Funeral of King Michael of Romania

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Representatives from several royal houses gathered in Bucharest on Saturday for the funeral of Romania’s last king.

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King Michael’s daughters, led by Crown Princess Margareta who is now styled as ‘Custodian of the Crown of Romania’, all wore conservatively styled black hats or veils. Princess Margareta’s bumper hat features a large, double bow at the back while Princess Elena’s hat has a cuffed brim in the same fur as her coat.  Royal Musings reported yesterday that Nicholas Medforth-Mills and his fiance Alina-Maria Binder were quietly married in a civil service (their religious wedding remains set for next summer) recently, presumably so that the couple could attend the funeral together.

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Romanian royal family, Dec 16, 2017 | Royal Hats

Alina Binder, Dec 16, 2017 | Royal Hats

Romanian royal family, Dec 16, 2017 | Royal Hats

Queen Silvia wore a black felt pillbox, wrapped in a silk pseudo bumper brim and trimmed with a flat bow at the back.

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Queen Sofia of Spain wore a loosely woven net veil anchored to her hair with a small back bow.

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Queen Anne-Marie wore a black felt bumper hat wrapped in a wide swath of dotted net veil. The hat features a double upturned brim, the inner of which is made of silk which lends lovely sheen and contrast to the monochrome piece. It is finished with a ruffled flourish at the back.

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Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia wore a black velvet pleated headpiece in her go-to traditional Kokoshnik shape to which was attached a black veil.

Grand Duchess Maria, Dec 16, 2017 | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia wore a simple black hat with rounded crown and relaxed mushroom brim.

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Princess Astrid of Belgium wore a black faux fur pillbox trimmed with a silk rosette and leaves.

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Princess Muna of Jordan wore a white lace veil. Behind her, Princess Isabelle of Liechtenstein wore a large black straw hat with wide, exaggerated mushroom brim. The crown appears to be wrapped in a wide straw hatband (almost in the style of a bumper brim) overlaid in a dotted sheer organza or crin.

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Photos from Getty as indicated;  Simion Mechno, Simion Mechno, and Simion Mechno via Agerpres Foto; NurPhoto via Getty; REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

Carina Axelssohn shared this snap taken with her dogs on a mountain walk last Sunday in a fuzzy faux fur hat

Sweet red double hair bow for Princess Estelle on Thursday to receive the Swedish royal family’s Christmas trees along with her mum and brother (Swedish Royal Court). She also wore a glittery hairbow and feather boa to a pantomime theatre performance yesterday.

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary in Australia on Tuesday in sporty hats for a sailing race

Princess Yoko in a black bumper hat at a Dec 5 memorial for the late Prince Mikasa (Imperial Family of Japan)

June is such a busy month here at Royal Hats, it’s no wonder we missed Princess Nobuko paying a visit to the JS Takanami. Her hat, a wide brimmed white straw design, has an unusually shaped brim and looks to be embellished with some sort of net tulle wrap and a bow at the back. It’s a unique shape for an Imperial royal hat. 

Kensington Palace confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will attend church with the Queen and royal family on Christmas morning. For those of you waiting for Meghan’s first royal hat, I suspect that will be it. Also- mark your calendars for May 19 and hope for a daytime wedding. Daytime = HATS!!

New millinery designs shared this week that stand out to me include:

British millinery Stephen Jones pushes creativity again with this hat made of 35mm film
Lovely loden green felt fedora with a delicious hit of fuschia from Goldust Millinery
Red straw statement hat with floral appliques and pleated pink crin halo brim from With Grace Millinery
Beautiful white straw wide brimmed hat covered in beaded black applique from Nerida Fraiman
Yellow and green crystal tipped feather fascinator from California based
Stunning royal blue fedora/pork pie hybrid (that looks far better than it sounds!) from Susanne Juul
The navy straw-base cocktail hat with twists, veil and jewelled button by British milliner Edwina Ibbotson
worn by J.K. Rowling on Tuesday to receive the Companion of Honour at Buckingham Palace

And this stunning dark plum fedora with floral embroidered applique by British Layla Leigh Millinery

 Royal Hats

Sneek peek at the Spanish royal family’s Christmas photo card

Princess Charlene shared the sweetest holiday snap of Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, taken by Vanessa Von Zitzewitz

New pictures released this week of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, including a sweet snap of the Grand Duchess with her pups

Princess Martha Louise of Norway posted this Christmas wish, showing her great sense of humour (and a touching reminder that royals deal with many of the same life challenges as the rest of us)

A stunning new portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh painted by Australian born artist Ralph Heimans for an exhibition at the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle in Demark

British Royals Attend Grenfell Tower Memorial

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The Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry gathered at St. Paul’s Cathedral this morning to attend a national memorial service for the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy which claimed 71 lives back in June.

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For this event, the Duchess of Cornwall repeated her black wool hat with ruched crown and faux-fur cuff brim. This design is not my favourite hat paired with her striking grey and black coat (I’d have preferred she repeat this one instead) but I see the rationale for choosing a less formal, comfortable and accessible-to-everyone style of hat for this event.

