One Hat, Six Looks

Royal Hats Most royals change the look of a hat by mixing it with different outfits. While Crown Princess Mary of Denmark does this to great effect, there is a particular hat in her millinery closet that has undergone more transformation than other royal hats. We have seen her wear this piece six different ways, to date.

Look 1 “The Hat”: A simple straw hat in natural straw designed by Susanne Juul with a square crown and slightly raised brim on one side.

On a July 29, 2004 visit to Sonderborg

Look 2: Hat with added pink and tan straw fluted flower trim.

Crown Princess Mary, May 5, 2005 in Susanne Juul |Royal Hats Crown Princess Mary, September 18, 2009 in Susanne Juul |Royal Hats

Launching a Maersk container ship, May 5, 2005; touring new stables at Christiansborg Palace, September 18, 2009

Look 3: Hat trimmed with a periwinkle blue silk folded flower with feathers

Opening the Copenhagen City Beach on August 18, 2005 

Look 4: Hat with a red straw hibiscus bloom

At the April 30, 2006 60th birthday celebrations of King Carl Gustaf of Sweden

Look 5: Hat with trimming of cream straw bow and feathers

Visiting the island of Bornholm, June 22, 2006

Look 6: Hat with a considerably larger trimming of cream straw bow loops, leaves and feathers

Crown Princess Mary, October 8, 2007 in Susanne Juul |Royal Hats  Crown Princess Mary, October 8, 2007 in Susanne Juul |Royal Hats

On an October 8, 2007 visit to Romania

Seeing a royal hat worn six different ways begs the question, dearest readers, which way do you like it best?

Photos from Getty as indicated; Lars K. Mikkelson/Scanpix; Stella Pictures; Sorin Lupsa via the Office of the Romanian President

Queen Margrethe Celebrates Christiansfeld

On Saturday, Queen Margrethe visited Christiansfeld to take part in the town’s official inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. For this celebration of the town, founded in 1773 and named after King Christian VII, the Queen repeated her pink straw hat and matching suit. This outing of the ensemble gives us a much better view of the hat and shows that the double band around the crown is in fact, made from the same navy floral fabric as Margrethe’s blouse. This trim on the hat helps greatly to break up the sea of bright pink and provide some much needed contrast. I wish that the silk flowers trimming the side of the piece were larger- in their current scale, they seem like a sad afterthought.

Queen Margrethe, August 29, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 26, 2015

UPDATE- Count Ingolf of Rosenborg (Queen Margrethe’s cousin) and his wife, Countess Sussie, also attended this event. Countess Sussie wore a simple straw hat in latte coloured straw trimmed with a white and mint green band around the crown.

Countess Sussie, August 29, 2015 | Royal Hats

Photo from Claus Fisker/Scanpix via The Danish Monarchy

Crown Princess Mary Opens Hospital

Princess Mary of Denmark officially opened a new Psychiatry Hospital in Slagelse this morning. For this inauguration, she repeated her natural straw bow-trimmed calot hat. We have seen this hat with several other outfits and I thought today’s pairing with her blue silk dress was a great match for a less formal, late summer engagement.

Designer: Susanne Juul. Dress from Signe Bogelund-Jensen
Previously Worn: September 5, 2014May 10, 2012; October 4, 2011; June 6, 2010

Photo from Hanne Juul/All Over Press Denmark/Splash News via Corbis

Greek Royal Wedding 20 Years On: Families

Prince Pavlos and Marie-Chantal Miller, July 1, 1995 | Royal HatsRoyal Hats

When Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Prince of Denmark, married Marie-Chantal Miller on July 1, 1995, the event was a family affair. Because of the Greek royal family’s close relations to several other royal houses, that also made it a major royal event. Here is a look at the hats worn at this wedding by members of the couple’s families.

Queen Anne-Marie topped her sea foam green silk coat with a straw headpiece in the same hue. With an open top, the headpiece wrapped in a circle around her head and was trimmed with a wide straw ribbon tails on the side.

Queen Anne-Marie, July 1, 2015 | Royal Hats

Queen Anne-Marie, July 1, 2015 | Royal Hats  Queen Anne-Marie, July 1, 2015 | Royal Hats

Princess Alexia wore a wide brimmed hat in natural straw while Princess Theodora, as bridesmaid, wore a floral wreath in her hair. Both Alexia and and Queen Anne-Marie were dressed by London-based Austrian designer Inge Spronson.

Greek Royal Family, July 1, 2015 | Royal Hats

The mother of the bride, Chantal Miller, matched Queen Anne-Marie’s ensemble in a hat and dress in sea foam green topped by a pale peach hand embroidered and beaded Valentino couture coat. The hat followed the shape of a ruched turban at the back but was brimmed with a halo brim around the front that framed Mrs. Miller’s face. Trimmed with a stylized silk flower, the chic hat has a wonderful sense of movement that almost draws my attention away from her pearls.

Chantal Miller, June 1, 2015 | Royal Hats  Chantal Miller, June 1, 2015 | Royal Hats

Princess Marie-Chantal’s two sisters, Alexandra Miller and Pia Getty wore what I suspect were very fashion-forward hats for the time. Pia’s round burgundy percher hat was edged in scalloped pink ribbon and trimmed with a spray of pink and burgundy feathers at the back. While this hat shape is familiar to us now, it was a very avant garde millinery look 20 years ago that left me wondering at the time if she had stuck a cushion on her head.  Alexandra toped her blue suit with what can only be described as a pink headscarf, worn as a headband and loosely tied in a bow behind her ear. This headpiece (if you can call it that) has always left me scratching my own head.

Pia Getty and Alexandra Miller, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats

Princess Benedikte, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats

Looking at the groom’s extended family- Queen Anne-Marie’s sister, Princess Benedikte of Denmark (above, right) wore a large rose pink hat with high ‘slice’ brim that folded up over the square crown on one side. We see these ‘slice’ brim picture hats often these days but I suspect it turned heads at the time. Their mother, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, wore a memorable hat in sky blue. With a traditional round crown, the brim of the hat was wider around the front and folded up to frame Queen Ingrid’s face. The straw was light embroidered in monochrome blue vines and embellished with a small spray of flowers at the side. We seldom see patterned royal hats and this one still stands out in my mind as a unique piece.

Queen Ingrid, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats   Queen Ingrid, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe, the eldest of Queen Ingrid’s three daughters, also wore an unusual and distinctive hat. Her headpiece, in steely blue straw,  featured a large disc atop a calot base. The disc was sliced to the radius at the top of the headpiece- a large bow was placed in the slice, leaving one side of the bow visible on top of the hat and the other, behind the back of it (which also curled up that side of the disc). A spray of silk violets completed the striking hat.

Queen Margrethe, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats   Queen Margrethe, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats

While King Constantine’s sister, Queen Sofia of Spain, did not wear a hat, her daughters  Infanta Elena and Infanta Christina both topped their dress suits with simple cream picture hats.

Infanta Elena, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats   Infanta Cristina, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats

Looking at these hats today, I am surprised how current many of them seem. Which ones stand out most to you?

Greek Royal wedding, July 1, 1995 | Royal Hats

Photos from The Greek Royal Family; The Royal Forums; and Lord Lichfield via Getty