As we have already looked at the hats worn at the civil wedding of Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène of Orange-Nassau, we now turn our attention to the hats worn at their religious wedding in Apeldoorn on May 30, 1998.
The young bride’s ivory silk duchesse gown was made by Belgian designer Pierre Yves. You will note in the photo below that the bodice of the dress was actually a Bolero-length jacket with wide collar, pleated cuffs and front buttons. The main dress, with a box pleated full skirt and pleated cummerbund at the waist, featured a halter-style sleeveless bodice that was covered in Brussels lace. It’s an interesting design for a royal bride but certainly one that lends itself to both the formality of a royal wedding and the ‘lets-get-this-party-started’ vibe a private reception.
Marilène topped her dress off with a full length silk veil edged in ivory silk ribbon. The veil was anchored by a reduced version of the “Ears of Wheat” tiara from the Dutch Royal collection. Unfortunately, the tiara was worn so far back on Marilène’s head that it is nearly invisible.
Embed from Getty ImagesPrincess Margriet wore a pink Breton-style hat trimmed with white and dark pink contrasting bands on the brim and around the crown. It is such a flattering hat shape on her and the colour, shades darker than her pale pink suit, created the perfect amount of contrast for her ensemble. Marilène’s mother, José van den Broek-van Schendel, wore an unusual but very pretty pale grey-blue hat with upturned, fluted brim.
Queen Beatrix wore a giant tangerine straw pillbox hat swathed in open-weave gold net. The unique hat however, coordinated very well with Beatrix’s Indian sari-inspired dress and created a rather bold and striking ensemble
Princess Juliana, in what was to be her final public appearance, wore a black dotted hairnet with black large black bow.
Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria wore a taupey-pink straw picture hat with slightly upturned brim and pink flower and ribbon trim (below, top left). Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Parma wore a rusty straw hat with monochrome bloom on the side (below, center right).
Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein wore a cream hat with squared crown and wide, upturned brim (top left, just above the bride). Princess Christina of the Netherlands wore a navy straw hat in a similar shape with a wide, upturned brim. This hat was trimmed with a lime green sash around the crown to match her suit – this colour combination was the most lovely of contrasts (front right, beside her sister Princess Margriet).
While the past sixteen years has brought many changes to millinery fashion, there are a number of hats at this wedding with classic shapes that have stood the test of time. Which one of these royal hats is your favourite?
Photos from Getty as indicated and: Mark Cuthbert,Mark Cuthbert, Mark Cuthbert, and Mark Cuthbert, via Getty; Reuters and Capital Photos via Refdag; Mark Cuthbert via Getty; and the Royal Forums
Royal Hats 
Thanks Royal Hats for bringing us a Royal Wedding, a great excuse to hat up! I am in two minds about most of the outfits on here:
1. The wedding dress: sloppy design when you can see the halter straps of the dress under it, as for all we observers knew, it could be the straps of her bra or under-slip showing, until we are told that it’s the straps of the dress under it. The cuffs are way too big. The tiara is too small and gets lost in front of the veil. I do like the wide neckline, the drape of the fabric, the simple shaped train and I do like a trimmed veil. The style suits the bride’s trim figure overall.
2. Beatrix’s outfit is too loud for a royal wedding, and looks like she is trying to upstage the bride. A huge veiled pillbox is a most unattractive style, and was disappointing as Beatrix usually has fabulous taste in hats.
3. I appreciate the fact that Princess Juliana was an old frail lady, but surely someone could have advised her not to wear a black hairnet to a wedding. It looked more like something one would wear to a funeral. It’s also considered bad taste by most people to wear black to a wedding.
4. Princess Margriet’s all pink outfit was fabulous and her hat was simple yet stylish and timeless. I might have preferred nude shoes rather than have everything pink though.
5. Marilène’s mother was my overall favorite, as the shade of blue and simplicity of her outfit were very elegant and that pale grey-blue hat with the upturned, fluted brim, was my choice for best hat here. This goes to show that if you create a good basic design, you don’t need a whole lot of trimmings (are you reading this Angela Kelly). I like this hat so much I’m going to try to make one like it.
6. The little bridesmaids are cute, but the fabric choice was poor as their dresses look creased.
7. Everybody else looked alright but there were no other outstanders for me.
Oh I really liked the bride’s outfit, especially the low, sweeping collar of the jacket and the waist of the dress. I thought the dress looked as though it flowed and hung beautifully. The cuffs of the jacket sleeves were perhaps a bit much but I thought the overall look was dramatic and different. She certainly looked radiantly happy. Re the hats- the grey fluted one was really good and the black and white striped number on the attendant was well proportioned too. I thought her particular outfit was very nicely put together. Thanks.
I think the black and white hat might have been worn by Princess Marilène’s sister. Can anyone help confirm this?
I enjoyed the video 🙂
The gray, fluted hat is really nice. I notice that the fluting is purposely uneven because a regular fluting pattern would just be too much.
probably my least favorite royal wedding dress. It looks dumpy and the visible straps on the dress underneath are awful.
For late 1990s bridal fashion, this wedding dress is very clean and modern. Marilene was ahead of her time.
Princess Margriet’s suit and hat (and purse and shoes) is gorgeous!
Queen Beatrix’s hat and dress is rather loud. It would be more fitting for a visit to India than for a royal wedding.
Oh Bea….it looks like she arrived by magic carpet.
What racist things to say. So beautifully patterned fabric from other cultures should only be worn in those cultures? And royal wedding guests should only wear the most boring of dull pastels? Give me a break.
Hmmm… I don’t think the comment was intended as a racist one but instead, an observation that Queen Beatrix’s dress and hat are quite a departure from her regular wardrobe. This is certainly true. Let’s cool things down here and keep the comments on the hats.