 An " Anthony Eden " hat , or simply an " Anthony Eden " , was a silk @-@ brimmed , black felt Homburg of the kind favoured in the 1930s by Anthony Eden , later 1st Earl of Avon ( 1897 – 1977 ) . Eden was a Cabinet Minister in the British National Government , holding the offices of Lord Privy Seal from 1934 – 1935 and Foreign Secretary 1935 to 1938 . He was later Dominions Secretary from 1939 – 1940 , War Secretary in 1940 , Foreign Secretary from 1940 – 1945 and 1951 – 1955 , and Prime Minister 1955 to 1957 . 
