Best New Royal Hats of 2015

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Royal Hats

2015 best hat small

I am so excited to share your choices for the top ten best new royal hats we saw in 2015. You have chosen very well, dearest readers, and now is time to pick a winner. In random order, here are your ten finalists (please click on any of the captions below each photo to jump back to original posts to see additional description and detail of the hats):

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You have seen the finalists- now it is time to cast your vote. Voting will remain open until January 15 at midnight GMT and we will celebrate the winner shortly thereafter. You can vote once every twelve hours for as many hats as you wish. To make things interesting, I have hidden results until the poll is finished. Happy voting!

Photos from Getty as indicated; Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A./Corbis; Sören Andersson / TT via The Swedish Royal Court; Eric Gaillard / Reuters; Patrick van Katwijk/dpa/Corbis, and Patrick van Katwijk/dpa/Corbis

New Royal Hats Of 2015: Japan Part 2

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Royal Hats

2015 best hat small

As per your request, here is a review of the remaining new hats we saw worn this year by members of the Imperial Royal Family. As the first post in this series, I have numbered each one and invite you to name which hats are your favourites in the comments as there are simply too many for a poll. Many of these hats were featured in original posts here- click on photos below jump back to these posts with additional information, views and detail on each hat..

While I still do not think any of these hats are in the running for best overall new royal hat of the year, there are some beautiful millinery details, wonderful shapes and unexpected trimmings not to be missed.

Princess Hisako and Princess Tsuguko of Takamado

1. 2. 3. 4. 2015-06-11 departing for Swedish Royal wedding 1 5.

6. Princess Hisako, August 5, 2015 7. 8. 9. 10. Princess Hisako, September 12, 2015

11. 12. Princess Hisako, November 18, 2015 13. 14.

Princess Hanako of Hitachi

15. 16. 17. 18.

19. 20. 21.

Princess Nobuko of Mikasa

22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

27. Princess Nobuko, August 5, 2015 28. 29. Princess Nobuko, November 10, 2015 30.

Princess Yoko and Akiko of Mikasa (not including these two hats and these two hats)

31. Princess Yoko, October 2, 2015 32. Princess Yoko, October 3, 2015 33. 34. 35.

36. 2015-06-03 37. Princess Akiko, August 5, 2015 | Royal Hats 38. Princess Akiko, October 5, 2015 39. 40. Princess Akiko, December 2, 2015

Princess Nobuko returned to royal duties this year after an extended absence due to health issues. I’m so pleased to see that she has recovered because her hats have become some of the most interesting among the Imperial royal family. Which hats here stand out most to you?

Queen Elizabeth Attends Church at Sandringham

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Royal Hats

Queen Elizabeth appeared at her first public outing of 2016 yesterday, attending Sunday morning service at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene near the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. She repeated a deep purple cloche variation with squared crown trimmed with a spray of purple and pink feathers. This hat features a unique diagonally wrapped crown that you can see better on previous outings here and here. From a distance, this hat looks great but I’m afraid that from a closer view, the details (stitching, flowered fabric on the diagonal crown, spines of the feathers sticking out on the brim) and overall proportion are rather sloppy.

Queen Elizabeth, January 3, 2016 | Royal Hats

Designer: I suspect it is an early version of Angela Kelly’s split crown design
Previously Worn: May 12, 2015; December 29, 2013; December 9, 2011; February 6, 2011; December 8, 2010; October 21, 2010; March 11, 2010; March 15, 2006

The Countess of Wessex and Lady Louise Windsor also attended, both sporting Jane Taylor designs (see them here). Sophie’s chic navy fedora with feather trim looked fabulous with her blue coat while Lady Louise’s black beret is a wonderful start to a long future of hat wearing. You can see additional photos at this Daily Mail article.

Photos from Headlinephoto/Splash News/Corbis and Headlinephoto/Splash News/Corbis

This Week’s Extras

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Royal Hats

Royal Hats

The Swedish royal family attended a gala at the Swedish Academy last week. Crown Princess Victoria repeated the jewelled hair ornament we’ve seen her wear before (PPE)

The Norwegian royals attended church together on Christmas Day. Queen Sonja wore a brown Homburg hat. (Seher)

Princess Hisako of Takamado repeated a smart green hat to watch a women’s soccer game (Getty)

Royal Hats

Great Christmas video clip from the Norwegian Crown Prince, Princess and family (NRK)

Lovely new photo from the Jordanian royal family (Queen Rania)

Interview with Princess Alexandra of Hanover and her passion for figure skating (ISU)

Sweet photo of Prince Nicolas of Sweden’s first encounter with Santa Claus and Princess Leonore in adorable Christmas frocks previously worn by her mum (Princess Madeleine and Svenskdam)

A a wonderful interview with Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco with their twins (Vorsten TV). Photographer Christopher Morris also shared some wonderful snaps taken of the family on National Day.

And finally, take an hour to enjoy this interesting documentary about the history of the Queen’s annual Christmas message (BBC)

New Royal Hats Of 2015: Japan Part 1

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Royal Hats

2015 best hat small

As per your request, here is a review of some of the new hats we saw this year worn by members of the Imperial Royal Family. The Japanese royals are one of the most prolific hat wearing royal houses- there are too many hats here for a poll so I have numbered each one and invite you to name which hats are your favourites in the comments. Click on each photo to jump back to the original post with additional information, views and detail on each hat.

While I don’t think any of these hats are in the running for best overall new royal hat of the year, there are some beautiful millinery details not to be missed (the lace trim and lattice outer brim of #5 is exquisite while the braided trim on #27 is so smart). The wonderfully saturated colour makes #12 and #18 stand out as my favourites- Which hats or details on hats here stand out most to you?

Empress Michiko

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.