Members of Monaco’s royal family celebrated their country’s national holiday today with a Thanksgiving Mass at Cathedral Notre-Dame, a parade in the royal palace courtyard and a greeting from the palace balcony.
Princess Charlene chose a new hat for these celebrations, a sleek cloche in claret wool trimmed with a grey birdcage net veil that encases the piece. The classic 1920s shape and style of the hat is made current and modern by the veil and a side slit in the cuffed brim. This is not an easy hat to wear but it works so well with Charlene’s face shape, new pixie haircut, flapper-esque dropped waist dress and demure jewelry. I think this is vintage-modern royal millinery at its best.
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Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Caroline of Hanover and Monaco topped her Chanel coat with a fascinator made of black feathers formed into flowers. While I would have preferred her in a more traditionally shaped hat with this outfit for this occasion, this fascinator frames her face nicely and she wears it well.
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Previously Worn: This headpiece is new
Beatrice Borromeo topped an elegant black and beige suit with a beige felt moulded beret worn on the side of her head. The hat has an air of austerity about it that was balanced well with Beatrice’s drop earrings- while I would have loved a feather or some sort of trim on the hat, it fit very well with her elegantly streamlined ensemble.
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Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: I believe this headpiece is new
Royal Hats 
Just Lovely To See A Very Happy Family
Princess Charlene is a athletic woman and the proportion hat to shoulders is off. It looks like a skull cap or swimming cap. The color on the other hand is gorgeous.
Princess Charlene’s 1920s inspired cloche looks very elegant and the claret colour of her hat and dress really suit her colouring well. What I do not understand is the side slit in the cuffed brim. It looks like the hat is coming apart at the seams. I don’t like how she has had her head shaved at the back. Beatrice Borromeo looks the most elegant of them all, though her hat could have used some trim. Princess Caroline’s Chanel coat dress could have done with being paired with a larger headpiece to balance it. I didn’t like the remainder of the hats. The twins are very cute! Would it kill Princess Stephanie to wear a hat?
Princess Charlene and Princess Beatrice both lovely and elegant. The twins steal the show!
Ah, Princess Charlene – tres chic! Beautiful from head to toe! Beatrice – tres tres chic! Just perfect from head to toe! Caroline – not quite on the mark… Chanel coat/dress is pretty; length a tad longer would have been more beautiful. Fascinator? Too delicate for the coat… I think a simple med. size black pillbox would have been chic! Caroline starting to look as if she doesn’t care how she looks (product of “growing up too fast”?). And Stephanie, sans hat and chic hairdo – forever trying to look the debutante (a classic example of “growing up too fast”) looks good in the orange coat.
I’m actually unusually impressed with everyone in Monaco today. I definitely prefer Beatrice Borromeo’s entire outfit to anyone else’s, but I think Princess Charlene looks chic and surprisingly appropriate in a rather dashing hat that suits her well. Princess Caroline, as always, is appropriate, but I dislike the coat, even if it is Chanel. The coat fabric is beautiful, but the style is so odd with the dropped waist, unflattering seams and bunching. I don’t think any hat could balance such an unusually designed coat.
As theselfishpoet said, Princess Stephanie, even hatless, looks better than she has in years!
Charlene: can’t say I like her hat but for some reason it works. It suits her face and goes well with the outfit.
Beatrice: so so elegant! I ove the simplicity and it looks wonderful in combination with those gorgeous earrings.
Despite having no hat, Princess Stephanie has never looked better.
Overall, Charlene is very elegant and well turned out. I loved the fact that she experimented with a new style, and the hat is an interesting one. However, I didn’t feel it was the most flattering to Charlene; it could have done with being slightly shorter from crown to edge, as there’s definitely a bit of hat-baldness going on, and I was also bothered by the mismatch in colour with the dress – not close enough if they were intended to be the same, or too close if they were intended to be different! (But this could of course be the effects of light / photography).
Charlene’s hat doesn’t enhance her face or the look, it distracts due to the odd cuts and placement, sure it fits her new haircut but for me no.
Camilla’s hat is nice but her hair should have been less messy doesn’t add up to a polished look.
Beatrice hat is boring, nice but boring
Carolina looks appropriate
Princess Charlene: The veil on the cloche was unnecessary. Otherwise, her 1920s inspired ensemble was great.
Princess Caroline: Her Chanel coat dress needed a bigger headpiece. A fascinator is too small.
Beatrice Borromeo and de Massy ladies: Elegant with chic hat choices.
Duchess of Castro: Too much happening on her head. Either a smoother hairstyle with that hat or a simple hat with her busy hair would be better. Her outfit is fun.
The moment I saw Charlene’s hat, I swore it was the same design as these two (https://royalhats.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/2012-05-17-national-holiday-jill-sanders-3.png?w=387&h=589 and http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nf5GOfwPK5E/UM_aQXydDJI/AAAAAAAARTs/kGnYDce6fX8/s1600/2012-Rev-3.jpg). Luckily it’s not quite as bad, but I still don’t find it flattering; I think something with a brim definitely suits her much better (I still long for a repeat of that gorgeous chocolate disc hat from National Day 2010). The rest of her outfit was perfect though.
Caroline looked fine, but compared to other hats she has worn, I find this boring. A bit of color thrown in might’ve helped too.
Beatrice was my favorite of the day! While I agree a large feather or two balanced on this structured beret would’ve been amazing, it also looks great on it’s own with how’s she styled it to the rest of her outfit. Very elegant. Also, Pierre’s all-grey morning suit is very Prince Charles-esque (which I highly approve of).
While Princess Camilla is known for audacious hat choices, she usually looks well put together; this time her hair looks messy, and with the way the hat is, honestly I see a bird’s nest on her head (and I hate saying that too). Most unfortunate. The rest of her outfit is fun, especially those sleeves!
Baroness Elisabeth-Anne’s hat is a bit too floppy for a formal event like this, but otherwise I think it’s nice. Melanie’s hat looks better because of the structured brim and is appropriate for the occasion, but nothing special about it.
Overall, the outfits proved to be better than the hats this time.
I don’t like the slit in Charlene’s hat and it reminds me of a bathing cap. However, the color is gorgeous on her. The dress is not something I would wear but looks great on Charlene. The twins are ADORABLE!
Princess Charlene – tres elegant! The hat, with its simple fabric, was perfect with the textured dress. Yet, the hat had style with the slit and the net veil. And, to be young again and able to wear a dress like that! The dropped waist and lower length in the back gave it such interest. The matching stockings (or do we call them “tights” now?) and gloves, and gorgeous shoes completed the ensemble. The Princess is usually not a favorite of mine, but maybe I need to rethink that.
For me, stockings means two separate items of hosiery requiring a garter or similar to hold them up; while tights are ‘pantyhose’, that is the two legs with an attached top all in one.