Queen’s Horse Runs At Newbury

Queen Elizabeth was at Newbury Racecourse yesterday to cheer on the debut race of her filly, Ring of Truth. Her Majesty stood out in her magenta sailor style hat with lavender-grey straw underbrim, trimmed with slim straw leaves, white fabric tulips and faux pearl berries.

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The first time we saw this hat (on the same day, one year ago), I was wowed by the colour and underwhelmed by the spindly embellishment. A year has only intensified these sentiments and the sight of this hat today left me desperate to send it for a trimming renovation. Thankfully, Queen Elizabeth’s horse fared better than the lacklustre trim on her hat, placing second in today’s race.

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Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: April 17, 2014

Photos from Getty as indicated

One Headband, Five Looks

Royal Hats When Crown Princess Mette-Marit appeared at Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebration yesterday in chunky gold headband, I was reminded that this headband has been changed up several times with the use of different ribbon trims. Don’t get me wrong- a changed ribbon does NOT elevate this headband to the status of a hat but it gives us something a little out of the ordinary to debate. Which version of this headband works best, do you think?

Version #1: With a side bow in oyster silk worn at Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday celebration, April 17, 2010.

Princess Mette-Marit, April 17, 2010 | Royal Hats

Version #2: With a wide navy silk side bow at King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 75th birthday celebration, May 31, 2012

Version #3: Woven with a navy ribbon tied at the side in a bow for the Luxembourg royal wedding on October 20, 2012

Version #4: Woven with a red velvet ribbon and worn yesterday at Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday lunch

UPDATE- Version #5: Woven with black velvet ribbon which continues around her low ponytail. This was worn for the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony on December 12, 2015

Which outing of this golden headband to you think works best?

Photos from Bauer Griffin via Zimbio and Getty as indicated

Imperial Couple Conduct Memorial Visits

The Imperial royal couple visited the mausoleums of Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun (late parents of Emperor Akihito) yesterday at the Musashino Imperial Graveyard in Tokyo. For this customary visit following a foreign tour,  Empress Michiko repeated her stacked grey saucer hat with slim stripe around the trim and flat bow trim.

Empress Michiko, April 16, 2015 in Akio Hirata | Royal Hats

Empress Michiko, April 16, 2015 in Akio Hirata | Royal Hats

Designer: Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: November 20, 2013; August 15, 2011;  August 15, 2009; June 22, 2009; August 15, 2008August 15, 2007; August 15, 2006; August 15, 2005; August 15, 2004March 17, 2004; August 15, 2003; August 15, 2002August 15, 2001August 15, 1995

Later in the day, the Emperor and Empress visited Takao Mikoromo Hall, a Buddhist shine and memorial for victims of industrial accidents during the post-war rapid economic growth of Japan. For this engagement, the Empress repeated her larger scale pale grey saucer hat trimmed with charcoal grey origami flower. This is always an attractive hat on her- the pale grey saucer breaks up the darker grey ensemble and the origami trim gives layered interest to the hat.

Empress Michiko, April 16, 2015 in Akio Hirata | Royal Hats

Designer: likely Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: January 14, 2015;  April 11, 2014December 6, 2013; December 2, 2013

Photos from Getty as indicated

Birthday Celebrations for Queen Margrethe

Royal Hats

We have already looked at the hats worn by members of the Danish Royal Family today for Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday lunch at Copenhagen’s Town Hall– now it’s time to turn our attention to the hats worn by royal guests. Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (Queen Margrethe’s youngest sister) topped her beige pleated silk dress and bouclé coat with a chocolate felt hat. The hat, with a rounded crown and simple curled brim, was trimmed with a beige band around the crown that wrapped into a side bow surrounded in beige feathers. It’s not a particularly memorable hat but I appreciated the contrast it provided to Anne-Marie’s very beige ensemble.

