Monaco’s royal family celebrated their country’s National Day today with a series of events, as per tradition, held at the Monaco Cathedral and at the Royal Palace. It is one of the few events during the year when we see these royals in hats and today did not disappoint.
Princess Charlene wowed in a cream straw pyramid hat trimmed with black straw piping around the crown and brim, a multi looped bow, black leaves and hand made red silk roses. The high contrast scheme is a bold one for Charlene and the shape is unlike anything we have seen her wear before. Charlene’s millinery until this point has had a distinctly modern edge and this very classic design is a surprise that some might find overly sweet for her. I happen to like it- I love the quintessentially French vibe (kudos to British milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan) and adore how Charlene matched her lipstick to the rose trim.
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Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Caroline repeated her tan percher cocktail hat with flat, pillbox shaped base trimmed with a voluminous mass of net veil. Many of you will remember this from the Luxembourg royal wedding four years ago. It’s a fun neutral piece but not one I’m entirely convinced worked with her Chanel suit (I prefer it with the dress she paired it with originally)
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Tatiana Santo Domingo Casiraghi topped her red and white (Monaco’s national colours) coat with a domed black straw cocktail. The milliner describes the design saying, “That cocktail hat has a bow with vintage French satin ribbon and a veil, which I think she tucked under for the sake of the conversation!” The simple design is a versatile piece that I think might have worked better placed at a different angle on her head (up and down, over her right eyebrow).
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Charlotte Casiraghi also dressed in national colours, topping her ensemble with a red veiled bumper hat. This couture hat is an editorial, high fashion piece and while I’m not a fan of the hat shape, veil around Charlotte’s face and complicated cascadedown the back, it’s certainly a fashion statement with big impact.
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Previously Worn: This hat is new
Beatrice Borromeo Casiraghi topped her cream dress and coat with a pale grey padded bandeau headpiece. Exciting? Not really. But I think it’s more flattering than the red hat above and that’s worth merit.
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Previously Worn: This hat is new
Baroness Elisabeth-Anne de Massy (below, center), daughter of the late Princess Antoinette, wore a simple grey felt cloche hat while her daughter Melanie (second photo below, to the right of Charlotte Casiraghi) wore a floppy black variation of a cloche.
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Royal Hats 
Great post HatQueen, and very pertinent critiques as always from your readers.
Beatrice Borromeo: if one must insist on wearing a formal headband, this young woman of taste shows how to do it. I hope the Scandinavian royal ladies are taking note :).
Charlene: Charlene’s style preference for the classics and “less is more” means that when she decides to do “daytime dramatic”, as on this occasion, she is totally on point. Even when there’s something slightly imperfect (like a summer hat paired with a wintry coat) it still somehow looks right. BTW, Charlene’s hat reminded me of the traditional one worn by Monegasque women, and I suspect that the similarity would not have gone unnoticed by the National Day audience. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/02/1409649422049_wps_47_Prince_Albert_II_of_Monac.jpg
If it was intentional, it was a lovely thought. [Tatiana may also have been thinking along the same lines, although I feel that her red-striped coat, if it was meant to refer to the traditional Monaco skirt, didn’t work in this context.]
Thanks for this photo link- Charlene’s hat really does reference traditional Monegasque ones and makes it an even better choice for her on this day!
PCharlene’s hat is very pretty, but I think it’s very Spring-like…not autumnal. I’d love to see this in April or May. Then, I’d be raving about it!
There’s nothing else that any of the Monaco clan wore that interests me. Unfashionable, ill-fitting outfits on the ladies.
SalannB, finally, someone took the words right out of my mouth.
When I first looked at this post, I smiled, then I giggled, then I Iaughed out loud! (LOL)
“Chic” and “couture” have been bandied about which made me smile even more.
Less money should have been spent on all that pot-scrub netting, and more on “chic-er” clothes.
I agree, Charlene is the ONLY pleasant looking royal at this event, even if she’s out of season, and wearing too much black.
India even looks better than the oatmeal suit, bathrobe, or the entire red ensemble.
To clarify- “couture” isn’t a subjective term here- it’s the process in which something is made. We can like it or hate it but couture is still couture!
Princess Charlene’s hat is beautiful. I love those signature RTM roses. Here’s hoping she picked up an entire trunkload of new hats from my favorite milliner while in London last week!
Charlene´s hat is wonderful, chic and retro. Love the red lipstick with it. Really like Charlotte´s red hat. Love the shape and the veil. Despite the low bumper it gives off an equestrian vibe. I liked Caroline´s hat with the dress but find it a bit odd with the suit. The suit feels too big, boxy and heavy, perhaps if the skirt was shorter. I think Tatiana´s hat is nice as hats go, but it is completely overshadowed by the big coat.
