Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence attended a service at a war graves cemetery on Saturday to mark the Battle of Jutland. This event in Scotland began several days of commemoration that are leading up to the battle’s official anniversary tomorrow and Tuesday. To remember this battle, the largest naval battle of World War I, the royal couple predictably attended in their naval uniforms.
Princess Anne had the honour of ringing the recovered bell of HMS Hood, 75 years after the vessel sank (Portsmouth News)
Infanta Elena in a chocolate fedora to present awards at last weekend’s Longines Global Champions Tour equestrian event in Madrid (Oxersport). She was also spotted at two bullfights, making it a week of fedoras for this Spanish princess.
The King and Queen of Jordan attended Prince Hussein’s graduation from Georgetown University in Washington looking every bit the part of proud parents (Queen Rania Twitter)
The Royal Family of Luxembourg gathered for Prince Noah’s first communion today. Wee Archduchess Magdalena (daughter of Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen) made her début in a sweet bonnet (Luxarazzi)
Prince Hisahito took part in his school’s sports day last weekend in his school uniform complete with yellow cap
The Duke of Edinburgh looked dashing in a bowler hat to take in the Beating Retreat of the Royal Marines yesterday at Horse Guard’s Parade. It’s amazing to think he’s just a few weeks away from his 95th birthday.
Lady Gabriella Windsor has joined Hello magazine to write a monthly interview column. I wonder if any of her royal relatives will feature? (Hello Magazine)
Photos from The Asahi Shimbun via Getty; and Getty as indicated
With the whole Swedish extended royal family gathering less than a month ago for the King’s 70th birthday, today’s christening of Prince Oscar was an understandably smaller affair. While Princess Birgitta and Princess Désirée did not make another trip to Stockholm, Princess Margaretha popped over from her home in the UK for the event. She wore a dark taupey-grey fascinator of straw bow loops and leaves with coordinating feathers that was an excellent colour match for her printed dress. It’s not the most exciting of headpieces but it worked well for her.
Princess Christina repeated her infamous black helicopter hat. After being voted our least favourite royal hat of the year three years ago, I hoped not to see this one again. I’m all for creative expression in millinery but this design simply defies good sense.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: September 15, 2013
Vicky Magnuson, wife of Princess Christina’s oldest son Gustaf, topped her yellow lace suit with a black headpiece. In very light black straw, the large tear-drop shaped piece is trimmed by a black feather pinwheel in front and a black feather spray at the back. I like the sense of movement in this piece provided by the feather trim and the way the wide edging creates a sharp finish and contrasts with the transparent straw. It’s an interesting piece that Vicky wore well but I wished it had been paired with almost anything except this yellow suit.
Emma Magnuson, who is married to Princess Christina’s middle son Oscar (one of Prince Oscar’s godparents), topped her pale blue lace dress with a matching straw hat. The disk shaped straw hat is trimmed with a large bow which is edged in white stripes. I want to like this piece- Emma looks great in blue- but the stripes on that bow have me seeing only Adidas.
Frida Bergström, partner of Princess Christina’s youngest son Victor, topped her navy and white ensemble with a taupe straw fascinator of multiple bow loops, straw leaves and feathers. From close view, the neutral headpiece was a good match for Frida’s navy and white ensemble but from a distance her jacket reads much more grey than blue and I’m afraid the ensemble suffered from competing neutrals. I certainly don’t expect more distant royal cousins to keep up with latest millinery styles but I’m so done with this style of straw fascinator and really want to see something different.
One of my favourite ensembles of the day was worn by Countess Jill Bernadotte (wife of Count Bertil Bernadotte af Wisborg). Jill topped her striking taupe and cream silk suit with a calot-based cocktail hat covered in taupe silk that is trimmed lavishly with feathers and net tulle veil. It’s a fun ensemble and I loved how the purple undertones in the hat’s feather trim coordinated with her necklace. Matching feathers to jewels is always a good thing.
Countess Marianne Bernadotte also wore a matched hat and suit combination. Made of pale yellow silk covered in ivory lace, her beret-base cocktail hat is trimmed in a large bow. In this case, I much prefer the exquisite coat dress to the hat (which feels overly twee to me) but the use of the same fabric and lace create a very unified ensemble.
