Category Archives: Denmark

Danish Royals Attend Liberation Memorial

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Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary attended a memorial service yesterday at the Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen in connection with national commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Denmark. Princess Mary repeated her black wool calot hat for the event, pairing it with a black floral dress and tailored coat. The hat added a polished finish to Mary’s elegant ensemble.

Crown Princess Mary, May 4, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats Crown Princess Mary, May 4, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Mary, May 4, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats Crown Princess Mary, May 4, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Mary, May 4, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats

Designer: Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: April 8, 2015; May 9, 2014; November 8, 2012;  November 7, 2011

Photos from Splash News, Splash News, Splash News, Splash News and Splash News via Corbis

Queen Margrethe Commemorates Danish Liberation

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Queen Margrethe was in Hellerup today to celebrate the Liberation of Denmark which occurred on May 4th, 1945. For this 70th anniversary, the Queen repeated her vibrant blue blue hat with pork pie crown, downward curved brim and striped velvet band around the crown. While she usually pairs this hat with a matching electric blue suit, today Margrethe wore it with a bright blue wool coat (we saw this coat last week in our look back at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding) and magenta blouse. It’s a smart hat and it was nice to see Queen Margrethe pair it with a different outfit. Maybe something with colour contrast next time, please?

Queen Margrethe, May 4, 2015 | Royal Hats   Queen Margrethe, May 4, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 6, 2014; May 5, 2013; April 27, 2014; October 6, 2013; September 3, 2013; July 4, 2013; June 2, 2013; May 6, 2013; June 14, 2012; September 2, 2012; September 20, 2011; September 6, 2011; and May 23, 2011

Photos from Ole Jensen and Ole Jensen via Corbis

British Royal Wedding Four Years On: European Royal Guests

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A wedding  Our look back at the marvellous royal hats worn at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge four years ago now moves from family members to royal guests. First up is hats worn by guests from the reigning royal houses of Europe.

The Norwegian Royals (who are cousins to the British Royal family) were represented by the King and Queen. Queen Sonja thoughtfully turned to British hat makers Lock and Co. for her hat. In white straw and trimmed with a simple curled white feather, the ceterpiece of this hat was its lattice brim which was folded up over the crown. The resulting shape was a modern departure for Sonja but it looked wonderful on her.

Queen Margrethe of Denmark topped her Twitter blue wool coat with a brimless calot hat covered in the same fabric. The calot was trimmed in a  band of the same patterned blue silk fabric as her dress over which several spiky, spiralled feathers were placed. The hat is a characteristically quirky piece for Margrethe and I thought she wore it well. The overall ensemble, however, was an overkill of the same blue fabric and needed breaks in both colour and texture.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa topped her slate blue dress and jacket with a large dove grey picture hat trimmed with a single, oversize blue ombre rose. The hat is a beautiful one and while I covet it for my own millinery closet, I don’t think it was the right choice for Maria Teresa. Both her suit and the hat seemed to dwarf the Grand Duchess, which was most unfortunate.

The Spanish Royals seldom wear hats and this wedding provided us an opportunity to see their millinery style. Queen Sofia chose a light fascinator to in the same shade as her Margarita Nuez lavender silk suit. Made of layered organza and net tulle, the headpiece was studded with the same periwinkle blossoms that formed the floral pompom buttons on her jacket. The Princess of Asturias (as was her title then) topped her Felipe Varela embroidered pink 1930s inspired dress with a coordinating cloche hat. Designed by Pablo Y Mayaya, the cloche hat was a great scale and colour for Letizia. I’m afraid, however, it suffered from over-trimming. With four kinds of feathers (including large pheasant ones). a wide ruched sash around the crowd, a net tulle veil, rosettes and even bits of appliqué lace, this small hat held everything but the kitchen sink and suffered for it.

Princess Máxima (who was not yet Queen) was the picture of refined elegance in a pale pink lace Valentino suit and a silk calot hat designed by Fabienne Delvigne. Head-to-toe ensembles in pale pink risk looking rather boring and flat but the different textures of lace and draped silk created a look that was as interesting as it was harmonious. The artfully ruched silk on the hat gave it a wonderful sense of movement despite its small footprint. The addition of diamond star brooches to the side of the calot gave it a touch of glamour and we now all associate with Máxima and I adore her for adding this bling.

Princess Mathilde (who also was not yet Queen) chose teal blue for her ensemble. Her Armani dress and jacket was crowned with a large picture hat by Philip Treacy. A similar shape to the navy hat worn by Lady Frederick Windsor, this piece featured a wide round brim, moulded crown and vertical looped Treacy signature bow. While I loved the colour on Mathilde, the impact of the wonderful hat was lost against her overly shiny suit.

Crown Princess Victoria followed the pattern of head-to-toe in a single colour, choosing cantaloupe orange for her ensemble. Her large straw picture hat, designed by Swedish milliner  Britta von Koenigsegg, was a welcome departure from the smaller fascinators Victoria usually favours and it looked great on her. This shade of orange is one of the more difficult colours to wear and while Victoria she managed it well, I think the overall ensemble is just too peachy for me.

Rounding out this group of European royals was Charlene Wittstock (just two months later, she would become Princess of Monaco). Her palest-of-pale bluey grey straw picture hat featured a low, rounded crown and gently waved wide brim. With her Akris coat and pearl earrings, the hat made for an extremely elegant and refined ensemble.  High collared coats and picture hats can be a tricky combination but the rounded, slightly open neck on this coat and the easy movement of the hat made for such a perfect compliment.