This is one of Charlene’s best hats ever, and its high contrast colors paired with the severe haircut definitely keep it from being too sweet. Why the black ensemble though? Isn’t this a festive occasion?
I guess I’m really old, but as much as I love Charlene & Tatiana’s hats, I can’t help thinking: straw? really? in November? (And why is Tatiana wearing her bathrobe?)
Remember, Monaco is on the Mediterranean coast.
Charlene’s hat this year ranks right next to her first National Day appearance hat in 2010; both are stunning and look amazing on her! This is in her top 3 hats for me! My only complaint is that during the balcony appearance, this hat seems to have fallen forward, and I don’t think it frames her face quite as nicely; but again, a minor complaint!
Despite being beige, I still love this cocktail hat for Caroline, but I agree that it doesn’t work as well with this outfit.
Tatiana’s hat definitely needs to come forward and be more of a proper percher to do it justice. While the coat is interesting, I find it too bulky for my liking.
I’m going against popular opinion and stating I do not like Charlotte’s ensemble and hat at all. Nothing about it seems to flatter her. In my opinion she looks like a frumpy 1960s airline stewardess.
Beatrice succeeds in what I think the Monégasque royal family tries too hard too often to achieve: elegance in simplicity and modernity. Despite not wearing a true hat, her headband is much more of a winner than most of the hats here. Beatrice continues to be one of the best dressed in this family.
Baroness Elizabeth-Anne and her daughter Melanie look fine in their hats, but as per usual, they never stand out. A little sad not to see the Duchess of Castro amongst the attendees this year; she’s usually good to bring some excitement to the hattery stakes!
I loved P. Caroline’s suit. She wears these nubby suits so well, and I find the proportions and lines of this one just perfect. I don’t mind the frothy little hat and actually think a more serious hat would have dragged the whole thing down.
What also struck me were P. Caroline and Tatiana’s gloves – T.’s were little red half-gloves, the only part of her outfit I liked. Charlotte’s outfit seemed too costumey to me, but Charlene and Beatrice looked lovely.
Charlene’s whole look is wonderful, and the hat plays a major part in that. She really looks like the wife of the reigning prince on National Day. I love Charlotte’s Victorian-riding-hat-inspired hat, it’s a classic design, but the whole outfit is spoiled by the shoes. Caroline’s hat is perfectly acceptable, but simply doesn’t go with the suit at all, completely different weights and styles. Tatiana’s black hat is again perfectly acceptable, and I’m sure very versatile, but again a mismatch with the coat, nothing to tie them together in the same outfit. Beatrice’s headband is better than no headband, but not as good as a hat!
Also, I was just wondering whether the girl in blue with the black floppy hat is definitely Melanie de Massy? She looks so like Stephanie’s younger daughter (is it Camille?).
Definitely Melanie de Massy. I hadn’t noticed before that she and Camille look similar but they do!
Thank you. Yes, certainly from a distance it really looks like Camille!
This is the most beautiful look for Princess Charlene I have seen – simply elegant. And I like that you can’t see how short her hair is. Stunning. And always fun to see the gents in morning attire.
*but sadly no toppers on the gents. 😦
Please could you give me your guideline for coments.
Thank you.
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I like Charlene’s hat, nicely styled, the rest well meh
My goodness, they are a fashionable lot.
Princess Charlene looks perfect! What a great hat for her.
I don’t mind P. Caroline’s hat but think HQ is right. It doesn’t go with a winter-weight suit. The colour’s nice, though.
Tatiana’s coat is so interesting – I love the way the stripes/pattern line up, someone has worked really hard to achieve that. Her hat is fine. I get what people are saying in that they don’t necessarily obviously go together, but what sort of hat would go with that coat? Maybe she and Beatrice could have exchanged head-gear …
Charlotte’s hat is fantastic, so beautiful on her. Both the colour and the style, which has more than a whiff of an old-fashioned lady’s riding hat and veil. I just wish her outfit wasn’t quite so red and that her shoes were another colour (black?).
I think this is probably in my Top Five for Charlene’s Best Overall Looks (scoring top marks in hat, outfit, shoes, makeup, hair, and how she is carrying herself). She absolutely knocked it out of the park! A+++. In second place are the little children and in third place is Beatrice. Tatiana can carry off interesting looks but when you take the material off your mattress to make a coat out of it…no. Charlotte’s shoes look painful. Melanie’s outfit is a hot mess. Caroline’s suit is veering into frumpyland and as Hat Queen said, the hat was better paired with a previous dress.
Princess Charlene looks fabulous. The hat is a winner.
