Yearly Archives: 2018

Sunday Church For Royals At Balmoral

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The Queen attended church yesterday, as she does each Sunday, joined by the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duke of Cambridge (who I understand returned to Scotland for the annual Ghillies Ball which took place Saturday night). Sunday’s outing to church gave us a better view of the rust hat she debuted in Scotland last year.

The design features a primly upturned kettle brim and is trimmed with a spray of rust, blue and pheasant feathers and a rust twist. The different hues of feathers gives some dimension to the piece and ties in with the ensemble’s dress. We don’t often see Her Majesty in this shade and it’s a nice departure from her usual clear pinks and blues.

Designer: Looks like Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: Aug 20, 2017
The Duchess of Cornwall repeated her red felt molded beret hat trimmed with long pheasant feather. The hat is a great compliment to patterned tartan and it’s no surprise Camilla has worn this hat almost exclusively in Scotland. This cranberry shade is beautiful and leaves me only wishing she had a few more red hats…

Thoughts about these hats?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Hats From the Past

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Royal Hats to 54 years ago yesterday to another Prinsjesdag balcony scene in The Hague. Queen Julianna sported a voluminous hat very much of the time while Princess Margriet (right) wore a multi-piece floral headpiece. Princess Beatrix’s flat crowned hat looks like it was wrapped in tulle with feathers on the brim.

 
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Photo from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Princess Beatrice and Princess Mabel attended the funeral of Kofi Annan this week in Ghana. Princess Beatrice wore one of her wrapped straw bumper hats while Princess Mabel wore a black feathered headband.

Queen Margrethe is a well known costume and set designer. The Amalienborg Musem will open a six-month special exhibition on some of this work, curated by the Queen herself, next week. A short promotion video shared by the Danish monarchy this week is well worth a watch- not only is it wonderfully charming, it gives us a rare and unique window into a queen creating her own hats (a first here at Royal Hats, I think!)

Harper’s Bazaar shared this fun look at some of Princess Diana’s many hats

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:

Handpainted straw percher in autumnal tones from London based Sahar millinery
Philip Treacy’s magenta velvet percher with crystal studded veil and stunning silk flowers by Anfisa Korelova
Amazing feather work on this plum hued headpiece by British milliner Ian Bennett
Vibrant turquoise, fuchsia and orange straw boater hat by Australian milliner Louise MacDonald
Fascinating ombre texture on this unique saucer design from Belgian milliner Amélie D’Hooghvorst
Such a pretty watercolour silk covered boater by Hong Kong based Noeleen Millinery
From Australian label Jill and Jack Millinery, pale green and red straw perchers with the most
wonderful flying bows with an effortlessly jaunty sense of movement and lightness.

The Hague Central Train Station will be exceptionally busy during Prinsjesdag this week. To celebrate this event, they are hosting a Hat Design Contest with a catch- the hats must be made from material from old trains, found objects and/or NS (Dutch Rail) uniforms. Dutch milliner Weis Mauduit, who regularly shares her excellent millinery knowledge and experience in comments here at Royal Hats, is one of thirteen milliners who have taken part. Scroll through the two galleries below to see multiple views of Weis’ design and its fascinating creation process- including the train station’s glass roof that inspired it. You can see other hats in this competition at this link as well as vote for your favourite until September 18 (click on the photo then on the blue box on the left, beneath the photos). Weis has not requested any coverage or support here- I’m so impressed with this design that I offer it on my own along with my wishes for the best of luck in the contest!

 Royal Hats

Princess Akiko sported an uncharacteristically bright manicure during her visit to Turkey this week (notice both the Japanese and Turkish flags!). She also happened upon a couple taking wedding photos on Monday while visiting the Japanese Garden in Kirsehirand and happily posed with them!

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Lovely new picture of the Luxembourg Grand Ducal family taken this summer at Château de Berg (the Grand Duke and Duchess’ primary residence in Luxembourg).

Such sweet snaps shared by Princess Charlene of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella’s first day of school

Imperial Princess Takes on Presidency of Turkish-Japanese Archaeology Foundation

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Japanese Princess Akiko of Mikasa became the honorary president of ‘Prince Mikasa Foundation in Istanbul’ yesterday at a reception at Sakip Sabanci Museum. The foundation was established last year with the permission of the Turkish Government to provide continuous support for the study of Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology. For this appointment, Princess Akiko topped her pale, celery green silk dress and jacket with a white brimmed hat, trimmed with a celery silk hatband

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While the hat coordinates with the ensemble well, it also offers some subtle contrast through colour and its smooth, curving lines, which play well against the sharp cut of the jacket. Much was debated yesterday about what shape and scale of hat flatters Akiko best- I think this shape works well on her and ADORE that she placed the hat at a slightly jaunty angle!


Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 6, 2018; April 27, 2016
It’s been great to see more of Princess Akiko during this week’s Turkish visit- this hat is my top pick of the trio she has worn. What do you think?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Danish Queen Closes Summer Sailing Season

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The royal yacht Dannebrog delivered ​Queen Margrethe back to Copenhagen on Wednesday, thus officially completing this year’s summer sailing season. For this farewell, the Danish queen repeated a hat we’ve not seen yet this year- her red straw wide brimmed design with diagonal open weave crown overlay and brim edge, slim silk hatband and front bow.  These photos don’t show the hat in great detail (jump over to this post for a close look at it) but it’s been a workhorse for Margrethe and the mix of textures is an interesting one. For this sailing event, it tops a nicely tailored, nautical look. And I’ll admit- it’s much easier to admire this hat after an extended period of not seeing it!

After a dinner the Queen hosted for for officers of Dannebrog, the vessel is now en route back to her base in Frederikshavn where she will be cleaned, repaired, repainted and refitted over the winter. In early spring, she will set sail again.

Thoughts about Queen Margrethe’s textural red hat on Wednesday?
Photos from Getty as indicated