Danish Royals Celebrate Confirmation

On Saturday, the Danish royal family gathered to celebrate Prince Felix’s confirmation at  Fredensborg Palace church.

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Queen Margrethe marked this milestone in her second eldest grandson’s life in her bright turquoise coat and matching hat. The hat, which follows a rounded helmet shape, is trimmed with a braided stripe of appliqued silk, tall curling feathers and feather quills.

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Princess Marie wore a new fascinator with a white lace base trimmed with pale pink silk ruffles, flowers and feathers. As far as fascinators go, this one is a really lovely design and was shown to great effect with Marie’s sweeping chignon.

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Designer: unknown. Dress by Huishan Zhang
Previously Worn: this headpiece is new

Little Princess Athena adorably matched her mum’s headwear with a pale pink headband embellished with organza flowers. For her very first royal headpiece, this one is very sweet.

Princess Athena, April 1, 2017 | Royal Hats  Princess Athena, April 1, 2017 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: this headpiece is new

Felix’s mother, the Countess of Frederiksborg, topped her dusky lilac-grey lace dress with a similarly hued fascinator made of feathers roughly grouped in floral shapes. While the headpiece complimented Alexandra’s dress well enough, its placement, vertically on the side of her head, was neither flattering nor attractive. Alexandra’s mother, Christa Manley, wore a pale blue organza puff fascinator.

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Countess of Frederiksborg, April 1, 2017 | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Mary repeated her pale grey veiled fascinator with silk flowers and feathers (see a better photo of it at its last outing here). This is a more substantial piece that Mary wears well and at an event dominated by fascinators, seemed a logical choice for her.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 5, 2015; June 25, 2013April 30, 2013
While we saw only one hat at this event, I think the choice of fascinator headpieces worked well not only for this time of year, but to keep the fashion tone light, informal and even, a little fun. In the end, the center of attention was a beaming young man in a red tie (not stuffy fashions surrounding him) which is exactly how I think it should have been. What do you think of the fascinators in Denmark yesterday?

Danish Royal Family, April 1, 2017 | Royal Hats

Photos from Getty as indicated; Steen Brogaard, Royal Family via the Danish Monarchy

Day 2 of Belgian State Visit To Denmark

The Belgian state visit to Denmark continued on its second day today with a busy programme of events. Queen Mathilde and Crown Princess Mary took in a meeting at the Mary Foundation as well as a visits to Amager Common School, UN City in Copenhagen, and an education focused luncheon before meeting up with their husbands at a Belgian cultural and tourism exhibition and film.

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Queen Mathilde wore her second new ensemble of this trip complete with a new hat. In pale dusky pink straw, the design follows a simple rounded crown and mushroom brim, trimmed with a folded straw hatband in the same shade. Clearly designed to coordinate with her Esmeralda Ammoun designed suit (who seems to have taken inspiration from Empress Michiko for the sleeves on the jacket!), the outfit is a streamlined one. While the shape and scale of the hat is lovely, its slightly bland colour leaves me wishing for some further embellishment to liven it up. Feathers, yes?
Queen Mathilde, Mar 29, 2017 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats
Queen Mathilde, Mar 29, 2017 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats Queen Mathilde, Mar 29, 2017 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats
Queen Mathilde, Mar 29, 2017 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats  Queen Mathilde, Mar 29, 2017 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Crown Princess Mary repeated her much worn moulded grey felt casque hat with large monochrome felt leaves on the right side. She wears the pieces well and while it’s not my favourite grey hat in Mary’s millinery closet its styling today with her neat ponytail, stud earrings and that beautiful scarf, is spot on.
Crown Princess Mary, Mar 29, 2017 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats  Crown Princess Mary, Mar 29, 2017 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats
 Crown Princess Mary, Mar 29, 2017 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats Crown Princess Mary, Mar 29, 2017 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats Crown Princess Mary, Mar 29, 2017 in Susanne Juul | Royal Hats

Designer: Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: October 25, 2016September 17, 2014March 18, 2013January 14, 2012

Thoughts about these two hats today in Copenhagen?

Danish Royals Welcome Belgian State Visit

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde arrived in Denmark today to start a four-day state visit with their Danish royal cousins. As is expected for such events, the official welcome included a parade of royal hats, several of which are new designs. Queen Mathilde wore one of these pieces, a prim calot-pillbox hybrid in the same blue wool as her coat.

