Category Archives: Sweden

Inventory: Crown Princess Victoria’s Purple Hats

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Crown Princess Victoria celebrated her birthday on July 14, an occasion we belatedly celebrate with another inventory of her headpieces and hats. Today, we’re looking at all of the purple designs in her wardrobe, shown below in order of introduction:

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Designer: Elie Saab; Philip Treacy
Introduced: Jun 18, 2010; Oct 11, 2015

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Designer: Parant Parant (Örjan Jackobsson); Philip Treacy
Introduced: Aug 31, 2019;  Oct 21, 2019

I’m struck first by the breadth of colour, from barest hint of mauve to deeply saturated royal purple. We see Crown Princess Victoria in a lot of headpieces so it’s not surprising to see two of the four here, although it’s worth acknowledging the exceptional detail in both. What do you notice about this quartet of purple hats?

Images from Getty as indicated; Dominique Charriau and Chris Jackson/Pool via Getty

Christening of Princess Estelle, Nine Years On: Royal Guests & Extended Family

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t’s no surprise that Princess Estelle’s christening on May 22, 2012 was also attended by numerous royal guests and extended members of the Swedish royal family.

Queen Margrethe wore a navy straw wide-brimmed picture hat. Navy dotted white tulle overlaid the open-weave straw brim and a large flower of white feathers adored the piece on the side. The scale of the piece is such a contrast from the brimless and short-brimmed hats we’re used to seeing on the Danish queen today and while the tulle looks overly fussy to me now, it links the hat well to Margrethe’s dotted ensemble.

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Queen Mathilde (was was Crown Princess at the time, wore a layered calot hat in the same taupe silk chiffon as her skirt. It’s not an terribly exciting hat but anything with more presence likely would have competed with her elaborate beaded jacket and the overall look is certainly festive, however subdued.

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Princess Máxima, who would become queen a year later, stood out in a red suit and Fabienne Delvigne ruched turban. The turban is beautifully draped and pairs well with the modern-vintage vibe of the suit, the vibrant colour giving some much needed pep at an event that, as we’ve seen, saw so many pale and neutral ensembles. Trust Máxima to liven things up.

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Princess Märtha Louise wore a pale straw pink hat with layered raw-edge brim. The jaunty angle provided by the brim’s sidesweeping shape gave it lovely lift and that unfinished edge, echoed on the hat’s wide hatband, contrasted well with the smooth silk of Märtha’s jacket. With diamond chandelier earrings and an ecru and blush striped dress, it was a great look for her.

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As this was Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy’s first major royal event (she and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume would marry five months later), it wasn’t a surprise that she dipped into her future mother-in-law’s closet for a hat. This grey pleated silk abaca headpiece by Fabienne Delvigne requires some millinery courage to pull off and while I wasn’t thrilled about its pairing with this grey bouclé jacket, Stéphanie still wore it well.

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The King’s sisters were all in attendance, Princess Margaretha in a grey pillbox with side bow, Princess Birgitta in a white rose fascinator and Princess Désirée in a red Garbo hat with relaxed brim. Princess Christina wore a disc headpiece in navy straw painted with white Swiss dots, edged in white binding and trimmed with navy and white feathers (see a better view of it at Crown Princess Victoria’s 40th birthday celebration here).

Princess Christina’s daughter-in-laws, Emma Magnussen, Vicky Andren and Frida Bergström were all in attendance. Emma’s navy crin headpiece featured a birdcage-style transparent brim and was studded in slim feathers. Vicky’s taupe straw hat was trimmed in a triple stacked hatband with straw flower and goose feathers on the side.

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Frida Bergström (4th row, far left) wore a loden green pillbox hat swathed in a gold dotted net veil. Also seen in the photo above are Countess Marianne Bernadott (3rd row, far left in front of Frida) in a mint green brimmed hat (see a better view at a later wearing here) and Dagmar von Arbin (4th row, 4th from left) in a purple straw pillbox studded with silk flowers (see a better view at Prince Oscar’s christening here). After the palate of very pale neutrals we saw in the first post, the brighter spring hues seen in the photo above give some welcome vibrancy to this event!

Nearly a decade on, which hats stand out most to you from this event?  To see hats worn by Princess Estelle’s family members and godparents, jump over to this post. 

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Photos from Getty as indicated; SVT and the Swedish Monarchy

Christening of Princess Estelle, Nine Years On

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On May 22, 2012, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel brought their daughter, Princess Estelle, to the Royal Chapel in Stockholm’s Royal Palace to be christened.

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Crown Princess Victoria wore cocktail hat with triangular base covered in the same nude pink fabric as her dress. Lace from her dress’ neckline was cut out into three dimensional applique trim along with rolled roses. A spray of the lace and floral trim was additionally tucked into Victoria’s chignon, just below the hat.

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It’s a beautifully trimmed hat, the scale perfect for an event where all eyes were on Estelle. The addition of that second spray of  lace applique roses is a unique one, adding greater presence to the piece and linking it in a lovely way to Victoria’s updo. We don’t often see accompaniment milliner pieces in such a way.

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Designer: Malinda Damgaard. Dress by Elie Saab. 
Previously Worn: This hat was new

Queen Silvia repeated a blush straw turban with twisted side rose. For this occasion, small pink silk flowers, feathers and a scattering of pearls were added to the design, giving it texture that beautifully complimented her blush lace peplum jacket.

