Christening of Prince Nicolas

Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her husband, Christopher O’Neill, brought their son Prince Nicolas to be christened today at the Drottningholm Palace Church. For this happy family occasion, Princess Madeleine wore a large headpiece of magenta silk flowers with a coordinating straw ribbon twist that threaded through the piece.

Princess Madeleine, October 11, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Princess Madeleine, October 11, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats    Princess Madeleine, October 11, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

 

Designer: Philip Treacy. Coat by Valentino
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new

Princess Leonore was dressed up for her little brother’s big day in a headband with double side bow which coordinated with her lace trimmed grey linen dress.

Queen Silvia celebrated her first grandson with an all blue ensemble. Her exquisite coat and dress in cornflower blue silk  was topped with a silk-covered calot hat in the same hue. The hat is trimmed in monochrome feathers and a multi looped bow. While Queen Silvia has worn numerous calot hats this year, the colour of this piece is particularly beautiful on her and she looked wonderful in it.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Kerstin Carlefalk
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Princess Victoria topped her royal purple 1960s cut dress with an equally retro pillbox hat. The shape, scale and colour of this piece are so fantastic on the crown princess that I’m left hoping that she adds a few more pillboxes to her millinery closet, soon.

Crown Princess Victoria, October 11, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats    Crown Princess Victoria, October 11, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Princess Sofia unveiled another new fascinator for this event to top her magenta dress. In pale pink felt, this double bow was wrapped in dotted burgundy net veil. On its own, the headpiece leans toward twee but paired with this dress and her hair in ringlets, it’s an overload in pink sweetness.

Princess Sofia, October 11, 2015 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats    Princess Sofia, October 11, 2015 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats

 

Designer: Malinda Damgaard
Previously Worn: This fascinator is new.

Chris O’Neill’s mother Eva wore a grey felt percher cocktail hat trimmed in a mass of felt and silk curls. The base of the hat has exaggerated pinches that form it into a triangular shape that reminds me of a military cap. I thought the hat was shown off exceptionally well against Eva’s sleek blue coat, grey dress and charcoal accessories.

Eva O'Neill, October 11, 2015 | Royal Hats    Eva O'Neill, October 11, 2015 | Royal Hats

Chris’ sister, Countess Natascha Abensperg und Traun, who is one of Prince Nicolas’ godmothers, wore a large red floral headpiece that was anchored to her head with a band across her forehead. Natascha has worn dramatic hats to previous royal events (see here) but this one is several steps too far over the top for me. Chris’ other sister, Tatjana D’Abo, attended the event but photos of her have been difficult to find (feel free to post links in the comments, please!)

Countess Natascha Abensperg und Traun, October 11, 2015 | Royal Hats Countess Natascha Abensperg und Traun, October 11, 2015 | Royal Hats

Countess Marianne Bernadotte wore a natty little cream bowler hat trimmed with a golden brown ribbon around the base of the crown and a tulle veil. While simple, this small piece looked so stylish on the Countes, thanks to the rakish angle placed it on her head.

Countess Marianne Bernadotte, October 11, 2015 | Royal Hats

And finally, Princess Christina’s daughter-in-laws Vicky Magnuson and Frida Bergström were both spotted in interesting millinery. Vicky wore a white disk saucer hat trimmed with white flowers and ribbons and navy edging around the piece. Frida wore a sage green flat headpiece of overlapping leaves, trimmed with faux jewels at the side.

Viky Magnuson and Frida Bergström, October 11, 2015 | Royal Hats Frida Bergström, October 11, 2015 | Royal Hats

Swedish Royal Wedding: Extended Swedish Royal Family

Royal Hats  With many members of the extended Swedish Royal Family in tiaras for the wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Sofia Hellqvist today, a significant part of the Swedish collection of jewels was on display.  Princess Christina wore the Six Button Tiara. It’s a rather clunky piece but Christina’s hair colour and style provided soften the linear base of the tiara and make the buttons seem less disjointed as they usually do. This is one of the rare cases when I think this tiara works better than the rest of what she is wearing.

Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld topped her bright pink caftan gown with the Cut Steel Tiara. The gold frame of this tiara is a great match with Désirée’s warm-hued hair and while this pairing of gown and tiara would not have been my first choice, surprisingly, they worked well together.

Princess Margaretha topped a beautiful grey brocade tunic and jacket with the exquisite Aquamarine Kokoshnik Tiara. Pairing aquamarines can be tough as the pale stones are easily washed out with too much contrasting colour but this pairing was perfect. What was less than perfect, however, was Princess Brigitte’s ensemble. Her  tiara, the Baden Fringe Tiara, is certainly striking but her choice to wear it with a fur jacket and pink palazzo jumpsuit is absolutely bizarre.

Princess Brigitta’s daughter, Désirée von Bohlen und Halbach, wore the Pearl Circlet Tiara. We seldom see all pearl tiaras and Désirée showed this one off beautifully with the choice of her royal blue gown.

Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg wore a delicate diamond tiara. The tiara alone is beautiful but I’m afraid that the rest of the ensemble- lace dress, bow cuffs, pearl choker, fur trimmed stole, embroidered purse- was a case of too many beautiful statement pieces at the same time.

Finally, Countess Bettina Bernadotte of Wisborg topped her blue gown and jacket with a small diamond tiara. The tiara, made of of triangular peaks, is a rather spiky one that might have benefited from a softer hairstyle. It is not a piece I have seen before and suspect it does not get out much.

That concludes our look at all the Swedish royal tiaras! Next, we will start looking at the tiaras worn by royal guests.

Photos from Getty as indicated

Royal Hats this Year: Sweden

Royal Hats Year In Review 2014We still have a number of royal houses to review in our look back at royal millinery in 2014. Here are all of the Swedish royal hats we saw this year (click on each photo to link its original post with larger views of each hat):

Countess Marianne (#1 and 2), Countess Gunnila, Princess Madeleine and Princess Christina

1. Countess MarianneBernadotte of Wisborg, March 2, 2014 | Royal Hats  2. Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats  3. Countess Gunilla Bernadotte of Wisborg, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats  4. Princess Madeleine,  June 8, 2014 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats  5. Princess Christina, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Victoria

6. Princess Victoria, March 2, 2014 | Royal Hats   7. Princess Victoria,  June 8, 2014 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats   8. Princess Victoria, June 15, 2014 | Royal Hats   9. Princess Victoria, August 30, 2014 | Royal Hats 

10. Princess Victoria, September 8, 2014 | Royal Hats  11. Princess Victoria, September 30, 2014 | Royal Hats  12. Princess Victoria, November 22, 2014 | Royal Hats

Queen Silvia

13. Queen Silvia, March 2, 2014 | Royal Hats 14. Queen Silvia, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne |Royal Hats 15. Queen Silvia,  March 26, 2014 | Royal Hats 16. Queen Silvia,  April 4, 2014 in Whitely | Royal Hats 

17. Queen Silvia, June 6, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne  | Royal Hats 18. Queen Silvia,  June 8, 2014 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats  19. Queen Silvia, June 15, 2014 | Royal Hats 20. Queen Silvia, August 16,2014  | Royal Hats 

21. Queen Silvia,  September 23, 2014 | Royal Hats 22. Queen Silvia, September 30, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats 23. Queen Silvia,  December 2, 2014 | Royal Hats 24. Queen Silvia, December 12, 2014 | Royal Hats 25.Queen Silvia, December 26, 2015 | Royal Hats

Do any of these hats make your list for favourite royal hat of 2014? Are any among your least favourite?

Swedish Royal Christening: Extended Family

As I wrap up a review of the hats at the Swedish royal christening on Sunday, I thought we would take a quick peek at some hats worn by members of the extended Swedish royal family. The King’s sister, Princess Christina (who is Princess Madeleine’s godmother), wore a purple flower fascinator trimmed with wispy purple feathers. I love the contrast of this shade of purple in her white hair but paired with her purple dress, coat, and wrap, the look was rather one-note.

