Yearly Archives: 2015

Swedish Royals Support Anti-Hate Campaign

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On Sunday, King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel attended a special mass at Stockholm Cathedral. Part of the “Refuse to Hate” interfaith initiative, the service brought together representatives from numerous faiths in support of the Swedish Interfaith Council’s rejection of using religious arguments to legitimize hatred, violence and aggression. While Crown Princess Victoria did not wear a hat for this event, Queen Silvia wore a simple bowler in loden green felt trimmed with a ruched chocolate brown band around the crown. This sedate and rather boring hat does the job, I suppose…. but I thought this ground breaking initiative deserved a much more vibrant and exciting hat. Don’t you as well?

Queen Silvia, February 1, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I suspect this hat is new

Photo from APA

Takamado Princess Opened Tablewear Festival

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On Saturday, Princess Hisako of Takamado officially opened the 2015 Japanese Tableware Festival at the Tokyo Dome. For this exhibition, she topped her vibrant blue suit with a small, coordinating hat. I’m not usually a fan of such flat hats but the scale worked well for Hisako and the petite brim was a lovely change from the many brimless hats we see on members of the Imperial royal family. The colour was wonderful on Princess Hisako and made this hat seem like a big improvement over what she wore to this event last year. It’s a winner for me- what do you think?

Princess Hisako of Takamado, February 1, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this is a new hat

Photo from Yomiuri

Queen Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh Attend Church

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh attended Sunday service yesterday at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in West Newton, near their estate in Norfolk. The Queen repeated a pale pink felt hat with curved brim, trimmed with a velvet ribbon around the crown and a spray of pink rosettes and pink and gold lanky leaves at the side. The slightly masculine shape of this hat, with a Pork Pie crown and fedora style raised brim, is a departure for Queen Elizabeth and works very well for her. What doesn’t work so well, I’m afraid, is the gold and cream embroidery that covering the crown. While the idea of embroidery on a felt hat is a creative one indeed, it pushes this hat into “overdone” territory. I think the added touches of gold put this hat it at odds with the simple pink herringbone fabric of the Queen’s coordinating coat and bring an odd disco-esque vibe to this ensemble.

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

Unusually, photos from this event included a close-up of the Queen’s diamond studded hat pin. Unlike most of her other hats, which have coordinating hat pins made to match, Queen Elizabeth has paired this particular hat with this gold and silver pin. I suspect this pin, which depicts a gold hand holding an Olympic style torch, carries some sort of personal significance for the Queen as it was highlighted in Angela Kelly’s 2012 book, Dressing the Queen. 

Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Philip Somerville or Angela Kelly. The leaves are very similar to other Angela Kelly designs.
Previously Worn: October 26, 2012;  March 23, 2012; June 6, 2009; Jan 27, 2009; December 4, 2008; October 23, 2008; March 24, 2008

While Queen Elizabeth wears pale pink very well, I think this is a hat that looks best at a distance. What do you think?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Birthday of Princess Beatrix

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Royal Hats  One of the royal hat wearers with the most distinctive style is Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands who celebrates her 77th birthday today. Just as we have done with other royal birthdays so far this year, we will use this celebration today to consider which one of Princess Beatrix’s past hats you would like to see come back into service this year. My pick is this Suzanne Moulijn design in pale grey-beige straw with upturned double brim. I usually prefer Princess Beatrix in more vibrant tones but the diagonal layered brim on this hat frames her face so beautifully, making this one of my favourites in her millinery closet.

Is there a particular hat you would like to see Princess Beatrix repeat in 2015?

Princess Beatrix, November 18, 2011 | Royal Hats

Princess Beatrix attending the 85th birthday of the Rheuma Foundation in The Hague, November 18, 2011

Photo by Patrick van Katwijk via Corbis

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway attended a Holocaust memorial in Oslo (The Royal Correspondent)

An interview with Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein at the European Youth Olympic Games (Luxarazzi)

Prince Maximillian and Princess Angela of Liechtenstein enjoying the Hahnenkamm ski race in Kitzbuehel (Royalista)

King Carl Gustaf celebrated his name day this week in what looks like a well loved hat (Svenskdam)

Royal Hats

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene celebrated Fête de Sainte-Dévote (The Royal Correspondent)

Wonderful look back at Princess Astrid of Norway’s wedding to Johan Martin Ferner following the death of Mr. Ferner last weekend (Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor)

Darling photos of Princess Athena of Denmark released for her third birthday (The Danish Monarchy)

Crown Princess Victoria having great fun with her family in California here and here (Svenskdam)