Norwegian Royal Wedding 20 Years On: Scandinavian Royals

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Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit;s late afternoon wedding on August 25, 2001 carried a formal dress code. We don’t often cover tiaras here but any daytime diamonds are fair game here at Royal Hats so we’re going to sparkle up the rest of this week and look at the jewels and gowns worn by royal guests to this event (I’ll leave discussion about the jewels to expert Lauren Kiehna and link to her comprehensive history of each diadem).

Queen Sonja topped her jade gown with the very grand diamond and emerald tiara from the Norwegian Emerald Parure

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Princess Märtha Louise wore the modern tiara her grandfather King Olav gifted her in 1989 with diamond ears of wheat and pearls.

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Princess Astrid wore Queen Maud’s Turquoise Circlet tiara, beautifully paired with her pale blue gown.

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Princess Ragnhild wore what is known as Princess Ingebog’s Boucheron Circle Tiara

Queen Margrethe topped her purple ensemble with the romantic heart-shaped Baden Palmette Tiara

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Princess Benedikte wore her Star and Pearl Tiara. Her eldest daughter, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, wore her mother’s wonderful floral tiara; her younger daughter, Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, is shown below in coral, in an open design tiara I’ve not been able to identify.

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Queen Anne-Marie of Greece wore the beautiful scrolled diamond Khedive of Egypt Tiara

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Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark wore her diamond tiara with lovely halo shape.

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Queen Silvia wore one of her larger tiaras, Queen Sofia’s Tiara with central starburst and diamond swags.

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Crown Princess Victoria wore her graphic diamond Baden Fringe Tiara

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Princess Madeleine wore the Modern Fringe Tiara, a gift from her parents which she would later wear at her own wedding.

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We don’t chat tiaras much here but like hats, a tiara’s shape or scale can suit (or not suit!) their wearers and the ensembles with which they are paired. Which ones here stand out to you most?

Images from Getty as indicated  

Norwegian Royal Wedding 20 Years On

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Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit celebrate their 20th anniversary today and as such, we are taking time this week to look back over their 2001 wedding.

Prince Haakon was the second in a line of European crown princes to marry in the early 2000s which, understandably, attracted much attention, as did his choice of fiancé. Thankfully, the intervening twenty years have brought acceptance for Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, whose past involvement in Oslo’s house-party drug culture and four-year old son made her marriage to the crown prince somewhat controversial. In the end, love prevailed and the couple married on  August 25, 2001 at Oslo Cathedral.

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Norwegian Designer Ove Harder Finseth collaborated with Mette-Marit on her bridal gown, its silhouette inspired by the coronation gown Queen Maud wore in 1906.

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The result was a thoroughly modern gown made from custom-dyed ecru silk crepe and 125 meters of silk tulle. The gown’s gently curved open neckline and horizontally draped bodice beautifully softened the minimalist design.

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Full length sleeves and an exquisitely draped skirt that extended to a two meter long train emphasized the gown’s elegant and sweeping line.

King Harald and Queen Sonja gifted an antique bandeau diamond tiara to their their new daughter-in-law. The Edwardian piece, which dates to about 1910 and features a delicate scrolled daisy motif, has since become her signature tiara.

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Mette-Marit’s bridal look was completed with a 6-meter long silk veil tucked into the chignon on the back of her head which, unusually, extended well beyond the train of her gown.  The exquisite combination of train and veil, as one commentator wrote, “creates the effect of a bride floating down the aisle on her own personal cloud.”  The overall bridal look was one of lightness and restraint that suited her, perfectly.

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Crown Prince Haakon, and his best man Crown Prince Frederik, both wore military uniform.

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Adult bridesmaid  Linda Tånevik wore a silver-lilac silk halter necked gown and wrap with silver hair ornaments studded throughout her updo. The young flower girls, Mette-Marit’s nieces and children of Haakon’s maternal cousin, wore delicate woven floral wreaths in the same purple blooms as in the bride’s trailing bouquet.