Princess Christina, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Princess Margaretha (to the left, behind Chris O’Neil) wore what looks to be a white feathered fascinator. To her right (immediately above Chris’ head), Princess Désirée to her right seems to be wearing a white calot hat at the back of her head. We’ll have to save judgement on these pieces until better photos are available.

Swedish Royal Christening, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Countess Gunnila Bernadotte of Wisborg (widow of the King’s uncle Prince Carl Johan of Sweden)  wore a stunning pale grey straw hat. The under side of the brim was in  white straw, edged in slim black piping and the hat was trimmed with a black sash around the crown and large black loops. Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg (widow of the King’s uncle Prince Sigvard of Sweden) wore a lovely mint green straw hat trimmed with a monochrome ribbon around the crown and spray of silk blossoms on the side.

Countess Gunilla Burnadotte of Wisborg, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats  CountessMarianne Burnadotte of Wisborg, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Bettina Aussems (wife of Queen Silvia’s nephew Thomas Sommerlath) topped her red sheath and scarf with a simple hat in the same colour. Embellished only with a ruched sash around the crown, I thought this hat was a great tutorial for effective monochrome dressing.

Bettina Aussems, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Maline Sommerlath (wife of Queen Silvia’s nephew Patrick Sommerlath who was named one of Princess Leonore’s godparents) followed the unofficial dress code of the day: lace dress + fascinator in the same colour. I thought the headband on this fascinator drew too much attention away from the bloom itself and would have preferred it hidden in her hair. This one fell a little flat for me.

Maline Sommerlath, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats  Maline Sommerlath, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

And finally… Prince Carl Philip’s longtime girlfriend Sofia Hellqvist wore a grey looped bow fascinator trimmed with white net and feathers. I found this headpiece most haphazard, with the trimmings unrelated to the looped bow (and another visible headband problem). Sofia’s hair was beautifully styled for a fascinator but this was not the right one.

Sofia Hellqvist, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Looking back at all the marvelous millinery at this christening, my favourite headpiece was the one worn by Crown Princess Victoria. I am curious- which one was your favourite?

Photos from Patrick Van Katwijk via Corbis; Bertil Ericson/TT via Kungahuset; Patrick van Katwijk and Patrick van Katwijk via Corbis; Lasse Allard and Jonas Ekstromer via Aftonbladet

Te Deum for the New Princess

The Swedish Royal Family formally celebrated the birth of their newest member, Princess Leonore, with a Te Deum service in the Royal Chapel in Stockholm. Queen Silvia wore a classic pillbox hat in powder pink to mark this celebration of her new granddaughter. I can only imagine the colour of this hat was deliberate (cue the “aaahs”) and Silvia always looks good in a pillbox.

Queen Silvia, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog

Crown Princess Victoria wore a large white feather fascinator around her chignon. To be honest, I thought it was messy headpiece and made her look like a kagu. I want to be kind but I know she can do so much better.

Princess Victoria, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog Princess Victoria, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog

Previously Worn: April 16, 2010

Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg (widow of King Carl Gustaf’s uncle Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg) chose what looks like a hat with a wide fur upturned brim. While I am not usually a fan of fur hats, I do like how well this one paired with the matching stole and cuffs on her coat. The whole look was quite regal.

Countess Marianne Burnadotte of Wisborg, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog

Sofia Hellqvist, longtime girlfriend of Prince Carl Philip, wore small beaded black headpiece. It’s a little small and cutesey for me but since she is not officially a royal it seemed appropriate. Since we see Sofia consistently at these Swedish Royal Family events, I can only imagine it is a matter of time before she officially joins the family.

Sofia Hellqvist, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats BlogThese hats fell a little flat for me today- what do you think?

Photos from Pelle T Nilsson via Expressen