It was compared to a toilet seat, a pretzel and a Turkey Twizzler, and even had its own Facebook page.

And milliner Philip Treacy admits he thought his widely ridiculed hat worn by Princess Beatrice at Prince William's wedding in 2011 might result in an unpleasant trip to the Tower of London.

Treacy, 51, tells today's Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4: 'I thought I was making a little hat with a bow on it.

Milliner Philip Treacy admits he thought his widely ridiculed hat worn by Princess Beatrice (above) at Prince William's wedding in 2011 might result in an unpleasant trip to the Tower of London

'I didn't realise that I was on American Idol or X Factor and that it was judgment day.

'There was a moment I thought I would find… my head on a spike outside the Tower of London. It was a very modern hat. Modernity is always an unusual thing.'

The 'pretzel hat' hasn't tarnished the reputation of the Irish-born milliner, who created 20 of the hats worn at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May.

But he loathes the current fad for the fascinator.

The 'pretzel hat' hasn't tarnished the reputation of the Irish-born milliner, who created 20 of the hats worn at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May. Pictured left, Princess Eugenie and right, Princess Beatrice and Prince William's wedding

'It just sounds like a dodgy sex toy to me,' he says. 'It sounds like such a weird word. A fascinator really is a sort of a hair band with a floppy flower on it.'

Treacy credits the Queen for the popularity of hats, telling presenter Kirsty Young: 'Her Majesty the Queen has kept hats alive in the imaginations of people all over the world.

'If the Royal Family chose not to wear hats, I wouldn't really be sitting here having this conversation with you. Hats are part of the culture of Englishness and of Britishness.'

A month after the wedding, Beatrice sold the hat for £81,000 and gave the money to charity.