Yearly Archives: 2013

Zara Phillips Attends Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival

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Zara Phillips and her husband Mike Tindall attended the first day of races at the Cheltenham Festival in the heart of Gloucestershire today. Zara wore a stunning royal purple velvet pillbox-beret trimmed with a pair of large feathers and a few faux jewels. Designed by Jane Taylor, this “Aura” style hat is certainly a statement hat and I absolutely loved it. What do you think?

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Photos from Getty as indicated

Queen Beatrix Visits School in Bergen

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Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the 50th anniversary of the European School in Bergen today. Beatrix repeated the black straw hat with patent leather band around the crown she wore in Brunei in January (she also wore this on her visit to Aruba in October 2011 and for Remembrance Day in May 2009).

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Something about this hat just isn’t right for me. Maybe it’s that the sides of the crown extend straight up over the rounded top of the crown… or maybe its that the patent band looks heavy against the lighter straw. It’s certainly fine… but for me, it’s not spectacular.

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What do you think?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Danish Royals in Chile

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Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary kicked off a visit to Chile today with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Liberatador Gernal Bernardo O’Higgins monument and an audience with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera  Mary repeated a Susanne Juul rose-beige straw picture hat with upturned brim trimmed with a white stripe.

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We’ve previously seen this hat on a visit to Thisted in 2011, boarding the royal yacht in 2008, and the opening of the Garden Living Fair at Frederiksborg Castle in 2005. In the past, I thought this hat a bit bland but it’s pairing today with this  tailored outfit made an understated, polished look.

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What did you think of Mary’s hat today?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Swedish Royals Welcome Turkish President

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Following the death of Princess Lilian yesterday, the Swedish Royal Family has changed their schedule this week: Princess Victoria’s name day celebrations tomorrow are cancelled and all events on Saturday have been cleared for the funeral. Today however, King Karl Gustaf and Queen Silvia welcomed Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gül and his wife Hayrüsinna Gül for a state visit as planned. Queen Silvia wore a plain black fur hat on the side of her head.

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Princess Madeleine, Prince Carl Philip, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel also attended the welcome, all in black mourning dress. Madeleine wore a black fascinator on the back of her head while Victoria wore a simple rounded pillbox. She also wore a small brooch given to her by Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian.

Princess Madeleine, Queen Silvia, Turkish First Lady Hayrüsinna Gül and Crown Princess Victoria | The Royal Hats Blog

Photos from  Getty as indicated; and the Turkish Government 

Farewell, Princess Lilian

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A Memoriam

Princess Lilian of Sweden, Duchess of Halland, passed away today at the age of 97. Born in Wales in 1915, Lilian’s story is legendary- she married young, divorced, met her Swedish Prince Charming, and spent more than 30 years quietly waiting to marry him (you can read the details here or  here). Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil sacrificed much for the Swedish monarchy; the Swedes repaid them with great affection. As we say farewell today, here are some millinery memories from Lilian’s remarkable life.

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Photos from Getty as indicated