascot this year, there was a move towards the hatband over the more unwieldy hats, where you can’t greet people without poking an eye out.

More practical and comfortable than a hat, yet just as stylish, a hatband will give any outfit some extra oomph.

The biggest vote of confidence has come from my seven-year-old daughter. Now of an age when she’s discovered the girly delights of Claire’s Accessories, she was excited to find something of Mummy’s she could borrow to wear. What better endorsement could there be?