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Unpredictable temperatures at this time of year make dressing for a state visit tricky but this shade of blue is lovely on Mathilde and feels just right for early spring. The brimless hat compliments the neckline on the coat very well and its placement is particularly attractive with her swirling chignon. My only reservation on this piece is its bow- I suspect intended to be an artistic and modern embellishment, I’m afraid it ends up looking more of a messy afterthought.

   

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Queen Margrethe repeated her mint green hat with cuff brim and side feather trim. We’ve seen this hat a few times before on the Danish Queen and much prefer it with its coordinating green coat than it was worn today, with this fur.

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Designer: likely Per Falk Hansen
Previously Worn: October 3, 2016April 30, 2016September 8, 2015; June 5, 2015May 23, 2014April 16, 2015

Crown Princess Mary topped her pale aqua coat with an ecru felt pillbox hat trimmed in lace applique.

Mary wears pillboxes so well and both the scale and colour of this one is fantastic on her. The lace applique detail on this piece is beautifully done and the hat, in combination with other neutral accessories and Mary’s impeccably tailored green coat, makes for a wonderfully elegant ensemble.

Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Princess Marie also wore a new headpiece today in rosy brown straw. Built on a round straw base, the designe reatures straw flowers, leaves and ribbon curls and pale pink feathers. This piece puzzles me (Princess Marie has a very similar straw floral fascinator in pink) and I think her ensemble might have worked better with her navy felt calot, straw beret, or rose trimmed straw fedora.

  

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new

State visits are always great fun to watch, particularly when they bring out a parade of hats as this one did today in Copenhagen. What do you think of these three new designs?

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Photos from Getty as indicated; Benoit Doppagne,  Benoit DoppagneBenoit Doppagnevia Belga

Farewell to Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Family of Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg were joined by close royal friends at the Evangelische Stadtkirche in Bad Berleburg, Germany this morning to pay tribute to the prince who died unexpectedly on March 13 at the age of 83. His wife, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, led her family in a black bumper hat with diagonal stripes on the cuff brim.

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The couple’s eldest daughter, Princess Alexandra, wore Princess Benedikte’s black Breton hat with short, curled brim bound in silk ping and trimmed with a net tulle veil. Alexandra’s daughter, Countess Ingrid, wore a floral trimmed black headband.

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Princess Nathalie also wore one of her mother’s hats, a brimless design with domed crown trimmed with a swath of feathers at the back. 

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Carina Axelsson, the longtime partner of Prince Richard and Princess Benedikte’s son Prince Gustav, wore moulded black felt cloche hat with extended brim.

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Queen Margrethe repeated her black Karakul fur toque with feather pouf trim.

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Crown Princess Mary repeated her Susanne Juul designed hat with tall, squared felt crown and straw brim, trimmed with a pair of black feathers while Princess Marie repeated her looped black silk ribbon headpiece.

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Queen Anne-Marie wore a short brimmed hat with moulded crown in the shape of a partial Pork Pie, simply trimmed in a Petersham ribbon hatband.
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Queen Máxima repeated her Bettina Thomas designed rounded pillbox hat with bow at the back. Princess Beatrix wore a large black straw bumper hat with double upfolded brim.
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Queen Silvia wore a larger scale black felt hat with short, upturned Kettle brim trimmed with a wide, folded silk hatband and knotted sash. Princess Madeleine, who is Princess Benedikte’s goddaughter, wore a simple black headband.

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Princess Märtha Louise, who represented the Norwegian royal family, repeated her swirled black cocktail hat wrapped in black net veil by Wenche Lyche.

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I’m sure you all join me in expressing the deepest of sympathy to Princess Benedikte and the Berleburg family as they grieve the loss of Prince Richard.

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated

Danish Queen Opens Reformation Exhibition

Queen Margrethe was at The Round Tower in Copenhagen yesterday to open a collection of art commissioned from 25 prominent Danish artists on the significance of the Protestant Reformation. She repeated her burgundy hat with upturned, Breton style brim and a pair of chocolate and cream striped feathers on the side. The scale, pattern and placement off the feathers is my favourite part of the hat and gives it a decidedly modern and artistic touch.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: February 12, 2016October 22, 2014

Thoughts on this hat’s repeated outing?

Photos from Getty and The Danish Monarchy as indicated