Tag Archives: Princess Benedikte

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

Hats From the Past: Christening of Danish Twins

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Nine years ago this week, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary brought their young twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, to Holmens Church in Copenhagen to be baptised.

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Crown Princess Mary repeated the cream silk flower bandeau headpiece by Malene Birger she had worn for Prince Christian’s christening in 2006 and Princess Isabella’s in 2007.

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The delicate headpiece is a great option for an event like this, beautifully framing Princess Mary’s face while allowing for a full view of the baby. It’s a flattering and wearable piece that works so well against her dark hair and adds a lovely amount of softness to the overall ensemble, tying in so well with these exquisite antique christening gowns.  The styling here is also impeccable with great colour contrast between the headpiece and Mary’s saturated blue dress (it works so much better than the competing patterns it was paired with on its first outing) and a few statement jewelry pieces that add that bit of regal ‘wow’ to the elegantly streamlined ensemble.

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Princess Isabella looked charming in a pink hairbow to match her silk dress, tied to the braid on the side of her head.

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Queen Margrethe wore a brimless design covered in the same vibrant blue weave as her coat. The hat is trimmed with a wide stripe of plaited velvet ribbon and braid that wraps over the hat and a pair of feather spines circled with in curled goose biot feathers.

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Princess Marie topped her pale greige wool coat with a straw beret-based percher hat in the same colour from British brand Whiteley. The hat is trimmed with a triple looped straw curl.

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Princess Benedkite topped her mint coat with a warm toast brown hat of sewn braid with Breton style upturned brim. The hat is trimmed in a wide mint petersham ribbon hatband that ties in a bow at the back, topped with a slim coppery brown ribbon. Queen Anne-Marie wore a navy straw classically-shaped pillbox hat trimmed with a small navy velvet bow at the front.

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Princess Tatiana of Greece topped her navy ensemble with a blue feather headpiece, formed in the shape of a lotus flower. The hat is surrounded by burnt feathers and a striped quill with gentle curl in the center completes it. Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Princess Benedikte’s eldest son, who is one of Prince Vincent’s godparents) attended with his parnter, Carina Axelsson, who wore a pink floral headpiece tucked into her chignon.

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Prince Charles and Princess Camilla of Bourbon Two Sicilies attended the event (Prince Charles is one of Princess Josephine’s godparents). Camilla wore a characteristically flamboyant ensemble topped with a watermelon pink straw pyramid hat bound in a wide stripe of burgundy velvet and topped with a mass of deep pink feathers.

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Princess Mary’s stepmother Susan Donaldson wore a sculpted wire flower headpiece and her sister Patricia wore a calot headpiece of embellished grey feathers.

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How do these milliner designs hold up, nearly a decade later? What looks here stand out most to you?

Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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On Tuesday, January 14, Princess Margriet arrived at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam for the annual New Year’s reception in a casual, navy hat (she and other members of the Dutch royal family changed into formal attire inside the Palace!)
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Burgundy felt brimmed hat on Empress Masako for the the 40th anniversary ceremony of the National Rehabilitation Center for Disabled People & the National Occupational Rehabilitation Center on January 22. The windowpane pleated silk on her lapel is repeated on the hatband for an interesting touch.
Fun connection made for Princess Tsuguko’s burgundy hat- it seems to date back as far as 1993
Zara Tindall in a heathered grey felt fedora with darker grey hatband today at the Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham Racecourse
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British milliner Jane Corbett shared this photo of a bespoke hat she created and was shipping off to a lucky client. Many of you will recognize it…
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Packing a hat for sending to client in the USA, never made any duplicates of this royal Christmas hat at the time but years on I am happy to do just that and it’s a delight that has stayed in so many peoples minds as a lovely hat, always a favourite of mine, my signature shape and such a gorgeous rich colour. Cradled in tissue paper this classic ‘Jane Corbett’ is almost ready to go, safe travels! milliner #millinery #millinersofinstagram #hat #felt #sculpturedfelt #britishstyle #britishdesigner #couture #couturemillinery #duchessofcambridge #signaturestyle #aswornby #kate #happymemories #lovemyjob #burgundy #classic #classichat #royalfashion #hatdelivery #styleinspiration

