Princess Maria Laura’s wedding to William Isvy on September 10 was attended by her Belgian, Austrian, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein relations, many of whom wore hats or headpieces.
Princess Astrid employed a “more is more” approach to her mother-of-the-bride ensemble, in a brimless hat covered in the same the green ostrich feathers as on the cuffs of her teal lace jacket… with a few more teal ones studded in.
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Lace, feathers, ribbon embroidery, crystal collar, purple, teal, green… it’s a lot of elements that together, put this look well over the top for me. ‘Nuff said.
Designer: The entire ensemble is Gucci
Previously Worn: This hat is new
The bride’s sisters Princess Luisa and Princess Laetitia and sister-in-law Princess Elisabetta wore vibrant yellow, emerald and ruby bandeau headpieces.
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Queen Paola wore a headpiece in biscuit pleated abacca that encircled her head. It’s lovely from front view, the arc of the piece creating a halo framing Paola’s face with a ruffle on one side .
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Designer: “Chamira” design by Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This design is new
The groom’s mother Lisa wore an ecru sinamay disc percher trimmed with ivory sinamay twists and ivory and ecru feather flowers.
His sister wore a wide blush sinamay saucer trimmed with multiple twists, feathers and curled quills in a slightly darker shade of pink.
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Queen Mathilde surprised with the repeat of a hat not seen for nearly 20 years. In pink sinamay woven with metallic fibers, the wide-brimmed design follows a sweeping pyramid shape with sharp, dropped vertical edge.
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It’s a dramatic statement hat softened by its color and pairing with Mathilde’s lovely floral frock. When she first wore this hat for Prince Laurent and Princess Claire’s wedding in 2003 , I think it overwhelmed her a little but this time, thanks to a more jaunty angle, a patterned dress and the confidence that simply comes with maturity, she carried it off fantastically.
Designer: Maison van den Borne. Dress by Nathan.
Previously Worn: Apr 12, 2003
Princess Elisabeth was head to toe in red, topping a fringed dress with a brimmed straw hat. The design, with a gently waved brim, is simply trimmed with a slim hatband.
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Designer: “Laurany” design by Fabienne Delvigne. Dress by Caroline Herrera.
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Claire paired her leaf printed dress with a loden green straw picture hat with extended brim In this era where smaller bandeaux and perchers have reigned in popularity, it’s fun to see a design of such scale!
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Louise wore a vibrant headpiece headpiece of silk flowers. It’s such a youthful design that paired beautifully with her fuchsia dress.
Designer: “Eden” design by Fabienne Delvigne. Dress by Rotate.
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new
Princess Delphine wore a fedora hat covered in “The Bubble” silk print from her newly released wearable art collection. It’s a bold design that was well balanced against her solid red dress.
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Designer: unknown. Dress by Cilem Tunc Van Trier.
Previously Worn: at this photoshoot
Princess Marie-Esméralda wore a dark blue straw cloche with extended brim. The hat is trimmed with a wide royal blue Petersham hatband and white silk rose on the side. Princess Léa wore a blue silk bow headpiece with veil.
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Princess Margaretha of Liechenstein wore a tall blush pillbox wrapped in a wide band of caramel abaca with a knotted bow at the back. Princess Maria Anunciata, shown beside her mother below, wore a bandeau headpiece of pink silk petals. Princess Margaretha’s other daughter, Princess Marie-Astrid, attended the bride and was shown in the prior post in a plaited pink bandeau headpiece.
Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg wore a fuchsia straw saucer percher trimmed with orange silk abaca twists.
Princess Dianne of Nassau wore a pink silk abaca draped calot with large bows. Prince Jean’s daughter, Princess Marie Gabrielle of Nassau, wore a pale green silk halo headband headpiece .
Also spotted in hats were Archduchess Anna-Gabriele of Austria with her daughter Catherina, Princess Therese of Liechtenstein, Princess Xenia of Croÿ and Princess Eleonora de Ligne.
That wraps up Princess Maria Laura’s wedding! What hats or headpieces stood out most to you?
Images from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Love all the glorious colors and prints, the big brims and bandeaux and even the floof. Not a fan of the fedora shape for a wedding, but I am here for the celebratory looks everyone trotted out.
