Hat from the Past

 This week has been a quiet royal hat week (don’t worry – there are a few royal tours next week and there will be lots of activity around the Dutch coronation) so I thought today we would take time to look back at another hat from the past.

Queen Elizabeth’s mother, affectionately known as the Queen Mum, was a prolific hat wearer. Her MANY hats were almost always the same shape – an oversize capulet with a high upturned brim in the font that formed a sort of halo around her face. While they were the same shape, they appeared in a kalaidescope of every pastel rainbow colour you can imagine. More often than not, they were also adorned with a veil and either feathers or flowers (the Queen Mother’s hat philosophy was “more is more”). Twenty years ago today, when she was ninety-three years old, she wore this yellow flowered hat to church on Easter Sunday. With the upturned shape (see the halo effect?!) veil and side spray of feathers, this hat captures this unforgettable Queen’s style.

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Hat from The Past

  Sixty years ago today, King Baudouin of Belgium escorted Queen Juliana of the Netherlands into Luxembourg Cathedral to attend the wedding of Prince Jean of Luxembourg to Princess Josephine Charlotte of the Belgians (Baudouin’s elder sister) in this fantastical feather covered hat.

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Photo from Kurt Hutton via Getty

Queen Beatrix Hosts Russian President

2013 marks a year of cultural reciprocation between The Netherlands and Russia. To kick off this partnership, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited The Netherlands today for a one-day state visit. Queen Beatrix welcomed him this morning at the Amsterdam Hermitage Museum wearing one of her signature “cake” hats – this one with a tiered crown and side bow-loop detail. Seeing her made me feel a little sad that in less than three weeks, her reign will be over.

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Photos from Getty as indicated

Princess Clothilde Returns to the Theatre

Princess Clotilde of Savoy, the Princess of Venice & Piedmont, was photographed by her husband Prince Emanuel Filiberto yesterday in this black Garbo hat. Clothilde, a French actress, is performing a theatrical reading of some private letters of Edith Piaf at the Hotel Inter Continental in Paris for a number of weeks (see a video clip of this performance from last year here). From his caption on the photo, it seems this was taken at rehearsal. Isn’t this a fantastic hat for Clothilde?

Photo from Prince Emanuel Filiberto of Savoy via Twitter

Prince Hisahito’s First Day of School

One of the littlest royal hat wearers, Prince Hisahito of Japan, looked very handsome in his school uniform hat this morning. Accompanied by his parents Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, the little prince was seen arriving at Ochanomizu University Elementary School in Tokyo for his entrance ceremony. Adorable.

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Photos from Getty as indicated