Tag Archives: Empress Michiko

This Week’s Extras

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I need to step away from Royal Hats from Monday until the end of the month for some ‘real’ work focus and travel. I’ve planned a series on past Ascot hats and ask again that in my absence, you all share whatever new hats are worn each day in the comments of these flashback posts. I promise to be back soon!  

On Monday, the Imperial family marked the 30th anniversary of Emperor Showa’s death at Musashino Imperial Mausoleum in Hachiōji, Tokyo. Empress Michiko, Princess Kiko, Princess Akiko, Princess Hisako and Princess Tsuguko all wore black hats. The Imperial Crown prince and princess marked this anniversary at the Imperial Palace, Princess Masako in an ecru silk covered hat with high, upturned Breton brim.

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Zara Tindall posed with her husband, Mike on Monday, holding a pink straw sun hat.

On Wednesday, Crown Princess Victoria visited Livgardet (The Life Guards) in Kungsängen in a military green beret.

Also on Wednesday, Princess Sofia was photographed in a pink sun hat at a polo match in Florida where she, Prince Carl Gustaf, and the King and Queen are on holiday, visiting Princess Madeleine and her family.
The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Winter white beautifully embellished bandeau by Ukrainian milliner Elena Martynenko
Adore this pink straw percher with exuberant ostrich pompom by Australian milliner Meg Rafter
Forrest green velvet felt trilby with slim pale blue hatband by British milliner Bundle MacLaren
Honey orange straw percher with silk roses, veil & burnt feathers by London-based Turkish milliner Merve Bayindir
Blush straw dramatic sidesweep with pale grey looped rings from Irish milliner Aiofe Harrison
Prim Mary Poppins inspired embellished straw boater by British brand Frase Annand Millinery
I’m not usually partial to a bowler hat but adore this vibrant and fresh take on the bowler  by Italian brand Borsalino
Lovely blue straw kokoshnik bandeau with veil and white leather flowers by British milliner Justine Bradley-Hill
Amazing citrus branch headpiece by Australian milliner Rebecca Share that won top prize at Magic Millions Raceday

And from Australian milliner Danica Erard, this vibrant pink straw saucer with flying red bow around the front brim.

The Danish Royal Court shared this charming portraits of Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent to celebrate their eighth birthday.
How sweet is this snap, shared by their mum, of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella of Monaco returning to school after Christmas break?
Great view of London from the cockpit of a helicopter, flown from Kensington Palace to The Royal London Hospital by the Duke of Cambridge to celebrate the London Air Ambulance’s 30th anniversary.

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated 

This Week’s Extras

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Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria wore brimmed hats last Sunday to the funeral of Count Oscar Bernadotte; Princess Sofia wore a black hair bow and snood. You can see the hat and headpiece worn by Dagmar Von Arbin (née Countess Bernadotte of Wisborg) and Countess Marianne Bernadotte here. 
Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Laurence were in Chile last weekend to take part in a number of events to mark the Bicentenary of the Chilean Navy.
A preview of the Swedish royal annual documentary shows the Crown Princess and her family enjoying summer in several casual hats.
On Wednesday, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended the 50th anniversary ceremony of the Sharoushi Act in Tokyo. The Empress repeated a small grey rimmed saucer hat with layered silk bow.

Princess Masako celebrated her 55th birthday today with a visit to the Imperial Royal Palace. She wore a repeated robin’s egg blue rounded pillbox for the visit.

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Black wave-shaped saucer trimmed with autumn leaves by Italian milliner Giulia Mio
Forest green cloche with ruffled brim ’round the back by British brand Whiteley
Wonderfully chic wide brimmed, tri-colour straw Panama hat by Australian milliner Neil Grigg
Adore the unique shape on this blocked bright pink hat shared by British milliner Tracy Chaplin
Veiled black felt hat with layered mushroom brim by Russian milliner Lia Gureeva
Button perchers with veil and pompom embellishment from British milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan
Very  handsome navy blue fedora with ribbon hatband and feather trim from British brand Christys
Angular chocolate felt hat and snappy plaid crin hatband by Czech milliner Jolanta Kotabova
Sideswept picture hat covered in coral ostrich feathers by British milliner William Chambers
Slightly bonkers sisal boater covered in flowers and 3D polka dots by California milliner Amy Fowler

And from Irish millinery brand Angels and Insects, this red velvet blocked percher trimmed with luxuriously beautiful scarlet velvet and silk dahlia blooms and green leather leaves. LOVE.