It wouldn’t be a Belgian royal wedding if Astrid didn’t wear something zany! I think it was a bit of a texture overload, but the color scheme was fun; I just would’ve gone with a more streamlined hat of some sort.
A nice, elegant look on Paola, but I’ll never be convinced these Delvigne headpieces in this color don’t look like ace bandages wrapped around the head in a fashionable way.
The groom’s mother and sister both held their own when it comes to hats and I thought they looked fantastic.
I was most excited to see Mathilde bring this hat back out after 19 years, although time has not been kind to the edge of the brim; get that steamed and smoothed out, and we would be fully set to go. I remember this one well from before and reappearances like this make me so happy! It was great to see Elisabeth in a large hat, but I thought the scarf wrapped around her neck a bit much.
Claire was another favorite at this wedding; the dramatic size and swoop of the brim helped make up for the lack of trim on this hat. Louise looked lovely in her floral bandeau, and the whole family looked quite handsome all dressed up together.
I like that Delphine was able to incorporate her art into a hat, although I’m not 100% convinced it worked for a royal wedding. Nevertheless, it was a fun ensemble that felt true to her.
Marie-Esméralda’s hat was nice, although I don’t think it was the best style to pair with her pantsuit. Léa looked fine in ice blue, but I found the bow to feel a bit twee on her. Sybilla’s hat looked fun and she always looks good in bright color schemes, but this disc hat feels a bit small on her since she usually goes quite large. Even though the design of her hat is not my favorite, overall I very much enjoyed Diane’s look, especially with the pink color coordination and the green to counter it. Finally, Maria Beatrice’s slice hat by Treacy was a fabulous choice for her.
How do people see around the people in front of them when they are wearing these large hats?
Heavens there’s a lot of very, erm, bold looks here! They haven’t skimped on colour, which is fab. Lots for florals, patterns and textures, so it looks like everyone had fun.
Astrid really did wear most things that she owns, and I think I’m tipping over into thinking she made it work. Perhaps a bit less texture would help.
Mathilde’ what is great to see again, and she’s styled it brilliantly. Claire is my favourite of the day – I’m just a sucker for an enormous brim, but the dreadful belt (Nathan really has tried to make these a thing, I hope nobody else catches on!) would be best left.
A lot of red on Elisabeth; she does look a bit like she’s borrowed it from her Mum, but it’s festive. Paola os elegant, and the most understated of all.
I know Princess Astrid’s outfit was a lot of look, but I thought she was stunning – if you can’t go big at a royal wedding when you are the mother of the bride, when can you?
Mmm, the number one rule for a mother of the bride/ mother of the groom is: ‘Don’t upstage the bride’. Rule number two (in my book) is: ‘Don’t make yourself smaller than you are’ (after all, you are not the average guest at your own daughter’s/son’s wedding, you are allowed to stand out!). When rule number one and rule number two are in conflict, then it is a matter of personal taste, ego … and also the bride’s opinion.
If Princess Maria Laura was happy with it (and she looked perfectly happy!), then, why not? It certainly was a very festive look, though a bit less vivid green or a bit less lace wouldn’t have hurt.
I like Queen Mathilde’s hat and dress, but the hat looks a bit bumpy. It could benefit from a bit of TLC from a professional milliner. And, as a milliner, I would suggest reducing it’s size just a little bit for future wear.
I looked everywhere to try and find an ID on this very elegant guest, but can’t find anything. She seems to be being assisted by a security man in the picture above and she’s in stunning jewels, so she must be somebody!
My standout hats were all the floral and ribbon bandeaux worn by the younger women. They co-ordinated their floral ensembles with these headpieces to great effect, for me.
On the final photo, there is a woman on the far right of the front row, next to Queen Paola. Does anyone know who she is?
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Could it be Lorenz’s sister Maria Beatrice Countess of Arco Zinneburg?
No, she’s pictured in a navy dress and tall slice picture hat.
I believe it is one of the Ivsy family guests, she was at the civil wedding wearing a chic black check jacket. Possibly the bridegroom’s grandmother or aunt?
Thanks!