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In contrast, Queen Silvia was a vision in vibrant purple. Rounding out her her silk suit (the same one previously worn to the Luxembourg royal wedding in 2012) and wool cape was a silk rose and straw twisted curl fascinator designed by Philip Treacy. Silvia looks fabulous in jewel tones and this bright piece was a nice change from the demure pillboxes and calots she has favoured of late… even though it does look like it is levitating on the side of her head. I adored how the magenta headpiece played against her purple ensemble and gave some much needed lively colour among the rather bland ensembles worn by other royal guests.

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Crown Princess Victoria topped her Chanel dress with a twin to the Philip Treacy fascinator she wore last year for Princess Leonore’s christening. While the two white pieces worked very well together, I can’t help being curious about another version of this very distinctive piece.

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit continued her trend of not wearing hats by (you guessed it), not wearing a hat. Instead, she topped her white dress and coat with her gold Prada headband tied with a red ribbon (clearly, in a reference to the red and white Danish flag). Mette-Marit wore this same headband to Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday five years ago and I suspect its appearance today might reference the last big birthday party. Such personal touches aside, I can’t wait for her aversion to hats to be over because no amount of ribbons woven through this headband will make it a hat.

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The hats worn by the Swedish royal women stood out to me in this group, they didn’t top those worn by the Danish Queen and princesses. Which one of these royal hats was your favourite today?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Birthday Celebrations for Queen Margrethe

Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebrations began with a gala dinner last night and continued with a traditional wakeup for the birthday girl this morning followed by a lunch at Copenhagen’s Town Hall. As expected, the smiling queen appeared at today’s festivities in a new suit, coat and matching hat.

The bumper style hat, in the same mint green wool crepe and Margrethe’s coat and suit, features a close-fit rounded crown with a small brim, tightly upturned around the hat. On the left side of the hat, the brim pulls away from the crown, forming a wide bow loop. The hat is further trimmed with two coordinating green feathers anchored inside this loop. The result is a hat with beautifully curving lines and shapes that are interesting, creative and very pretty. Queen Margrethe’s hairstyle is a difficult one to pair with hats (we have long talked about how many hats leave her looking bald) but the scale, colour and style of this piece works wonderfully for her.

Crown Princess Mary surprised in Jane Taylor’s ‘Greta’ dove grey circular dish hat with exquisitely detailed lace trim. I adore this hat but I didn’t like it with Mary’s outfit today- the mix of colours didn’t work for me and I thought the delicate lace on the hat didn’t work well with the chunky beading on the neckline of Mary’s coat.  I think this hat might need a monochrome ensemble to show to best effect (as we have already seen worn by the Countess of Wessex and Zara Phillips Tindall). For me, this ensemble is a case of numerous beautiful individual pieces that simply don’t work together.

Princess Marie repeated her black fascinator with looped black silk ribbons. This is a substantial piece that works well on Marie, particularly with her hair styled as it was today. Fascinators are getting a bad rap these days, thanks to some famous over-the-top designs and the meagre bits of fluff on a comb that are widely available in most junky accessory shops. This fascinator, however, with its wonderful shape, beautiful layers, elegant sense of movement and hint of playfulness, has every right to be on a royal head (even though today it had trouble staying on Princess Marie’s head!). Extreme wind aside, I thought Marie looked fantastic in this piece.

Queen Margrethe’s younger sister, Princess Benedikte, topped her pale pink coat and dress with a fuchsia tall-sided bumper hat. If the hat looks familiar to you, it is because it was previously trimmed with a large purple pompom at the back. While this hat now sports a wide looped bow in pale pink straw (clearly added to coordinate with this coat), I’m afraid the pompoms are still there. Amidst this disappointment, I still adored how the bright hue of this hat gave a perfect pop of colour to Benedikte’s ensemble. There’s also nothing like a bright pink hat to make one’s ruby earrings shine!

All in all, it was a great day of millinery for the Danish royal ladies and the birthday girl looked radiant. Jump over to this post for hats worn by Greek, Swedish and Norwegian royal guests. 

Photos from Getty as indicated