Monthly Archives: July 2015

Christening of Princess Charlotte

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge brought their new daughter, Princess Charlotte, to be christened this afternoon. The event, held at the the Church of Mary Magdalene which is on the royal estate at Sandringham, was an intimate family affair with numerous special touches. Princess Charlotte arrived in the same pram as was used more than fifty years by the Queen for her younger sons Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and family, July 5, 2015 | Royal Hats  Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and family, July 5, 2015 | Royal Hats

The Duchess of Cambridge wore a cream straw beret-base percher hat trimmed with a spray of silk blooms and straw ribbon twists. This hat, paired with a streamlined cream Alexander McQueen dress, followed the same monochrome approach that Kate established for Prince George’s christening, two years ago. There’s much to like about this hat- the proportion is great, the silk flowers are beautiful and Kate’s chignon works beautifully with it.  While the hat on its own is beautiful, I thought the combination of colourless hat, dress and shoes was very elegant but disappointingly bland. Imagine this hat with a floral dress? It would have been perfect.

Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Queen Elizabeth hit just the right note in her pink picture hat with flat crown and brim, trimmed simply with a wide band around the base of the crown. This is a more austere millinery look for Her Majesty than we usually see on her but it works so beautifully with her collarless coat, buttoned high to reveal her printed pink silk dress. I thought it was the perfect choice for her great-granddaughter’s christening and absolutely adored the time she took after the ceremony to chat with Prince George.

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: June 21, 2014

The Duchess of Cornwall wore a new hat and dress in a beautiful soft blue. Her straw hat was trimmed with a huge silk bloom on the side and a wide inverted stripe of edging around the brim. The brim, made slightly smaller than Camilla’s other hats, was upfolded high on one side to create a ‘slice’ diagonal brim across the front. With her silk pleated and dotted dress, the ensemble was soft, feminine and so very pretty on her.

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Carole Milddleton, Kate’s mother, topped her dove grey coat with a saucer-shaped percher hat in the same shade. The hat, which featured a saucer-within-a-saucer in two types of grey straw, was trimmed in the same appliqué lace as on the lapel of Carole’s coat.

Designer: Jane Corbett. Dress and coat by Catherine Walker
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Philippa Milddleton followed here sister’s lead in a hat and dress in monochrome cream. The hat, a straw indented circular dish, was trimmed with feathers and organdie curled ribbon.

Designer: Jane Taylor. It is a bespoke piece, similar to the Nitra design. Dress by Emilia Wickstead.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

While he did not wear a hat, Prince George wore a replica of the outfit his father wore in September 1984 to visit his brand new baby brother, Prince Harry, at St. Mary’s Hospital. This royal wardrobe recycling is such a charming, personal touch, isn’t it?

Prince George, July 5, 2015

While today’s event was not on a grand scale, there were a number of lovely hats. Which one stood out most to you?

Photos from Splash News, Splash News, Splash News, and Splash News via Corbis; and Getty as indicated

British Royals Visit Scottish Air Force Squadron

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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force’s (RAuxAF) 603 Squadron in Edinburgh yesterday. For the final hat worn during her week in Scotland, the Queen repeated the fuchsia hat she first wore last year at Ascot. With a square, silk covered crown and light straw brim, edged in a wide stripe of silk, the hat is trimmed with a spray of light pink flowers studded within fuchsia and black striped feathers. I really like the shape of this hat on the Queen and adore the mixed use of silk and straw, which is so well balanced in this piece. The tiny pink flowers have always seemed out of place to me on this piece but is a minor quibble on a hat where the colour is glorious on Queen Elizabeth and the proportion is great. It was great to see this piece again.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: June 20, 2015
It has been over a year since we saw this hat. What did you think of it on this, its second outing?
Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

Queen Elizabeth spent her annual week in Scotland this week in residence at Holyrood Palace. While photos of her engagements have been scarce, the four hats she wore were as follows:

Tuesday:  Arrival in her pink and green hat by Angela Kelly (British Monarchy)

Wednesday: A lavender Angela Kelly hat to host a garden party at her official Scottish residence. The Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex were also in attendance (British Monarchy)

Thursday: One of my favourite pink Rachel Trevor Morgan hats on a visit to the Scottish Veterans’ Garden City Association’s new housing development for disabled veterans (British Monarchy)

Queen Elizabeth, July 2, 2015 in Rachel Trevor Morgan

Friday:  Angela Kelly’s white textured straw hat with periwinkle blue trim for a visit to the University of Strathclyde and the South Glasgow University Hospital & Royal Hospital for Sick Children (British Monarchy)

