Tag Archives: Princess Alexia

Danish Golden Jubilee: Extended Family & Royal Guests

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Princess Benedikte used the occasion to debut a new hat in biscuit colour straw with wide cartwheel brim and straight-sided crown. The hat is trimmed in a bias hatband in the same woven fabric as the ensemble’s coat, looped on the side in a bow. While I’d have preferred the hatband to be a little shorter, the overall look is still wonderfully elegant.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: this hat is new

Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg wore a lilac silk covered halo bandeau headpiece trimmed with an arc spray of feathers and side bow.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: unknown

Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg repeated her mother’s cream sinamay hat with wide upsweeping brim. We’ve previously seen this hat trimmed only with a wide sinamay hatband and it’s a nice change to see the large silk rose in apricot hues that Nathalie added to link the hat with her dress.

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Designer: Mathilde Førster 
Previously Worn by Princess Benedikte: Jun 23, 2021; Jun 2, 2018

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece wore a cream straw pillbox trimmed in a swath of dotted ivory net tulle and pleated circles of pink and beige straw.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this is new

Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark wore a headpiece of pink silk ruffles studded with pink feathers.

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Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark topped her pink dress with a seafoam green sinamay folded disc trimmed wtih a feather and sinamay flower. Princess Nina of Greece and Denmark wore a rounded half hat covered in midnight blue velvet, trimmed with a large navy silk bow.

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Countess Sussie of Rosenborg (wife of Queen Margrethe’s first cousin Count Ingolf wore a white felt rounded beret trimmed with a multi-looped bow.

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Queen Silvia of Sweden repeated a white straw calot hat trimmed with a multi-looped white bow on the side studded with silver sparkles and wrapped in burnt white feathers.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Premier rendez-vous” design.
Previously Worn: Sep 8, 2020; Sep 30, 2014; April 5, 2014; May 22, 2013; May 29, 2012; April 16, 2010; May 23, 2009; April 22, 2009; April 15, 2008

Queen Silvia wore an ecru felt cloche with unique ribbed detail on the side of the crown and a slim hatband.

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Which hats stood out to you at this event?!

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Images from Getty as indicated  

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  

Hats From the Past: Christening of Princess Isabella

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Thirteen years ago today, Princess Isabella of Denmark was christened in an intimate service held in the chapel of Fredensborg Palace, the Danish royal family’s summer home.

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Crown Princess Mary topped a dusky pink Birgit Hallstein dress with the same cream silk flower bandeau headpiece by Malene Birger she had worn for Prince Christian’s baptism in 2006 (and she would later repeat for the christening of Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine in 2011).

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Larger than a bandeau, the headpiece’s scale gives it enough presence to stand on its own without obscuring a view of the baby and the floral motif gives is a delicacy and charm that feels very right for the occasion. The colour is so wonderful against Princess Mary’s hair and easily pairs with different ensembles, although this dress fell flat for me. In this ensemble, I think the headpiece was one of the most successful elements.

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Queen Margrethe wore her recognizable pink and green ensemble with patterned floral silk dress and wide brimmed vibrant green straw picture hat, trimmed with pink straw loops. Ever the romantic, Prince Henrik tied in his ensemble with a pink shirt.

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Princess Benedikte topped her pink coat with the loveliest ecru straw brimmed hat (how elegant are the lines on the brim’s  cartwheel shape) trimmed with a pink spray of silk flowers on the side. Her daughter, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, wore a bandeau headpiece of deep purple flowers.  Carina Axelsson topped her pink dress with a pale almond straw brimmed hat with gently sidesweeping brim, trimmed with an ecru wide hatband and side ruffled bow. Queen Anne-Marie of Greece wore a wheat coloured straw hat with upturned, rimmed kettle brim and a textural, woven hatband.

Princess Isabella’s godmothers included Queen Mathilde and Prince Frederik’s first cousin, Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark. Mathilde topped her lace coat with a matching wide padded bandeau headpiece, covered in the same lace and trimmed with a multi-looped black silk side bow. Princess Alexia wore a cream bandeau headpiece with spray of goose biot feathers on the side.

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Royal guests included Crown Princess Victoria who wore a bandeau headpiece with textured fabric base, trimmed with applique flowers and a pair of feather quills. Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore her gold Prada headband with blush silk bow on one side.

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Princess Mary’s stepmother, Susan Donaldson, wore a deep eggplant silk floral fascinator with dotted tulle bow.

Looking back, this event is a noticeably more informal and intimate affair than Prince Christian’s baptism was, just 18 months earlier.  The palate is so light and summery, although today’s current popularity of bandeau style headpieces makes me surprised to see so many here, 13 years ago! Perhaps these royal ladies were just ahead of fashion?!

What do you think of these royal hat looks? Which ones stand out most to you?

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Photos from Getty as indicated; Polfoto

Greek Royal Wedding 20 Years On

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Last month marked the 20th anniversary of a major royal wedding in London attended by three Kings and eight Queens. On July 9,1999 Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark married Carlos Javier Morales Quintana, a Spanish architect and a champion yachtsman, at St. Sophia Cathedral. Over the next few days, we’re going to take a look back at this event.

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The bride went to one of her mother’s favourite designers, Austrian Inge Sprawson, for her sleek gown in ivory satin. With long, fitted sleeves and a wide v-neck, the focal point of the dress was a pair of diagonal crossed seams at the waist that created a fitted bodice silhouette and attached the gown’s skirt.