As we might have expected, the European royals wore wonderful hats to this wedding. Whose hat did you admire?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Princess Mary Commemorates ANZAC Day

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Crown Princess Mary of Denmark took part in a ceremony commemorating ANZAC Day and the 100th Anniversary of Canakkale Land Battles yesterday in Copenhagen. For this event, she repeated her black hat with tall, felt crown and straw brim. This hat, simply trimmed with two feathers, is a great one for this kind of royal engagement as its clean lines and restrained embellishment make this piece both dignified and very stylish. This remains a great hat for Mary (she has worn it with numerous other outfits) and it paired well with her purple dress and black jacket for this ceremony.

Birthday Celebrations for Queen Margrethe

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Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebrations began with a gala dinner last night and continued with a traditional wakeup for the birthday girl this morning followed by a lunch at Copenhagen’s Town Hall. As expected, the smiling queen appeared at today’s festivities in a new suit, coat and matching hat.

The bumper style hat, in the same mint green wool crepe and Margrethe’s coat and suit, features a close-fit rounded crown with a small brim, tightly upturned around the hat. On the left side of the hat, the brim pulls away from the crown, forming a wide bow loop. The hat is further trimmed with two coordinating green feathers anchored inside this loop. The result is a hat with beautifully curving lines and shapes that are interesting, creative and very pretty. Queen Margrethe’s hairstyle is a difficult one to pair with hats (we have long talked about how many hats leave her looking bald) but the scale, colour and style of this piece works wonderfully for her.

Crown Princess Mary surprised in Jane Taylor’s ‘Greta’ dove grey circular dish hat with exquisitely detailed lace trim. I adore this hat but I didn’t like it with Mary’s outfit today- the mix of colours didn’t work for me and I thought the delicate lace on the hat didn’t work well with the chunky beading on the neckline of Mary’s coat.  I think this hat might need a monochrome ensemble to show to best effect (as we have already seen worn by the Countess of Wessex and Zara Phillips Tindall). For me, this ensemble is a case of numerous beautiful individual pieces that simply don’t work together.

Princess Marie repeated her black fascinator with looped black silk ribbons. This is a substantial piece that works well on Marie, particularly with her hair styled as it was today. Fascinators are getting a bad rap these days, thanks to some famous over-the-top designs and the meagre bits of fluff on a comb that are widely available in most junky accessory shops. This fascinator, however, with its wonderful shape, beautiful layers, elegant sense of movement and hint of playfulness, has every right to be on a royal head (even though today it had trouble staying on Princess Marie’s head!). Extreme wind aside, I thought Marie looked fantastic in this piece.

Queen Margrethe’s younger sister, Princess Benedikte, topped her pale pink coat and dress with a fuchsia tall-sided bumper hat. If the hat looks familiar to you, it is because it was previously trimmed with a large purple pompom at the back. While this hat now sports a wide looped bow in pale pink straw (clearly added to coordinate with this coat), I’m afraid the pompoms are still there. Amidst this disappointment, I still adored how the bright hue of this hat gave a perfect pop of colour to Benedikte’s ensemble. There’s also nothing like a bright pink hat to make one’s ruby earrings shine!

All in all, it was a great day of millinery for the Danish royal ladies and the birthday girl looked radiant. Jump over to this post for hats worn by Greek, Swedish and Norwegian royal guests. 

Photos from Getty as indicated

Princess Mary Visits Aabenraa War Memorial

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Crown Princess Mary of Danmark marked the 75th anniversary of the German occupation of Denmark today with a visit to a memorial to this event in Aabenraa.

Crown Princess Mary, April 10, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Mary, April 10, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats  Crown Princess Mary, April 10, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats

Princess Mary repeated her grey felt hat with flat crown and upturned ‘slice’ brim. The proportion of this hat has always been beautiful on Mary and I adore the strong shapes of the square crown and diagonal brim. With Mary’s black jacquard tailored coat and dress, the hat adhered to the sombre note of the day’s events while giving the ensemble a light touch.

Crown Princess Mary, April 10, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats  Crown Princess Mary, April 10, 2015 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Mary memorial

Desiger: Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: October 20, 2012; October 2, 2009

Photos from Splash News, Splash News, Splash News, Splash News,Splash News, and Splash News, all via Corbis

Danish Royal Family Kick Off Birthday Celebration in Arrhus

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The Danish Royal Family attended attend a Lunch reception at Aarhus City Hall today to mark the forthcoming 75th birthday of Queen Margrethe. A vision in white, Queen Margrethe repeated her rimmed saucer hat trimmed with a white fur knot bow. We first saw this hat in 2012 for her Ruby Jubilee and it continues to be a great shape and proportion on her. Queen Margrethe is partial to bright colours and I find the tranquillity of this all white ensemble is a nice departure for her. As I have said before, this feels like a quintessential winter hat for a Scandinavian queen.

Designer: Whiteley
Previously Worn: November 17, 2014; March 17, 2014;  April 4, 2013; February 3, 2013; January 14, 2012

Crown Princess Mary repeated her simple black calot hat. Paired with her grey bouclé coat, pleated cream silk dress and black accessories, however, the look was anything but boring. I thought Mary’s side chignon ‘hosted’ the hat beautifully and that her ensemble was classically elegant.

Designer: Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: May 9, 2014; November 8, 2012;  November 7, 2011

Princess Marie wore a new hat for this event, a navy blue felt calot with large, flat bow at the side. While we have seen Princess Marie in several small pillboxes and berets, I think this is her first calot hat; the brimless shape and off-the-face positioning suits this petite princess very well. Marie’s chignon also hairstyle works very well with this hat and balances the oversize bow. While I’m not partial to Marie’s jacket (it seems very ageing), I think this will be a great hat for her.

Designer: unknown. Coat designed by Paule Ka 
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

The official birthday party gets under way next week with numerous European royals scheduled to congregate in Copenhagen to celebrate. I suspect this event will bring us some more great hats. Which one of these more simple pieces stood out to you today in Aarhus?

Photos from Getty as indicated