Princess Kiko wore a demure white bowler hat at the Rice Planting Festival in Kagawa (Imperial Family of Japan Blog)

Queen Silvia in a black feathered calot hat for the funeral of her and the King’s friend Magnus Härenstam (Aftonbladet)

Royal Hats

Great video from the King of Tonga’s coronation this week. The Crown Prince and Princess of Japan attended and Masko looked fantastic (The Royal Correspondent)

Snippets from an interview with Prince Albert of Monaco this week, reflecting on his 10 year reign (Monaco Reporter). On a less serious note, he was witness at a scuba wedding this week (La Repubblica)

Stay tuned later today for a look at the lovely hats worn at Princess Charlotte’s christening!

Greek Royal Wedding 20 Years On: Royal Guests

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The wedding of a crown prince of any nation is usually cause for a major royal celebration. While Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Prince of Denmark did not marry in either of the nations where he holds princely title, his wedding to Marie-Chantal Miller on July 1, 1995 was a grand event nonetheless.

Along with the queens on the groom’s side of the family (Queen Anne-Marie, Queen Margrethe and Queen Sofia), Queen Elizabeth, Queen Silvia of Sweden, Queen Noor of Jordan and Grand Duchess Josephine of Luxembourg all attended this event. Queen Elizabeth wore a very pretty lavender hat with pleated straw crown while Queen Silvia wore a pink picture hat with white pleated crin brim. Grand Duchess Josephine topped her graphic black and white striped suit with a white straw hat with gently curved brim.

Queen Noor wore a white straw hat in the shape of an oversize cloche. The bell brim was further enlarged by a huge bow at the back of the hat. Of all the hats worn at this wedding, I think think this one is most ‘stuck’ in the millinery fashion of the time.Queen Noor, July 1, 1995 | Royal HatsPrincess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (as she was known then) wore a beige silk headband with bow at the side while Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, who was still a teenager, wore a large white hat with squared crown and wide upturned stripe of black straw around the brim.
Hereditary Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats Crown Princess Victoria, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats
Princess Alexandra of Kent wore a  pale green hat with tall crown trimmed with a mass of green feathers around the base of the crown. It is a style of hat we see on Alexandra still today and one that is just so quintessentially her. tThe Duchess of Marlborough topped her sky blue suit and lacy blouse with a white hat wrapped in pleated swaths of organdie. I believe Princess Michael of Kent was also in attendance although I have been unable to locate a photo of her hat.
Princess Alexandra of Kent, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats  Duchess of Marlborough, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats
Empress Farah of Iran and her daughter-in-law Princess Yasmin, both wore hats trimmed with large bows. While Farah’s hat had a square crown and larger crown than Yasmine’s hat, which had a smaller cartwheel shaped brim, I think both hats are perfect examples of 1990s millinery fashion.
Empress Farah and Princess Yasmine, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats
Princess Marina of Savoy (now Princess of Naples) memorably wore a large navy picture hat trimmed with a wide swath of coordinating feathers. The hat on its own is a bold look but paired with her feather hemmed dress, is almost beyond description. In comparison, the Duchess of Bragança, who had married the Duke earlier in 1995, was more conservatively dressed in a pistachio green suit and matching floral trimmed hat.
Princess Marina of Savoy, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats Duchess of Bragança, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats
Queen Margarita of Bulgaria wore an interesting domed hat in natural straw trimmed by a slim burgundy ruffle near the top of the crown. Her daughter-in-law Carla, the Princess of Panagyurishte, wore a simple cream straw hat.
Queen Marie, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats 1995-01-07 Pavlos & MC wedding 54
The Princess of Vidin topped a pale blue and brown flowered suit with a chocolate straw hat. The brim on the front of the hat was curled back to the crown, leaving a halo around her face. Rosario, The Princess of Preslav, wore a large straw picture hat. With a beige square crown and white curved brim, edged in a wide beige stripe, the hat coordinated well with Rosario’s beige and white Valentino dress. Princess Kalina, who attended with Prince Laurent of Belgium, wore a characteristically unusual outfit, pairing a floppy natural straw picture hat with an embroidered, slinky bias cut dress.
That concludes our look back at the Greek Royal Wedding! I am most curious to hear your thoughts on the hats worn by these royal guests. And, I’m sure you join me in wishing Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal a very happy 20th anniversary.
Greek Royal wedding, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats
Photos from The Royal Forums and Getty as indicated