Our look back at the marvellous royal hats worn at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge four years ago now moves from family members to royal guests. First up is hats worn by guests from the reigning royal houses of Europe.
The Norwegian Royals (who are cousins to the British Royal family) were represented by the King and Queen. Queen Sonja thoughtfully turned to British hat makers Lock and Co. for her hat. In white straw and trimmed with a simple curled white feather, the ceterpiece of this hat was its lattice brim which was folded up over the crown. The resulting shape was a modern departure for Sonja but it looked wonderful on her.
Queen Margrethe of Denmark topped her Twitter blue wool coat with a brimless calot hat covered in the same fabric. The calot was trimmed in a band of the same patterned blue silk fabric as her dress over which several spiky, spiralled feathers were placed. The hat is a characteristically quirky piece for Margrethe and I thought she wore it well. The overall ensemble, however, was an overkill of the same blue fabric and needed breaks in both colour and texture.
Grand Duchess Maria Teresa topped her slate blue dress and jacket with a large dove grey picture hat trimmed with a single, oversize blue ombre rose. The hat is a beautiful one and while I covet it for my own millinery closet, I don’t think it was the right choice for Maria Teresa. Both her suit and the hat seemed to dwarf the Grand Duchess, which was most unfortunate.
The Spanish Royals seldom wear hats and this wedding provided us an opportunity to see their millinery style. Queen Sofia chose a light fascinator to in the same shade as her Margarita Nuez lavender silk suit. Made of layered organza and net tulle, the headpiece was studded with the same periwinkle blossoms that formed the floral pompom buttons on her jacket. The Princess of Asturias (as was her title then) topped her Felipe Varela embroidered pink 1930s inspired dress with a coordinating cloche hat. Designed by Pablo Y Mayaya, the cloche hat was a great scale and colour for Letizia. I’m afraid, however, it suffered from over-trimming. With four kinds of feathers (including large pheasant ones). a wide ruched sash around the crowd, a net tulle veil, rosettes and even bits of appliqué lace, this small hat held everything but the kitchen sink and suffered for it.
Princess Máxima (who was not yet Queen) was the picture of refined elegance in a pale pink lace Valentino suit and a silk calot hat designed by Fabienne Delvigne. Head-to-toe ensembles in pale pink risk looking rather boring and flat but the different textures of lace and draped silk created a look that was as interesting as it was harmonious. The artfully ruched silk on the hat gave it a wonderful sense of movement despite its small footprint. The addition of diamond star brooches to the side of the calot gave it a touch of glamour and we now all associate with Máxima and I adore her for adding this bling.
Princess Mathilde (who also was not yet Queen) chose teal blue for her ensemble. Her Armani dress and jacket was crowned with a large picture hat by Philip Treacy. A similar shape to the navy hat worn by Lady Frederick Windsor, this piece featured a wide round brim, moulded crown and vertical looped Treacy signature bow. While I loved the colour on Mathilde, the impact of the wonderful hat was lost against her overly shiny suit.
Crown Princess Victoria followed the pattern of head-to-toe in a single colour, choosing cantaloupe orange for her ensemble. Her large straw picture hat, designed by Swedish milliner Britta von Koenigsegg, was a welcome departure from the smaller fascinators Victoria usually favours and it looked great on her. This shade of orange is one of the more difficult colours to wear and while Victoria she managed it well, I think the overall ensemble is just too peachy for me.
Rounding out this group of European royals was Charlene Wittstock (just two months later, she would become Princess of Monaco). Her palest-of-pale bluey grey straw picture hat featured a low, rounded crown and gently waved wide brim. With her Akris coat and pearl earrings, the hat made for an extremely elegant and refined ensemble. High collared coats and picture hats can be a tricky combination but the rounded, slightly open neck on this coat and the easy movement of the hat made for such a perfect compliment.
Royal Hats 
Ten years on… a great shot of Queen Mathilde’s hat
CP Victoria’s dress color just irks me. But I think she pulled it off as well as it could possibly be done. And ofcourse she had the most handsome arm accessory-I just love Prince Daniel-no wonder she fought to keep him 🙂
Maxima won this round for me. 🙂
Charlene got my vote of the group – I do like Q. Sonja’s hat – Maria Teresa looks stuck in the 90s as does Mathilde with that horrible dress she wore! The then Princess of Asturias looked a tad too 30s for me in that hat for the event (but I do like the hat, just not for a royal wedding). Victoria’s ensemble was a little too Krystle Carrington (Dynasty) for me; I think she needed to wear something not quite so plunging in the neck. Q. Sofia looked nice in that shade; I’ve just never been a fan of any facinator (but then I hail from the US and other then some rare folks we never caught the facinator bug. Max looked great that day in the under stated shade she choose – good that she didn’t go with one of her giant hats! Margrethe looks so happy to be there, but the all over electric blue is just too much ‘Cookie Monster’ blue for my taste!
Great look on most of our royal ladies. especially victoria, maxima, charlene, letizia looke gourgous 😀
Did anyone notice that the hat worn by queen sonja this day was also warn by the duchess of cambridge? two months after that, ath her first trooping the colour, kate wore the same hat in black
Queen Sonja: it was so thoughtful to use a British hat maker and this white straw hat with its lattice brim which was folded up over the crown, was original, stylish, elegant and polished. It was my second favorite hat of this group.
