Category Archives: Germany

Swedish Royal Wedding: Non- Reigning Royal Families

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Royal Hats The wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Sofia Hellqvist yesterday also saw a number of guests from non-reigning royal houses. Representing the Greek royals, Princess Tatiana wowed in an exquisitely beaded Celia Kritharioti gown in dove grey. The light gown was perfectly complimented by Tatiana’s small diamond tiara, a piece not previously seen before. I hope this is a permanent addition to Tatiana’s jewel vault because the proportion, scale and delicacy of it are lovely on her.

Princess Tatiana, June 13, 2015 | Royal Hats Princess Tatiana, June 13, 2015 | Royal Hats

One of the biggest tiara surprses at this wedding appeared on Princess Ursula of Bavaria. While the scrolled diamond tiara looked lovely on her, it is eerily reminiscent of the famous Spencer tiara. The Bavarian royals have sent several larger tiaras to auction in recent years and this piece has a few royal jewel watchers wondering if it is a new purchase or has been pulled out from the depths of the family vault.  Its history aside, this tiara is a beautiful one that I thought would have benefited from either Ursula’s large drop earrings or multiple strands of pearls but not both.

Princess Ursula’s daughter-in-law, Princess Anna of Bavaria, repeated the small diamond fringe tiara we saw her wear to Princess Madeleine’s wedding two years ago. This time, however, she paired it with a grand up-do which showed the piece to much greater effect. With her dramatic diamond earrings and navy and silver dress, Anna looked stunning.

That covers our review of all the tiaras worn by guests at the Swedish royal wedding! Stay tuned for a final post with all the official wedding portraits to tie up coverage of this event.

Photos from Albert Nieboer/dpa and Albert Nieboer/dpa via Corbis; Getty as indicated

Monaco National Day

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Members of Monaco’s Royal Family gathered to celebrate their national holiday today. And a national holiday, dear friends, means lots of royal hats!

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While Princess Charlene did not attend the celebration mass at Cathedrale Notre-Dame-Immaculee de Monaco or watch the military parade, she did make an appearance on the balcony in the most quintessential of French hats. While the black hue feels too harsh for my taste, the simple lines of this beret seem a good fit with Charlene’s clean-lined fashion aesthetic. She looks quite chic in this beret, don’t you think?

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this is a new hat

Princess Caroline of Hanover and Monaco’s hat was neither clean nor simple but it was great fun. She topped her navy tweed dress and jacket with a whimsical navy cocktail hat trimmed with straw ribbon twists, feathers flying off in all directions, and a large navy net tulle veil. On its on, I find the hat to be rather run of the mill but paired, to great contrast, with her austere suit, it made a fantastic combination.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this is a new hat

Tatiana Santo Domingo Casiraghi wore a gently sloped black pyramid hat trimmed with a large black bow. Tatiana is known for her bohemian fashion style and I thought that her ensemble was an interesting style departure for her. In the end, I think her beautiful grey and blue lace suit was much more successful than the hat which, from a distance, looked like a squashed mortar board.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this is a new hat

Oddly shaped as it was, Tatiana’s hat was a vast improvement to the headpiece worn by Princess Stephanie. For the second year in a row, Stephanie trotted out a royal scrunchie to secure the chignon in her hair. I defer to the words of commenter edoep who wrote last year, ” ‘dear steph, please note: a scrunchie is NOT a teeny-weeny hat!” That sums up my sentiments as well.

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Baroness Elisabeth-Anne de Massy (Prince Albert’s first cousin, the daughter of his father’s sister Princess Antoinette) wore a stylised black bowler hat with black net veil (behind Princess Caroline, below), Her daughter, Mélanie-Antoinette Costello de Massy (beside Princess Stephanie, below), wore a black cloche variation with a square crown, wrapped in a ruched black sash.

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And finally, the Duke and Duches of Castro, who are close friends of Prince Albert, were also in attendance. Camilla topped her purple coat dress in a coordinating slouchy Fez-style hat which was trimmed in a swath of net tulle veil. While the hat has a slight air hostess vibe about it, the colour is lovely on her and the concept is unique. It’s nice to see a hat we don’t see every day, isn’t it?

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this is a new hat

Because Monaco’s national holiday falls at this time of year, we usually see hats in dark, wintery hues and this year was no exception. Did any of these hats stand out to you?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Spanish Royal Wedding Ten Years On: Remaining Reigning Royal Houses

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The Royal Hats Blog Several representatives from other reigning royal houses also attended the marriage of the Princes of Asutrias and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano on May 22, 2004. Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain and his wife Hala bint D’aij Al Khalifa represented their country. Hala wore an interesting orange wool hat with flat crown wrapped in a slim, buckled belt. The crown of the hat sloped down into the brim without an adjoining seam and created a unique millinery shape. It is not the first hat I would have thought of to pair with Hala’s lemon yellow, flower trimmed suit and it made for an interesting and unexpected combination.