Charming new portrait of Princess Ingrid and Prince Sverre on the occasion of the prince’s 13th birthday
Princess Madeleine shared this sweet snap of Princess Leonor’s ballet debut in The Nutcracker

Photos from BestImage and social media as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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In all of last weekend’s Armistice centenary commemorations, I missed Queen Mathilde who wore a very smart new black felt hat by Fabienne Delvigne.
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Prince Carl Philip out for a fall walk with sons Alexander and Gabriel last weekend, all in casual hats
Wee Princess Elisabeth of Hanover in a sweet pink hair bow, photographed with her mother, Princess Ekatarina and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece at the London opening of Marie-Chantal’s new children’s boutique
On Wednesday, Empress Michiko wore a lovely new pale pink saucer hat with lattice crin underbrim and floral trim to an event at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center in Tokyo
Yesterday, Princess Akiko attended the 50th anniversary ceremony of the Professional Ski Instructors Association in a navy hat with wide plaid hatband.
Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Ingrid visited an Arctic research facility today in cosy hats 
King Mohammed opened a new high-speed rail line in Rabat this morning. He was joined by French President Macron on Thursday to inaugurate the railway that boasts the fastest journey times in Africa and the Arab world.
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The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Adore the colour on this burgundy felt fedora with wonderful feather trim from French milliner Anthony Peto
Black straw saucer with gold windowpane crin extended brim & bow from Latvian brand Rubina Millinery
Retro pillbox in vintage printed Pucci-esque fabric by Melbourne milliner Chris Mullane
Liquid silver calot with layered hanging chain trim from British milliner Victoria Grant
Dark green veiled headpiece in velvet, straw and crin from Irish brand Marc Millinery
Black straw teardrop percher with straw calla lily trim from London-based Turkish milliner Merve Bayindir
For you dear gents- this very smart navy felt trilby with natty hatband and feather trim from Stetson Europe
Elegant red felt sideswept brim hat with black flower & feathers from British milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan
Sparkling black bandeau headpiece with sequin floral trim from British milliner Justine Bradley-Hill
Stunning swirling gold feather headpiece from Australian brand Jack and Jill Millinery

And the loveliest red felt rose trimmed capulet hat (a cloche with upfolded brim around the front) from Czech milliner Jolana Kotabova

Don’t miss reading the marvelous toast given by the Queen to the Prince of Wales at his big birthday party on Wednesday night complete with puns and poignancy. British royal photographer extraordinaire Chris Jackson also shared this wonderful photo gallery of shots he has captured of Prince Charles over the years along with the fantastic pair of portraits took of the Wales family in the garden of Clarence House in summer. Lovely new portrait


Congratulations to Princess Theodora of Greece who announced her engagement to Los Angeles lawyer Matthew Kumar
We end the week with these sweet snaps, shared by Princess Charlene, of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella’s first trip to Paris where they had tea with Madame Macron.

