Another millinery closet we have yet to peek into during our inventory series is the one belonging to Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. While we seldom see her wear hats these days, during the earlier years of her royal life she donned millinery of all shapes and sizes, including a few in red. Here are all of the red designs she has worn, in the order they were introduced:
1.
2.
3.
Designer: all are unknown
First Worn: May 17, 2002; April 30, 2006; May 17, 2017
For Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebrations in April 2015, Mette-Marit repeated a gold Prada headband but changed the champagne and navy ribbons previously woven through it at earlier outings with a red one. It’s certainly not a red hat but seemed worthwhile (albeit reluctantly) to include in this inventory. I suspect the red ribbon, combined with her white coat, is to reference the Danish flag.
As the Norwegian royals do not wear hats to most regular engagements, we can’t expect them to have as many designs in their inventories as British or Dutch counterparts (and health issues in recent years have made Princess Mette-Marit wear even fewer hats). The group here is a mixed one in terms of success- #1 completely dwarfs the princess and while the smaller scale designs suit her better, I’m not sure about that mustard feather on the #2 beret and I can’t decide if the #3 calot is classically elegant or a bit too boring. My vote here might go to #2, even though the trim seems a bit dated today.
What do you think of these red designs?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Mark Cuthbert,and Chris Jackson via Getty; Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB scanpix via the Royal House of Norway;
Royal Hats 
Hat #2 doesn’t seem right to me: it’s sitting too low over her eyebrow, and the feathers are too long. I really like Mette-Marit in #3, which is a go-to style for her; however I agree with HQ that this hat does look boring in this instance. The problem is that the coat and earrings are fairly average. M-M’s calots are too small to have impact all on their own – they work best when they’re a support act for a big style statement, i.e. a coat or dress with interest, and big earrings.
Here are 2 M-M calot stylings which follow that formula and which I feel look amazing:
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Crown+Princess+Mette-Marit+of+Norway/Nobel+Peace+Prize+Ceremony+Oslo/eMOQHqfk7I3
and here’s the same calot (I think) as in the link directly above, but styled without those dramatic elements:
The headbands are no substitute for a good hat, but Mette-Marit does wear them really well, and I will take them over absolutely nothing on her head. We must respect her not wearing hats if it’s for the sake of her health and well-being. I do wonder though if she could wear headband fascinators as a compromise for not being able to wear full hats?
That said, I agree that #2 is my favorite of this grouping, although the feathers could’ve been done better. #1 is very typical of the early 2000s; if the crown was lower and more rounded, and the hat in general didn’t sit so low on her head, this could work quite well as the brim shape and size is flattering. #3’s red pillbox is what I expect to see if Mette-Marit is going to wear a hat; like HatQueen said, it’s a fine hat, but not exciting.
Record me too, as not liking the hair bands. If the others, #2 is the best.
Princess Mette-Marit has worn some bad hats in the past, and she tends to wear the better ones like pillboxes and calots too far back for my taste. They look like they’re about to fall off. So for now I’d suggest she stick with woolen caps or nothing. Her hair is usually one of her best assets, even hanging straight, but especially when it’s styled with something special like her twenties crimped hair, or curls. I haven’t seen a hat yet that can improve her appearance, but I am willing to be convinced.
Of these three, I also like the second one best – great feathers! – and agree that the first seems far too large, or at least pulled down too much over her face. Are there any other photos of the third? The linked post contains only this one. Curious as to what it might look like from the side or back, but can’t do good searching on my tablet.
I did not know anything about the Scandinavian royals prior to reading this blog – is it known why Mette-Marit no longer wears hats?
From what I’ve gathered from this and other royal blogs, she suffers from migraine headaches and then more recently she has missed a few engagements because she was suffering from dizziness.
I, too like numbers 2 and 3 and I don’t mind the headbands, but prefer the hats. On pinterest I have seen her in hats from the past and thought she looked good in them.
I shared reports back in November that she was suffering from Benign Positional Vertigo (which is much more significant than ‘diziness’). This follows other reports that she has struggled with severe headaches for several years.
I’ve always quite like MM’s pared back Scandi style, and I’m even on record for not hating the headbands. Of these I like the red beret with the feather best. I’m not 100% sure red is her colour, but perhaps that’s because she does a muted palette most of the time. I feel she gets a bit of flak for her choices, (and of course for the lack of hats!) but when she’s bang on, her blonde hair and fair skin make her look like a Nordic Ice Queen.
Obviously she has a variety of reasons for her hat or not hat wearing, but I do so wish she would go back to hats more often rather than the headbands (which I really detest). I especially like the second and third hats, she looks so lovely. And even if she doesn’t want to go back to full hats, I’d much prefer a fascinator (egads, I know) to the headband she seems to prefer.
Other than the headband, I like these hats, with the second one being my favorite. She wears a hat well, and I wish she would wear one more often.