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The Duchess of Cambridge wore a variation on a wide brimmed fedora with characteristically relaxed curved brim. In navy blue felt, the hat’s smoothly rounded crown shape is a step more formal than the pinched crown of a traditional fedora and the silk hatband adds a polished touch with subtle sheen. The scale, shape and colour really are great on Kate and the hat pairs beautifully with her pleated Carolina Hererra coat. Again- the look is slightly less formal but so well suited to this particular event.

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Designer: unconfirmed. I agree with one reader who speculates it is a bespoke version of the Lock & Co ’Clyde’ fedora from AW 2016
Previously Worn: this hat is new
Dressing for such sensitive events can not be an easy task and I think both Duchesses did a fine job here. What do you think of Kate’s new hat?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Catching Up With The Imperial Royals

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The Imperial royal ladies have been on a vibrant and creative streak with their millinery the past week and a half, something I thought we needed to admire in a dedicated post. Brace yourselves, dearest readers, for some saturated colour!

On  December 1st, the Imperial House Council met to set the date of Emperor Akihito’s abdication for April 30, 2019. Princess Hanako attended the meeting in the most unusual and unique of hats. The design builds on a silk covered helmet shaped base with a very short, flat brim over which lies a voluminous wrap of loosely pleated dark green organza. The design is further trimmed with a vine of green silk leaves wrapped over the crown. It’s a little out there in terms of royal hat designs we’ve seen this year and that it appeared on an Imperial royal head makes me happier than I can express. We’ve called for Imperial royal millinery experimentation and dearest readers- THIS IS IT! Yes, the shape is odd and not terribly flattering but it’s not a standard bowler hat in a pale pastel. The colour is lovely on Hanako and while don’t particularly like the avant garde design, I absolutely adore that Hanako wore it. Happy claps.

Dec 1, 2017 | Royal Hats   Dec 7, 2017 | Royal Hats

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

Last Tuesday, December 5, another jewel toned hat appeared at an Imperial royal function. For a Tokyo ceremony honouring individuals making significant contributions in support for persons with disabilities, Crown Princess Masako donned an deep purply-burgundy felt hat with oxblood pleated hatband in the same fabric as her suit. The brim on this design is a little larger than Masako usually wears and the larger scale is a great change on her. It’s a simple hat but the classically elegant shape is one that works really well for Masako. More happy claps!

Dec 5, 2017 | Royal Hats  Dec 5, 2017 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Nov 10, 2014; Nov 18, 1996

Last Thursday, December 7, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended a ceremony marking completion of Tokyo’s new public square New Square in front of Tokyo Station. For this event, the Empress repeated an apricot hued flat saucer hat with hound’s tooth bow and silk flower. It’s not my favourite colour on her but it’s also not grey, something I’m always happy to see! The link between the hat base, the lapels and sleeve panel on the jacket and the skirt does make for a characteristically unified ensemble and the high contrast pattern adds a bit of punch. Happy claps again.

Dec 7, 2017 | Royal Hats   Dec 7, 2017 | Royal Hats

Designer: Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: March 28, 2014
Last Saturday, on the occasion of her 54th birthday, Princess Masako paid a customary visit to the Emperor and Empress at the Imperial Royal Palace. For this visit, she repeated a simple bumper hat covered in blue silk. This style and colour is a more traditional choice but there’s something so calmly beautiful about the subtle sheen on the smooth edges of this hat that makes me really like it on Masako. 
Dec 9, 2017 | Royal Hats 
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Dec 9, 2015
And finally, yesterday Princess Hisako attended the 130th anniversary of the Japan Red Cross Society Aichi Prefecture Branch. For her visit to a blood collection center and keynote address at the celebration ceremony, HIsako topped her ice blue jaquard patterned suit with a matching bowler hat variation covering in the same fabric. The hat is trimmed with a slim blue silk hatband that links to the collar on her suit, and a blue net veil wrap studded in blue silk leaves. The leaves on the veil is make an interesting textural addition that I’ve not seen closeup before and their effect keep me going in for a closer look- not something that Imperial royal hats often inspire me to do. I’m not such a fan of the repeated pattern on both the suit and hat but the leaf studded net wrap somehow makes it work.
Dec 12, 2017 | Royal Hats   Dec 12, 2017 | Royal Hats
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: September 8, 2015; May 13, 2015
Dearest readers, there is much here to discuss. We’ve got interesting shape, different proportions and unexpected colour. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on these hats!

Hats From the Past

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Royal Hats forty years ago to this day in 1977 and the christening of Peter Philips at Buckingham Palace. Turbans seem to be the style of the day and the Queen, her mother, her sister and daughter all wore versions in blue. The colour coordination is amusing, as is the slight air of ‘swimming costume’ eminating from the Queen Mum’s blue feathered design and the ‘fallen chef’s hat’ look of Princess Anne’s striped design. Thankfully, this is not a millinery era that looks likely to come back en vogue.

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Photo from Getty as indicated and Mirrorpix via Getty