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This Week’s Extras

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On Tuesday, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko began a 3-day visit to Kochi. The first two days saw her in small saucer hats in shades of slate grey-blue and mushroom grey.
On Thursday, Empress Michiko repeated a black and white houndstooth saucer with black bow
Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako celebrated 150th anniversary of Japan’s first Lighthouse. For this event,  held at the Palace Hotel Tokyo in Chiyoda, Princess Masako repeated a white bowler hat with brilliant blue hatband.
Two interesting hats for Princess HIsako in Fukuoka- a pink brimmed design with ruffled hatband in the same patterned fabric as her skirt and a repeated olive green kettle brimmed bowler with raspberry and green stacked hatbands.
Little Princess Elisabeth of Hanover sported a sweet cream knit bonnet at her christening.
Amazing feather butterfly on this black percher by Scottish label Angels & Insects Edinburgh
Lovely lines on this pale blue straw cloche by New Zealand milliner Anél Heyman Millinery
Red felt button percher with maple leaves by London-based milliner Yuan Li
Stunning simplicity on this blue felt design with square crown & sideswept brim by Dutch milliner Myra van de Korput
Wonderful shape on this black headpiece with straw flower by Australian milliner Faye Thornley
Lovely, delicate beadwork on the top of this lilac felt pillbox by Latvian brand Rubina Millinery
Crisp navy boater with sharply executed ribbon trim and tulle puff flowers from Melbourne milliner Lauren Ritchie
Beautiful deep burgundy looped abaca bandeau with roses from British milliner Juliette Botterill
And from Melbourne milliner Louise MacDonald, a ruched white straw turban with pale aqua straw ruffle (which sounds simple enough but looks unlike any hat I’ve ever seen) and a stunning wide-brimmed saucer with feathers

A peek inside Kei and Ayako Moriya’s wedding banquet at the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo on Tuesday reveals a surprise tiara on Ayako (seen previously as a necklace on her mother) topped her flower-trimmed pink gown (the pink silk was a gift from the Moriya family to Princess Hisako in 2014)


While on the topic of Imperial royal fashion-longtime Japanese designer Jun Ashida passed away last week. This New York Times article about his royal fashion connection is most interesting.
The Princess of Asturias made her first public speech and showed considerable poise and confidence amidst many flashbulbs.
We close this week with a very sweet snap shared by Princess Madeleine. Have a great end of weekend!

Photos from social media as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Last Friday and Saturday (September 28-29), Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were in Fukui open the 73rd National Sports Festival. The Empress wore this black saucer with salmon bow along with a repeated grey saucer during the visit. 

Princess Annemarie of Bourbon Parma in a small pearl hair embellishment last weekend in Berceto

On Tuesday, Princess Hisako and Princess Ayako visited the Daikaku-ji Temple in Osaka. Princess Hisako wore a grey silk hat with saddle brim and wide silk jacquard patterned hatband while Princess Ayako wore a navy pillbox with large ombre fluted bow at the back.

Scroll to the second photo below to see the small felt hat with kettle brim Queen Sonja repeated on Tuesday for the opening of Norwegian Parliament.

King Carl Gustaf wore his trusty fedora for a visit to Götland this week- this video clip shows the funny moment when a gust of wind carried the hat away (thanks to reader Jesper for sharing this!)

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:

Rose gold straw boater with leather floral trim from New Zealand millner Claire Hahn
Wonderful natural straw pillbox with red straw ruffle trim from Australian milliner Louise MacDonald
Periwinkle straw hat with lattice brim and crin ruffles from Texan milliner Bay Willow
Raspberry layered leaf headpiece with beaded accents from Italian millinery brand Gallia and Peter
Simple and classic- British milliner Laura Cathcart in a black straw pillbox with single silk flower of her own design
Adore the lines of this royal blue parisisal beret with stunning rolled-edge bow from Aussie brand Jill & Jack Millinery
Showstopping silk leopard button percher with black crin ruffle and feathers from Irish brand Montgomery Millinery
Giant wicker watermelon headpiece by British milliner Stephen Jones spotted at the Thom Brown 2019 spring women’s collection runway show in Paris. You know, for anyone who needs a watermelon headpiece.

 Royal Hats

Princes Nikolai and Felix with their maternal grandmother and mother, the Countess of Frederiksborg, at the launch of the Countess’ new book

Lovely to see Noriko Senge (former Princess Noriko of Takamado) join her mother and sister on Tuesday for a photo exhibition of Princess Hisako’s Netsuke (Japanese traditional miniature sculptures)

Buckingham Palace making lemonade out of lemons as they clear out the palace for renovation and use some of the displaced objects and works of art for a new exhibition at the Brighton Royal Pavilion