Yes… you read the headline correctly. Crown Princess Masako of Japan attended two official engagements in mid October! Because we are not used to seeing her in public, I totally missed reporting these events when the occurred. First up was the opening ceremony of the national sports festival for handicapped athletes at Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium on the 12th of October. Masako wore a caramel wool felt bowler style hat with wide grosgrain ribbon trim around the brim. While I was not partial to the colour of Masako’s hat and suit, I really liked that ribbon trim around her hat’s brim.

On October 18, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako attend the opening ceremony of the Global Environment Action conference, also in Tokyo. Masako wore a square crowned hat in cream straw with a small brim. I liked how the brim was turned down in the front but folded up in the back, similar to a trilby hat brim. It was another demure hat but I think it looked great on Maskao. I don’t want to read too much into these photographs but there seems to be a genuine spark back in Masako’s smile and that is worth a million royal hats.

Photos from Asahi Shimbun via Asahi Digital; Asahi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun via Getty; and Imperial Family of Japan