Countess Marianne was seated with Mrs. Dagmar von Arbin (granddaughter of Prince Oscar Bernadotte) who just celebrated her 100th birthday and is currently the oldest member of the Swedish extended royal family. Her pillbox hat is covered in pink and purple silk blooms and wrapped with a net tulle veil. It is a perfect spring hat that I thought Dagmar wore, beautifully.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: May 22, 2012
Almost no information was released about these Swedish royal hats, leaving me to guess that most of them were new for this event. There are some beauties here to be sure (and one I wish was retired to its helicopter hangar) so as I draw coverage of this wonderful event to a close, I can only ask which millinery designs today in Sweden were your favourites?
Jump over to this post to see the hats worn by royal guests and this post for those worn by the Swedish royals.
Photos from Getty as indicated; Rex Features; Jonas Ekstromer, Olle Sporung, Maja Suslin, Pontus Lundahl and Anna-Karin Nilsson via TT News Agency
Today’s christening of Prince Oscar at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm’s Royal Palace was more of a family affair than a state occasion (as happens with many second royal children) and as such, there was a small contingent of royal guests. Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who was chosen as one of Prince Oscar’s godmothers, wore a sparkling headband. While I could go on again about how much I wish Mette-Marit would actually wear a hat, I’m instead going to move on to the other Scandinavian crown princess’ hat because it’s actually worthy of discussion.
Designer: Miu Miu. It is the “Embellished Pearl Headband”
Previously Worn: I believe this is new
While the Norwegian crown princess’ headpiece was disappointing, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark wowed in a new picture hat. In black finely woven straw, the design featured a sidesweep upfolded brim that is balanced by a gentle pleated wave ruffle on the brim’s other side. Tying beautifully with Mary’s border print dress, the hat is embellished with a cream spray of leaves studded with several types of feathers. The gentle movement of this design makes it a winner for me and I thought its pairing with this dress made for a spectacular ensemble.
Designer: Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: The navy hat is new but the cream feather spray was previously worn October 8, 2007
I’m curious, dear readers- do you love Princess Mary’s new picture hat as much as I do?!
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel brought their young son, Prince Oscar, to the Royal Chapel in Stockholm’s Royal Palace this morning to be christened.
For this special occasion, Princess Victoria chose a white cocktail hat with straw beret base. Lavishly trimmed with white silk flowers that covers most of the base, the hat is completed with a wrap of widely woven white net tulle veil that encircles it. The veil gives a retro feel to the otherwise modern piece and the scale of it is excellent on Victoria. Paired with her exquisite white broderie anglaise dress and worn at just the right angle on the side of her head, the hat made for a beautiful ensemble. My only quibble is that in photographs, the hat reads more starkly white than the dress does, leaving us with a slight colour variation that I suspect was not visible in person.
Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Proud big sister Princess Estelle matched her mother in an all white ensemble with her first headpiece! A headband topped with a sidepray of silk leaves and flowers created the small fascinator which beautifully tied in with the flower and leaf print of Estelle’s dress. A sweet pearl necklace and a ponytail anchored with a white bow to completed her adorable look.
Queen Silvia matched her blush pink silk and lace dress with a headpiece in the same lace embossed fabric. While it looks like the piece is one of Silvia’ go-to calot shapes, photos taken during the service allowed a peek at the back which reveal it to be a wide circlet around the crown of her head. While I am usually not a fan of open crown designs, there is something about the movement of this piece and how it contrasts against’s Queen Silvia’s hair that makes it rather attractive.
Designer: unknown. Perhaps Fabienne Delvigne?
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new
Princess Madeleine, who was named as one of Prince Oscar’s godparents, topped her blush pink silk dress with a giant silk flower headpiece edged in delicate pink net. The scale of the piece is fantastic on Madeleine and her romantic hairstyle showed it off to complete perfection.
Designer: unconfirmed. My guess is Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new
Princess Leonore’s blue and white dress was topped with a sweet white double hair bow. She and her brother Prince Nicolas kept their parents busy during the christening but it was lovely to see them both included in the event.
Designer: LivlyPrincess Sofia topped her blue caped dress with a small hat in beige straw. While a neutral hat was a great choice for this dress, it was most unfortunate that the too-flat design of this mini pillbox shape left it looking like a pancake stuck on her head. Earlier this month, Sofia wore a lovely beige straw piece for the Chilean state visit and I think this design, with simple looped bow brim, would have been a better choice for her ensemble today.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Prince Daniel’s mother Ewa Westling wore a cream cocktail hat with a round base in cream straw which was covered in straw bow loops, rosettes, slim feathers and pearl sprays. I always feel for her at these major royal events (it can’t be easy adjusting one’s ‘normal life’ wardrobe to include items for much-photographed royal occasions) and she looked great. This pair of grandmas clearly coordinated their attire and I thought that was a sweet touch.
Royal Hats 