Princess Charlene’s hat is stunning. If this were a hat contest, she wins and is far beyond all the others.
Can’t stop looking at it which makes it top-notch in my book.
Well Monaco certainly gave a lot to comment about today.
Charlene looks fantastic! I like the Evita Peron reference in an earlier post. My first thought was a flashback to the 40’s. Very elegant!
Beatrice has understated elegance in her pink and gray outfit and the headband works!
Charlotte is definitely sporting high fashion in red. I actually like the hat it goes with the total look.
Tatiana’s coat doesn’t work to me, maybe it would have been a better look if her hat and shoes had matched the red stripes of her coat.
And last and yes LEAST to me is where Caroline’s suit should go. Very clunky and the hat does nothing for it. Hat Queen is right the hat worked much better with the original dress.
I reallly only like Princess Charlene’s hat out of this bunch. Her hat is sweet, very retro like something from the 40s or 50s. And the combination of contrasting colors is so nice and crisp.
Zowie! What a fun selection of stuff.
Princess Charlene is fabulous. I love love love the hat. Interestingly, I feel like it might be a little out of balance with the outfit. For some reason my eye feels like that hat would go better with a slightly shorter (knee length maybe) dress, or with this length dress to have a slightly wider brim. But really, just a quibble; wonderful look.
I like Princess Caroline’s hat a lot, but I’m with hat queen, I don’t think it’s shown to best advantage with that nubbly suit (of which I’m not fond in general). IMO a hat like that with a bunch of fun scrunchy veiling needs a smooth dress/suit.
Tatiana Casiraghi- just no from beginning to end. The hat might be ok worn differently with a different outfit, but here it looks so weird and the veil looks like its just sliding right off her head. And the coat, so very sad.
Charlotte Casiraghi- Second best hat of the day (after Charlene) without doubt. But IMO the ruffly stuff on the edges of her sleeves/pockets looks juvenile and especially with the wretched white shoes just ruins the effect of the lovely hat. Maybe the hat with a black pantsuit with a very small touch of red?
Beatrice Boromeo- eh, I’m not generally a fan of headbands, but this one is a nice color and she has lovely hair. Her outfit is fabulous, the coat a dress are so lovely and the grey shoe pairing is very nice. Definitely my favorite outfit of the day.
I’m not generally a fan of the cloche shape- so often I feel like they just smush down a whole head/face/hair/look, and these two are no exception. But Baroness Elisabeth-Anne looks lovely in her suit and gloves all the same.
Thanks HatQueen for giving us so much eye candy today!
Love Princess Char’s hat – can’t say much for the others in the bunch.
We just found the best hat winner for November. Charlene looks AMAZING and the lipstick is GENIUS.
Charlotte’s hat is also SO high fashion. The veil is really tight around her face but it’s so so so amazing from the back.
I don’t pay much attention to Monaco, but there are a few spectacular outfits in this turnout. Princess Charlene looks absolutely amazing (if not as though she’s channeling Evita Perón). That simple but spectacular hat and her ultra-solemn expression with the bright red lips are striking.
Next best item is Tatiana Santo Domingo’s coat and the matching of the stripes. Her hat, unfortunate, is not interesting.
Carlotte Casiraghi’s whole look is spectacular. I don’t really understand the color of the shoes, but the outfit does make a bold statement.
Princess Caroline needs a different type hat for this outfit and with some color perhaps.
The Monacos always give FASHION don’t they. I think I love Charlene’s look, the hat is lovely, and whilst she rightly makes it the star, that coat is a bit drab in comparison. I rather like Caroline’s outfit, and the mixed neutrals don’t bother me.
Tatiana is in an interesting look, but the hat and coat aren’t talking to each other. Beatrice’s maternity coat is fabulous, but the 80s would like their Alice band back. And Charlotte, well I happen to love the hat and the veil, it’s quite a look. All in all, this is what you want from the Grimaldis.
I really liked Princess Charlene’s hat. It reminds me of something the late Princess Grace would have worn. It is really charming and cheerful. The other hats were okay. Princess Charlotte’s red hat was interesting, and I didn’t mind it much, but it just didn’t seem to pair well with her outfit. Maybe it was the shoes? There was just something jarring about that whole look. Beatrice always looks so effortlessly chic and pulled together. I have to agree that Princess Carolne’s hat and suit did not go together. Honestly, that suit was awful and wouldn’t go well with many things. The hat was very cute though. Caroline usually is very fashion forward, but the outfit was a miss. I liked Tatiana’s hat, but was not a fan of the coat.
Charlene and Charlotte are tres chic. Caroline is evidently wearing that bath scrubber again. Tatiana’s coat is so distracting I hardly noticed her hat.