Queen Margrethe: the hat looked too much like a beanie sprouting antennae for my taste. There was too much blue. I ranked this hat eighth of this group.
Grand Duchess Maria Teresa: while I like the slate blue color of her suit, and the large dove grey picture hat, it was a little too large for a short woman, (and I am one too), to carry off, and the suit was ill-fitting also. It was my overall third favorite hat.
Queen Sofia: I don’t think a Royal Wedding is the place for a fascinator, and I think she looks better in a proper hat anyhow. There was nothing extra special about this. I ranked it ninth (last) of this group. liked the lavender color on her, but not the shiny fabric for daytime.
The Princess of Asturias: I loved her retro pink dress and the hat looked great when I first saw it, but I agree with HatQueen, there was too much trim on it. The basic shape was flattering to her, and I do hope she wears this shape of hat again. Due to all that trim, I had to place in seventh here.
Princess Máxima looked elegant in pale pink lace and the little silk calot hat was the perfect pairing. The star brooches were the icing on the cake. It was my fifth favorite. I do wish Queen Elizabeth would wear some of her stunning brooches on her hats.
Princess Mathilde: I agree with HatQueen that the color and shape of the hat are good on her, but the impact of the hat was lost against her overly shiny suit. This was my fourth favorite hat.
Crown Princess Victoria: I can handle cantaloupe orange in small doses, but here there was too much, and I don’t think it flatters her skin color. The hat was my sixth favorite hat, and I think she really suits a wide brimmed hat. The dress was ill-fitting.
Charlene Wittstock: she wore my favorite hat, and wins the prize for best head-to-toe dressing for me. I thought she was the best dressed guest at the wedding overall. The pale bluey grey straw picture hat was a perfect choice to suit her pale skin and blonde hair, and the gently waved wide brim was flattering, and reminded us that she is a swimmer too! It was complimented perfectly by her pearl earrings. I loved the collar on the coat, and the cut was so elegant, and the color so perfect on her. I want to see her in more picture hats.
I agree with what TiarasRUs says: May 1, 2015 at 5:24 pm. Charlene Wittstock is my pick too for best hat, and best head-to-toe dressing for me too.
I love Victoria in this outfit – her body looks fabulous (though the dress has ruched in these shots) and her hat is stunning.
Mathilde also – yes there’s a lot of shine going on – but that hat! That necklace/tiara!
Charlene is super chic – why doesnt she dress like a princess more often? She nails it!
Max is chic and fierce. Those stars just make this whole look a stunner.
And the rest – well Sonja looks fab, MT is swamped, bless her, and Marge is Marge.
Don’t you love a good royal wedding!
Victoria looked amazing!
Hooray! The hat fun continues. This is way better than #babywatch
Sonja- super funky. I love it!
Margrethe- it’s not the worst thing she’s worn. Not the best either. It’s a super fancy beany that probably gets great TV reception.
MT- pretty hat but what is that blue paper bag she’s wearing?
Sofia- imagine this suit with a cream straw hat with purple flowers and feathers. I’d take anything over this purple bit of fluff. BAD.
Leti- at least she wore a hat. It’s super costumey but like I said, at least she wore a hat.
Max- LOVE that Max bedazzled her hat! The hat is boring on it’s on but sublime with the lace dress.
Mathilde- this hat shows she has some fashion guts! LOVE. Too bad about the suit
Victoria- Daniel might think she’s a luscious creamsicle in this but the color is awful and her dress doesn’t fit. It’s so bad I don’t even notice the hat.
Charlene- girl BROUGHT IT. If only she looked this good all the time.
Love Sonja’s hat, but not her coat (it looks like she was wearing a red dress underneath?)
Love Sofia’s pom-pom buttons, but not her fascinator so much.
Love Letizia’s hat (from the front) and her outfit.
Love Maxima’s ensemble, and especially those diamond stars.
Love Mathilde’s hat (and that colour on her) but not her suit.
Charlene yes very elegant but a bit meh in the colour department.
Princess Charlene for the win! She looks so lovely! I love Queen Mathilde’s hat but the suit is, as already said, way too shiny!!
Charlene: exquisite in every way.
Completely agree. Timeless.
My winners are Charlene and the then Princess of the Asturias. The hat was a tad overdone and I found the feathers a bit much, but she still looked sublime. Charlene was perfection and looked cool and elegant. I love Queen Mathilde, but you were right about the shiny suit. It was a bit jarring. Love the shoes though, and the hat. Queen Sonja looked wonderful, and the hat was a nice departure.
My favorite is Princess Charlene of Monaco:) Simple & Elegant…
My favourite is Charlene, who looks lovely and elegant. Mathilde would have won if her suit had been matte: Satin is a bit much for daywear. Margrethe looks like she could listen to the radio with those antennas
I find it incredibly hard to separate dress and hat and think I’m not fair if I dismiss a hat because I don’t like the dress. That said it’s a tie between the Princess of Asturias and Charlene Wittstock for me.
My favourites are …Mathilda and Charlene.