Category Archives: Denmark

Catching Up With the Danish Queen

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On May 23, Queen Margrethe visted Herlufsholms, the oldest boarding school in Denmark, to commemorate the school’s 450-year anniversary. Along with attending a service to mark the anniversary, the Danish Queen unveiled a new sculpture in Nyhave of artist Eva Steen Kristensen, inaugurated the newly renovated central Red Square and launched 450 red balloons. For these festivities, Queen Margrethe repeated the mint green bumper hat she first wore at her 75th birthday celebrations in April. It remains a great hat for her and I thought the addition of her patterned scarf added some much needed pattern to her all-green ensemble.

Queen Margrethe, May 23, 2015 | Royal Hats Queen Margrethe, May 23, 2015 | Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe, May 23, 2015 | Royal Hats Queen Margrethe, May 23, 2015 | Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe, May 23, 2015 | Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe, May 23, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: April 16, 2015

The Queen’s eldest grandson Prince Nikolai is a student at the school and was captured enjoying the day’s festivities with his school mates.

Prince Nikolai, May 23, 2015

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

Danish Royal Couple Kick Off Summer Sails

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Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik braved rainy weather yesterday and travelled from Copenhagen to Helsingør on board the royal yacht Dannebrg. For the trip, Queen Margrethe repeated her nautical navy wool hat with white braided trim around the brim and crown. This hat is a good choice for a blustery cruise and worked well with Margrethe’s brightly patterned rain coat. The only thing  would have liked was a closer view of the perplexing side decoration on the hat. We’ll have to wait for another outing to make sense of that.

Queen Margrethe, May 5, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: April 26, 2014

Photo from Keld Navntoft/Scanpix via The Danish Monarchy

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