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The straight skirt flowed into a modest sweep train with a longer, detachable train fixed at the waist. The back of the dress was decorated in a row of beaded buttons which were repeated on the underside of each sleeve.

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Following the tradition set by her grandmother and followed by her mother, aunts and cousins, Alexia wore her great-grandmother Crown Princess Margaret’s Irish lace veil anchored with the Danish royal family’s Khedive of Egypt Tiara.

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A simple gown is usually the best way to show off such an amazing vintage lace veil but I’m just not sure that the cut and fabric of this dress entirely flattered it’s wearer. For me, it always paled in comparison to the amazing gold beaded Armani dress with portrait neckline she wore two days earlier to a pre-wedding party- a look I’ve long thought was her very best. It was breathtakingly stunning

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Princess Alexia was attended by her sister Princess Theodora, who wore a long sleeved gown in floral embroidered lilac silk organza with sheer sleeves and a draped neckline.

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Bridesmaides included Princess Alexia’s 3-year old niece, Princess Olympia, and Princess Mafalda, daughter of Prince Kyril and Princess Rosario of Bulgaria (the Prince and Princess of Preslav). Their dotted white silk organza full-skirted frocks with lilac silk sashes were topped with delicate white floral hair wreaths. Pageboys wore high waisted lilac silk trousers with white silk Peter Pan collared shirts.

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Fascinators were very popular in 1999 (Queen Elizabeth famously wore one two weeks earlier for the wedding of the Earl and Countess of Wessex) making Queen Anne-Marie’s headpiece of lilac feathers a fashionable choice at the time. From today’s viewpoint, it seems a fussy choice for her lace trimmed coat and dress.

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Crown Princess Marie-Chantal topped a textured suit with a wide brimmed hat in light ecru straw. The design featured a raised brim around the front behind which was a large grin unstructured bow.

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I’m curious, dearest readers- what do you think of this bridal look and hats, 20 years on?

Jump over to the following posts to review hats worn by the many royal guests:

Danish and Spanish Extended Royal Families
British Royal Guests
Norwegian and Swedish Royal Guests
Luxembourg, Jordanian, and Eastern European Royal Guests

This Week’s Extras

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Have a lovely Sunday- I’ll be back first thing tomorrow for focused coverage and discussion on hats worn for the Romanian national holiday and look at two (one new!) designs worn by Queen Elizabeth over the weekend at the Windsor Horse Show.

On Tuesday, Empress Masako was spotted arriving at the Imperial Palace with the emperor to rehearse their first court ritual which took place on Wednesday. She repeated her unembellished almond bumper hat.
Also on Tuesday, the Duke of York was spotted in uniform as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards (with cap) for the morning’s Changing of the Queen’s Life Guard at Horse Guards riding new Cavalry Black horse ‘Darby’, apparently practicing for the upcoming Trooping the Colour.
On Wednesday, King Carl Gustaf donned his trusty brown fedora for the World Wildlife Fund’s annual meeting, held this year at Huvudskär and Utö in the Stockholm archipelago. The same day, King Harald commemorated Norwegian Armed Forces Day and Liberation Day at Akurshus Fortress, predictably in military uniform with cap.
Infanta Elena donned a neutral straw fedora to watch her daughter, Victoria de Marichalar, open the Seville Fair in a traditional Spanish mantilla with tall peineta comb (see more photos and video here). And 20 years after meeting at this event, the Dutch King and Queen returned this week along with their three daughters… and a quartet of wonderfully vibrant floral headpieces.


On Wednesday, Princess Alexandra visited a life boat station in Shoreham. She repeated her ice blue straw hat with tall crown wrapped in coordinating net tulle, designed by Rachel Trevor Morgan.
Queen Margrethe unveiled a new statue of Denmark’s longest reigning monarch King Christian IV (1577 – 1648) in Copenhagen yesterday. She repeated a hat with ecru straw crown and grey straw double brim for the event.


The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Emerald straw button percher with vibrant ribbon trim and soaring quills by NY milliner Jennifer Hoertz
Pink felt wide brimmed hat with rose gold diamanté hatband from LA based milliner Gladys Tamez
VA VA VOOM red straw percher with the most fantastic curving trim by Australian brand Jill and Jack Millinery
Exquisite curving cream disc with pink handmade blooms and curving quills by Rachel Trevor Morgan
Navy beret percher with hand-beaded bow by Irish milliner Michelle Gleeson
Classic ivory straw picture hat with monochrome leaf printed brim by British milliner Bee Smith
Colourful red and green embroidered lace headpiece from German milliner Nicki Marquardt
Black and white patterned straw pyramid with crin and tassel trim by Italian brand Giulia Mio Millinery

Another interesting article on the Empress of Japan, written by someone with personal connection (The Asahi Shimbun)
King Hamad Of Bahrain and sons Sheikh Nasser and Sheikh Khaled were spotted out for a ride at Windsor Castle in between days spent enjoying the Royal Windsor Horse Show this week
Did you see this delightfully sweet exchange between Queen Elizabeth and former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Tuesday?

Princess Margriet presented the Duke of Sussex with an adorable gift during his quick visit to The Hague this week to official launch this year’s Invictus Games, to be held in The Netherlands.

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And finally- the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared this sweet photo of ten wee toes today, in honor of Mother’s Day (notice the background forget-me-not flowers, a favourite of the Duke’s late mother)

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated