Yearly Archives: 2013

Queen Margrethe Celebrates Kierkegaard

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Queen Margrethe of Denmark attended a service at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen yesterday commemorating  Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s 200th birthday. For this engagement, she wore a turquoise hat with a mushroom shaped brim and a smart two-toned blue ribbon around the crown.  Margrethe has previously worn this hat to host the Chinese President in June 2012, and on visits to the UK and to Russia in 2011. It’s had a lot of wear for good reason- it’s a classic shape in one of the vibrant colours she favours and it looks very good on Margrethe.

Update- I mistook this hat (and it’s multiple wearings) to be the same as the blue hat Margrethe wore here today even though they are clearly different. Thanks to reader LouisaMay for pointing out the error!

Photo from Corbis

Luxembourg Royals Join Octave Procession

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Members of the Luxembourg Royal family took part in the closing procession of the Octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg (a two week annual religious celebration) yesterday. For this event, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore a black and white picture hat by Fabienne Delvigne that I thought looked lovely…. until I caught site of the open top (it’s not visible here but the top of this hat was completely open). Nice try but open topped hats? Not a good idea.

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Princess Stéphanie wore a navy straw hat complete with diagonal raised brim and large navy bow on the side opposite the raised brim. While it was a much better hat than the one she wore last week at the Dutch Inauguration, I’m not a fan of this one. Something about the crown and brim proportions and shape are off. Plus, the bow is awfully twee and the high side of the brim is not raised in a smooth upsweep- from the front the brim looks wavy and unrefined. Maybe the hat was bought off the peg?

UPDATE- The hat was a ready-to-wear item from Armani’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

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Photos from Manuel Dias via Le Cour Grand-Ducale de Luxembourg

Youngest British Royals at the Badminton Horse Trials

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Just a day after her birthday, Autumn Phillips, her husband Peter and two young daughters were spotted cheering for Zara Phillips at the third day of the Badminton Horse Trials. One year old Isla was a little ray of sunshine in a pink knitted hat topping off a wide grin. Little Savannah, who is two-and-a-half, was a more serious cheerleader in an adorable puppy dog cable knit hat. I think we have some serious royal hat wearers in the making!

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Photos from Getty as indicated

King and Queen of the Netherlands Celebrate Remembrance Day

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The new King and Queen of the Netherlands conducted their first official engagement today in Amsterdam. For their attendance at this Remembrance Day ceremony in Dam Square, Máxima wore a new black straw cloche with a slightly elongated crown, mushroom brim and large black silk rose.

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Designed by South African milliner Bettina Thomas, the smaller scale hat packs a lot of punch, balancing just the right amount of queenly glamour with restraint fitting for this solemn occasion. 

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What did you think of Máxima’s first hat appearance as queen?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Danish Royals Begin Summer Cruise Season

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Each summer, Queen Margrethe and  Prince Henrik of Denmark embark on an extended summer tour aboard the royal yacht, Dannebrog. This afternoon, they kicked off the first leg of the 2013 summer cruise, setting sail from Copenhagen. Margrethe must have been excited about this event because she broke out a new hat.  As I mentioned earlier this week, Margrethe’s hats usually have a wacky bit of embellishment – this tomato red cloche had a giant red buckle. I could grow to like the shape of this hat (an interesting chimney with the pop-up domed top) on Margrethe but it’s ruined for me by that buckle.

Photos from Abaca