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Designer: unknown. Jacket by Valentino. 
Previously Worn: April 30, 2004

Princess Madeleine wore a pale grey feather crescent shaped headpiece with lavender net birdcage veil. At the time, it seemed like such an elegant and classic choice for her.


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Designer: Malinda Damgaard. Dress and coat from Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti 
Previously Worn: This headpiece was new

Sofia Hellqvist, who was not yet a member of the Swedish royal family, wore an ecru multi-looped bow fascinator studded with trimmed feathers.

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Designer: unknown.  Dress by Tibi
Previously Worn: This headpiece was new

Prince Daniel’s mother, Ewa Westling, wore a fascinator of taupe twists and feathers. Danie’s sister Anna, who is one of Princess Estelle’s godparents, wore a simple brimmed hat in white straw trimmed with a flower and bow at the back.

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Estelle’s other godmother is Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, who repeated a golden wheat coloured straw saucer studded with tiny diamanté and trimmed with large ecru silk flowers and coque feathers on the underside of the raised brim. The neutral scheme of her ensemble kept Mary suitably in the background while the hat’s dramatic shape and bold trim gave it just the right amount of ‘statement’ in her significant role at this happy occasion.

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Designer: Jane Taylor.  Dress by Strenesse.
Previously Worn: July 2, 2011. It has since been repeated  on June 15, 2016 and June 15, 2019

There were numerous royal guests and members of the extended Swedish royal family at this christening- see their hats at this post.

Which designs from this group of immediate family and godparents stand out to you most these nine years on?

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated; Corbis

Swedish Opening Of Parliament 2020

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King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia attended the opening of fall session of Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) in Stockholm yesterday.  This year’s event was scaled back because of the coronavirus and additional family members did not attend.

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Queen Silvia continued the black and white dress code traditional to this event, topping her bouclé with a repeated white straw calot hat. The hat is trimmed with a multi-looped white bow on the side studded with silver sparkles and wrapped in burnt white feathers. While the textured suit may lend itself more naturally to a more wintry hat, this one stands on its own for a warm late summer day, the silver trim picking up faint sparkle in the weave of the bouclé.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Premier rendez-vous” design. 
Previously Worn: Sep 30, 2014; April 5, 2014; May 22, 2013; May 29, 2012; April 16, 2010; May 23, 2009; April 22, 2009; April 15, 2008

What did you think of Queen Silvia’s hat for the opening of parliament yesterday?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Monaco Royal Wedding: Scandinavian Royals

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It’s not often that a monarch marries so it was no surprise that the religious ceremony of Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock on July 2, 2011 included lots of royal guests.

We start our tour of royal hats worn to this wedding with the last bride to marry a reigning monarch- Queen Silvia, who wore a wide brimmed parasisal straw picture hat in lilac pink. The design featured a crossover shape on the front of the crown, a gently sideswept brim and was simply trimmed with a double looped straw bow on the side. With her silk jacquard cloqué dress in the same colour, the hat topped a very coordinated look.

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Designer: unknown

Crown Princess Victoria’s aqua calot hat was clearly designed to match her silk chiffon embellished dress with the same curved iridescent paillettes on the dress’ sleeves completely covering the hat. It’s a very textural look in a colour that’s great for Victoria but that was let down by her limply styled hair. Victoria was in her first trimester of pregnancy with Princess Estelle at the time of this wedding, making me wonder if she was feeling her best or if the heat of the day simply got the best of her. It’s a fussier look than we usually see on Victoria, which makes me like it for her, and I wish we could see it worn again with a more successful hairstyle.

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Designer: unknown. Dress by Escada.

Princess Madeleine paired her almond silk dress with a large silk rose headpiece in a similar hue, with tall curving pheasant feather. As far as fascinators go, this one makes a statement… although the curve and height of that feather always felt a bit random to me.

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Designer: unknown. Dress by Dolce & Gabbana

Princess Mette-Marit also chose a monochrome look in a pale, neutral pink with a crescent headpiece of layered hand cut lace that circled around the back of her head. The multiple layers of lace created a wonderfully dimensional piece that contrasted against the smooth lines and asymmetrical neckline of her dress and beautifully framed her face. I usually am a stickler for impeccable finishes on royal millinery but the the slightly raw lace on this design gave it an edgy, rough beauty.

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Designer: unknown. Dress by Valentino.

Princess Mary wore one of my favourite looks at this wedding with a finely woven, wheat-hued straw saucer hat studded with tiny diamanté, trimmed with large ecru silk roses and flying coque feathers. While a neutral colour, the hat was anything but boring thanks to its dramatic shape and bold trim, elements that enabled it to stand up as the perfect counterpoint for Mary’s Mediterranean blue silk dress. With neutral shoes and a fun, patterned turquoise purse, this ensemble was perfectly styled and firmly got my vote for best dressed guest at this wedding. Nine years on, it’s still one of my favourites.

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Designer: Jane Taylor. Dress by Prada. 

Princess Marie went with a more monochrome approach, topping her pale peach silk wrap dress with a brimmed hat in the same shade. The hat’s brim was gently turned up around the front the hat was completed a spray of straw leaves in darker and lighter shades sweeping over the side.

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Designer: unknown. Dress by Rikke Gudnitz.

There’s no shortage of interesting milliner here- we’ve got colour, sparkle and drama! I’ve already tipped my hand as to my favourite, dearest readers but I’m curious- which looks here stand out most to you?

Jump to this post for an index of other royal hats that appeared at this wedding. 

Photos from Getty as indicated