Hala bint D'aij Al Khalifa, May 22, 2004 | Royal Hats

Princess Caroline of Monaco and Hanover was predictably dressed head-to-toe in Chanel. The unfinished strips of silk that made up her pale blue jacket were repeated in a coordinating silk band and rosette which trimmed her straw picture hat. I am not usually a fan of flat crowned hats but there was something about the proportion of this hat (and the way it perfectly coordinated with Caroline’s suit) that made it work so beautifully well. Very pretty, indeed.

Princess Caroline of Hanover and Monaco, May 22, 2004 in Chanel | Royal Hats Princess Caroline of Hanover and Monaco, May 22, 2004 in Chanel | Royal Hats

I believe we have made our way through all of the guests from reigning royal houses who attended this wedding- next up are the guests from non reigning royal houses. We’ll start with some fantastical hats worn by the Bulgarian princesses. 

Photos from  AFP/Getty Images and A. Jones/J. Whatling/J. Parker/M. Cuthbert via Getty; Leo Yasky via Wire Image

Dutch Royal Family Remembers Prince Friso

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On Saturday, a public memorial service for Prince Friso of the Netherlands was held in Delft.

Dutch Royal Family, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Princess Mabel wore an open-crowned design of black rings we have seen on Queen Máxima numerous times previously. Princess Beatrix wore a large straw hat with flat crown and brim. The band around the crown was repeated in a wide band around the brim.

Princess Mabel, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog Princess Mabel, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog Princess Beatrix, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Queen Máxima wore a rounded black velvet felt pillbox with bow at the back. Princess Laurentien wore a black wool unembellished turban.

Queen Máxima, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog Princess Laurentien, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Princess Martha Louise of Norway (her father, King Harald, was Prince Friso’s godfather) wore a tilted black wool bowler. Countess Annabel of Oyenhausen-Sierstorpff (a relative of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands) wore an avant garde giant black wool feather with a sheer brim. While I am usually gleeful to see an over the top hat, I don’t think a memorial service is the time to sport one.

 Princess Martha Louise, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog Countess Annabel of Oyenhausen-Sierstorpff, November 2, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

You can see a majority of the memorial service at NOS here.

Photos from ANP via AD.nl and Patrick van Katwijk, Hollandse Hoogte and Albert Nieboer via Corbis

Luxembourg Royal Wedding: Royal Guests

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 This wedding was attended by a number of “minor” royals from across Europe. Princess Maria-Laura of Belgium, who is also Archduchess of Austria-Este through her paternal side, wore a brimless bright pink hat with swarthy net veil.

Princess Maria Laura, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor, seen here behind Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen of Austria, were the only members of the British royal family in attendance (although their attendance was not in an official capacity but a personal one). Lady Nicholas wore a new hat that is difficult to see here but that appears to be a brimless sphere in cream straw. I think it’s a great shape for Paola although I will wait for a better view to weigh in further.

Lady Nicholas Windsor, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Fürstin Gabriela zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn wore a very beautiful beige picture hat with a diagonal band that wrapped around the crown down to the brim, edged in black. I think the hat would be improved with the removal of the red carnation flower but it is still a beautifully shaped hat. (On a side note, I get a kick out of Gabriela’s husband Fürst Alexander stealing some happy iphone snaps in the second shot!)

Fürstin Gabriela zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog Fürstin Gabriela zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Archduchess Alexandra of Austria topped her cream suit (I love the pleated ruffles around the cuffs and collar) with a classic black cartwheel-brimmed hat. The oversize bow on the hat was not to my taste and made the hat look rather dated.

Archduchess Alexandra of Austria, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Archduchess Hélène of Austria wore a very small grey ribon fascinator. I was disappointed in this headpiece; Hélène’s beautiful sharply graphic suit could have carried a much more dramatic hat and I thought this crumpled bit of ribbon did not measure up. Hélène’s daughter Archduchess Priscilla of Austria wore the same cream hat she wore to Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen’s wedding last year. This hat is fascinating to me because underneath the mass of wide ribbon trim this hat is a simple straw bowler. I think the ribbon trim makes the shape work very well and it is very flattering on  Priscilla’s oval-shaped face.

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While not officially a royal, Donna Beatrice Borromeo attended with her longtime partner, Pierre Casiraghi. Beatrice wore a dramatic headpiece of two black feathers that wrapped around her head in a wide spiral. I’m not sure I like the way the headpiece attached to the side of her head but the overall effect of this hat was unique and startlingly beautiful.

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Designer: Philip Treacy

Archduchess Anna-Gabriele of Austria wore one of my favourite hats of the day, a wide brimmed taupe straw picture hat with a short crown. It’s such a fun hat that I thought looked lovely with Anna-Gabriele’s short hairstyle.

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I think the most showstopping hat of the day was worn by Princess Isabelle of Liechtenstein. Her choice, a gigantic purple mushroom shaped picture hat trimmed in white edging and voluminous tulle veil, was dramatic to say the least. The hat was a little over-the-top for my taste and I am still perplexed by the outfit she chose to pair it with. Picture hats and turtlenecks just don’t work well together… ever.

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I think this showstopper is a great hat to end my hat coverage of Claire and Felix’s wedding. I’m sure you join me in wishing this lovely young couple a lifetime of love and happiness.

Photos from Getty as indicated; Albert Nieboer and Crystal / Slash News via Corbis