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What do you think of this bridal look, 20 years on? For tiaras (and uniform caps!) worn by Norwegian royal family members and other royal guests, jump over to these posts:

Norwegian Royal Wedding 20 Years On: Scandinavian Royals

Norwegian Royal Wedding 20 Years On: European Royals

 

Images from Getty and social media as indicated  

Multiples: Queen Elizabeth

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Thanks to reader Jimbo for providing the introduction and background research for “Multiples” posts on Queen Elizabeth.

Jimbo’s Introduction: Queen Elizabeth toured Kenya in November of 1983, and while in Nairobi, wore a wonderful deep coral bowler hat, which went beautifully with her coral patterned suit. Two years later, in October of 1985, while in the Bahamas, the hat was repeated with a pale yellow patterned dress – lightweight and long sleeved, perfect for the warm tropical climate.

Look #1: With a patterned coral shirtwaist dress worn  in Brisbane on October 7, 1982, in Kenya on November 10, 1983, in Mexico on February 17, 1983 and at the Royal Welsh Show on July 21, 1983

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Look #2: With a pale yellow floral patterned silk dress worn in the Bahamas on October 14, 1985

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Which ensemble do you prefer most with this hat?!

Images from Getty as indicated 

This Week’s Extras

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On Tuesday, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia attended the annual anniversary at the art museum Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde in Stockholm, the queen in an ivory hat with wide ruched hatband and rose on the side.
Yesterday, took part in the annual “Kungsrallyt” for older vintage cars in Borgholm, Öland, the king in a natty fedora at the wheel of his prized 1946 Volvo PV-60. Queen Silvia wore a vintage shaped straw hat with low crown and curving brim trimmed in a ring of silk wild flowers.

King Jigme Khesar in a military beret on Friday for the Attestation Parade of the 77th group of Recruits to the Royal Bhutan Army at the Military Training Centre in Tencholing, Wangduephodrang.

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Wonderfully unique diamond leather overlay on this wide brimmed hat by Dutch designer Irene van Vugt
Black straw bandeau with wonderfully vibrant and whimsical strawflower trim by British milliner Josephine Willis
Deep orange straw Breton hat with braid leaf trim by Australian milliner Christine Waring
Another absolutely spectacular brim on this ecru straw hat by Russian milliner Lia Gureeva
Curved half hat covered in spotted feathers with feather studded veil by Australian milliner Jill Humphries
Ivory straw bandeau with vibrant green striped binding and bow by Japanese brand Emera Beret
I LOVE seeing something completely new on a hat. The colour block, thread-wrapped brim on this bright pink felt hat by British milliner Viviane Gomis is just that!

Australian milliner Cynthia Jones Bryson’s new collection is full of incredible feather work like this black & white design
Absolutely wonderful colour on this orange button with red feathers by Australian brand Rebecca Couture Millinery
German milliner Ulrike Strelow proving that denim can be chic and so stylish with this brimmed driving cap
Adore all the ombre shades of pink in this sinamay percher with twist trim by Australian milliner Rachel Henry
Grey baroque freshwater pearl encrusted bandeau by British milliner Jane Taylor
Gorgeous crin on this button by Irish milliner Aiofe Harrison and this brim by Dutch milliner Marilène De Zomer
Lovely shape and featherwork in this blue and yellow headpiece by Australian brand With Grace Millinery
Refined grey and pink straw trilby with the most beautiful layered ombre hatband by British milliner Louise Pocock

Sad news from Liechtenstein, announcing the death of Princess Marie at age 81.

Images from social media as indicated 

Inventory: Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s Green Hats

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To mark Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s birthday yesterday, we’re diving into her hat closet for a look at all of the green designs. There are just two so far:

1. 2.
Designer: both are unknown
Introduced: June 10, 2005; March 21, 2017

As far as fascinators go, the first design makes great statement with wonderful texture and scale. And its no surprises that Mette-Marit has embraced the current bandeau trend, as it suits her increasingly minimalist millinery style. She certainly wears seafoam shades well and I’d love to see her add some more.

Images from Getty as indicated; Julian Parker/UK Press and Berit Roald/AFP via Getty Image; Heiko Junge