King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway attended the opening of parliament in Oslo yesterday. Sonja wore a brimless black felt wool hat with a black net veil and jeweled button. I believe this is a new hat for Sonja and I think it’s quite smart on her. What do you think?
Designer: unknown
Photos from Stella
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh took part in a ceremony this morning at Buckingham Palace to launch the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games baton relay (you can see video clips of the ceremony here and here). The Queen wore a pale pink straw hat with a gently sloped crown, looped side bow and tulle wrap around the crown. I think this might be a new hat- have any of you seen it before?
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended a ceremony in Tokyo today commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Japanese Disabled Veterans Association. Michiko wore one of her characteristic saucer hats in light grey, trimmed with a bow at the front.
Photos from the Asahi Shimbun
The wedding of Viscount Linley and The Hon. Serena Stanhope twenty years ago today was a “mini” royal wedding – while not a prince himself, David Armstrong-Jones was the son of a princess and a member of the extended British Royal Family. And we all know that being a member of the extended British Royal family means there will be some great hats at your wedding! After looking at the bride’s veil and dress earlier today, let’s now turn our attention to the guests’ hats.
David’s mother Princess Margaret wore a deep claret velvet pillbox hat topped in pomegranate and black spiky feathers. His sister, Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones, wore an unembellished rust coloured straw cloche.
Queen Elizabeth wore a salmon pink fabric covered hat with rounded crown and high, upturned, pleated brim by Philip Somerville. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (and grandmother of the groom) wore one of her signature veiled capulet hats with upturned front brim and side spray of feathers.
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Princess Anne, who had married Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence less than a year earlier, repeated the turquoise blue veiled pillbox with side rose she had originally debuted during the mid 1980s. (Anne would later wear this hat to Charles and Camilla’s wedding in 2005 and her grandmother’s 100th birthday in 2000).
Lady Helen Taylor wore powder blue bowler hat with wide ribbon wrapped around the crown. Princess Diana was also in blue- a large blue lampshade style hat with white ribbon trim around the brim and wrapped around the crown designed by Philip Somerville. At the time, I believe some were surprised to see her at this wedding as she and Prince Charles had announced their separation ten months earlier and her future royal role was unclear.
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Princess Alexandra of Kent wore a dove grey hat with rounded crown wrapped in a black ribbon and trimmed with flowers and net. I think this hat translates fairly well today, as do the hats of Julia Ogilvy (her daughter-in-law) in black and and the Duchess of Gloucester in dark teal blue.
The only foreign royals I could find at this wedding were Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and Princess Salimah Aga Khan. Queen Anne-Marie wore a large black (or chocolate brown?!) hat with an upturned brim and a high almost Puritan shaped pointed crown. That hat was a little too Halloween-esque for my taste. My favourite hat at this wedding was the brown capulet worn by Princess Salimah Aga Khan. The shape is so chic and the black band around the crown and trim around the upturned brim gives a bit of punchy contrast.
Serena’s mother Virginia looked very elegant in a purple picture hat with slightly curved brim (she is to the left of Princess Margaret, below). Her hat, like several others, has aged very well- surprisingly well, in fact. While many hats at this wedding do seem rather dated, there are an equal number that could easily be worn today.
As I sign off this post and wish Viscount and Viscountess Linley the happiest of anniversaries, I can’t resist asking- Which hat at this wedding is your favourite?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Dave Parker via Corbis
One of the most stylish royal couples, Viscount and Viscountess Linley, celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary today! When David Armstrong-Jones married the Hon. Serena Stanhope on October 8, 1993, Serena surprised everyone by paying homage to her mother-in-law’s style; she based her wedding dress on the famous wedding dress worn by Princess Margaret in May 1960.
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Today, this Bruce Robbins designed dress might seem a dated explosion of tulle and an awfully formal and stiff dress for a 23 year old bride. In 1993 however, I remember thinking it was amazing- simultaneously classic and modern (especially the folded bow at the back), and incredibly striking
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Serena topped the tulle and satin dress with the Papyrus Motive Tiara borrowed from Princess Margaret (a full history on this tiara can be read here). The delicate shape of this tiara was perfect for the delicately featured Serena and I still adore it on her (although the hair piece is a little much!)
As was popular at the time, the couple changed before departing the wedding reception, the bride donning an oversize silver straw stovepipe hat with double peaked crown and gently sidesweeping brim by Philip Treacy. It’s a hat very much of the time that aged considerably less well than Serena’s bridal gown.
Coverage of the hats that were worn by guests to this wedding can be seen in this post.
Royal Hats 