Monthly Archives: December 2016

Top Royal Hats in September 2016

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In preparing a new set of polls today, I realised that I completely forgot to share the results for favourite new and repeated royal hats worn in September. With my sincere apologies, here are the two runaway winners:

2016-09-new

Duchess of Cambridge in a royal blue felt percher with silk maple leaf trim designed by
Silvia Fletcher for Lock & Co for her family’s arrival in Canada on September 24

       2016-09-repeat

Queen Maxima in a Fabienne Delvigne designed coffee coloured straw hat with signature
upswept ‘slice’ brim hat worn to present a sustainability award on September 14

Jump over to the bottom of the original poll posts (new hats here and repeated hats here) to look at the results in greater detail or to the Fan Favourites page to see a collection of your favourite hats so far this year.

Photos from Samir Hussein via Getty and Albert Nieboer/EPP via PPE

Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony 2016

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King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway attended this year’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo City Town Hall on Saturday. Queen Sonja wore a new rounded calot hat made of the same midnight blue velvet as her suit.  It’s a simple hat (there looks to be a bow or rosette of some sort on the right side) but one that lets the luxurious velvet shine.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

While Queen Sonja’s ensemble was all about smooth lines, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s was all about lacy texture. She topped her black lace dress (complete with bewildering hoodie) with an elaborately layered headpiece in palest pink lace. The design is clearly one meant to frame Mette-Marit’s face which, in theory is a good thing. It’s a much larger piece than we’ve seen her wear in a long while but the head-to-hem lace of her ensemble is overkill and the pale colour of the headpiece is lost against her black dress.

Embed from Getty Images

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

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: July 2, 2011

Princess Mette-Marit appeared at the Nobel Banquet (an event without tiaras) with a headpiece that looks to be fashioned from a Baroque pearl necklace. It’s not often we see Mette-Marit up the dress code when it comes to head wear and while we’ve all given her grief about previous headbands choices, the combination of this piece with matching earrings and a sleek chignon actually works.

What do you think of this trio of hats/headpieces in Norway over the weekend?
Photos from Getty as indicated;  Rune Hellestad/Corbis, Nigel Waldron, Nigel Waldron and Rune Hellestad/Corbis via Getty; Stella Pictures

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

While we already saw the Duchess of Cornwall’s furry hat at the Hennesy Gold Cup last month, we missed those worn by Princess Anne, Lady Frederick Windsor and Lady Gabriella Windsor (Tatler). Thank to reader Laura for the links!

Julia Ogilvy keeping warm in windy Nantucket in a knit wool hat (Flora Ogilvy Instagram)

How impressive is this floral embellished beret by John Boyd and this winter white percher pillbox by Montgomery Millinery? I’d love to see both designs on royal heads.

Milliner Stephen Jones shared this throwback photo of his first design purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum back in 1982. It’s a very interesting design that feels quite ahead of its time.

Royal houses have been filling social media with images of the Christmas Trees. The young Danish Princes and Princesses decorated their tree this week and how charming are these crown ornaments on the Buckingham Palace Christmas trees? My favourite royal tree so far is the one at Clarence House.

Such a sweet new photo released of Prince Amadeo, Archduchess Elisabetta and wee Archduchess Anna Astrid.

Some serious sparkle at Buckingham Place for the annual Diplomatic Reception… although I wouldn’t be sad at all to see the Princes dump the knee britches part of their formal dress.

And the royal cuteness award of the week goes to little Princess Amelia of Luxembourg, cuddling her new baby brother Prince Liam. Adorable.

Birthday of Princess Masako

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Royal Hats Crown Princess Masako of Japan was photographed arriving at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo yesterday, no doubt for a special visit on the occasion of her birthday. She wore a new hat in pale blue silk jacquard with a square crown and short bumper style brim. The stark lines of the design contrast interestingly with the draped neckline of her dress, particularly as the two pieces are made of the same fabric. The small hat is a typical scale for Imperial royal hats and while I’d prefer something a little larger, it does allow us fans to focus on Masako’s face. It’s so good to see her looking so well.

Crown Princess Masako, Dec 9, 2016 | Royal Hats

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

Photo from The Asahi Shimbun via Getty

Hats From The Past

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Yesterday, Princess Anne attended the annual Not Forgotten Association Christmas Party, a national tri-service charity which provides entertainment, leisure and recreation for the serving wounded, injured or sick and for ex-service men and women with disabilities. While she did not wear a hat, Buckingham Palace released two nostalgic photos of a royals at this same event- below is a young Duke and Duchess of York in 1921 and the late the late Princess Mary (daughter of King George V and Queen Mary) in what looks like the 1940s. The resemblance between Princess Mary and Queen Elizabeth is remarkable- as are the hats!

Photos from British Royal Family