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The following new millinery designs caught my eye over the past two weeks:
Layered black and red sinamay straw hat by Zambian Dutch milliner Alice Ng’andwe Vermeulen
Stunning headpiece in purple and pink hand rolled organdie by British milliner Bee Smith
Beautiful bugle bead embroidery on this cherry red felt calot by Tasmania-based milliner Meghan Briton
For our dear gents, this handsome chocolate fedora with silk hatband by Danish brand Hornskov København
Deep claret felt beret percher with very fun feather pompoms by British milliner Awon Golding
Pink and purple felt fedoras with lovely pleated hatbands by German brand Bedacht Millinery
Love the sparkle on this sequin covered beret percher by Texas-based brand The Mad Duchess
Australian milliner Jill Humphries’ feather covered percher with flame twist in midnight blue
Beautiful colour and shape on this claret red felt fedora from British brand Christys Hats
From Dutch milliner Eugenie van Oirschot, this showstopping hat in navy and royal blue silk that leaves me at a loss of words to describe.

 

I suspect I’ve missed a number of noteable royal events and hat outings over the past week but trust you’ll share them here to catch me up!

Photos from social media as indicated

Danish Opening Of Parliament 2019

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Members of the Danish royal family attended their country’s annual opening of Parliament yesterday in Copenhagen. Queen Margrethe wore an unexpectedly quick repeat of the purple felt hat we saw her wear over the weekend. There’s not much to add to my last comments- great colour, interesting brim shape and lovely proportions. The bow is not my favourite trim option for this hat but it works.

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Designer: Likely Per Falk Hansen
Previously Worn: Sep 28, 2019; Jan 20, 2013; Apr 1, 2013; Oct 20, 2012; Oct 2, 2012; Jan 15, 2012

Crown Princess Mary repeated the pink brimless hat we first saw her wear in Latvia late last year.

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Photos from this outing show the hat is not a pillbox as it first appears (and continues to appear, from front and side views!) but follows a calot shape with indented center that forms a thick, raised cuff around the design. While I don’t adore the shape, it certainly gives the hat more presence and statement than a traditional pillbox shape would have, and for that reason, I like it more than I did on its first outing. Pink can be tricky in royal wardrobes (easily too bright or too twee) but this dusky hue works really well on Mary and the overall look is polished and sleek.

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Designer: Susanne Yuul. Coat by Claes Iversen.
Previously Worn: Dec 6, 2018 

Princess Benedikte topped her hunter green wool with coordinating felt hat with high bumper sides and domed crown trimmed with two navy straw leaves that artfully wave from one side across the back of the design.

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I can’t remember seeing Benedikte in a hat this colour and the departure is a good one, particularly with the addition of her patterned silk dress to give the ensemble some lift.

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What do you think of this trio of hats yesterday in Copenhagen?

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated 

Greek Royal Wedding 20 Years On: Danish & Spanish Extended Families

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We don’t often see a  royal bride who counts four queens between her mother, grandmother, and aunts but such is the reality of Princess Alexia’s family tree. As such, her wedding was an extraveganza of royal hats on high profile royal heads.  Alexia’s grandmother, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, wore an ensemble in pale lilac with a cuffed ring brim hat. Made of the same fabric (silk crepe?) as her dress and coat, the hat’s centerpiece was its woven crown, a unique design touch that gave it wonderful texture.

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Queen Margrethe topped her vibrant floral dress with a picture hat in the same hues. The wide brimmed design, in grass green straw, was trimmed in whimsical twists of layered pink and white curling straw.

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Princess Benedikte was in sunny yellow from head to hem. Her straw hat featured a flat crown, silk hatband stitched in narrow rows and folded into a flat front bow, and a wide downturned brim overlaid in a swath of yellow net veil studded with silk rose petals. While the colour seems very much of the time, the classic shape translates better than her ruffle trimmed suit!

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Princess Benedikte’s elder daughter, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein Berleburg, wore an ivory straw hat with flared and domed crown and wide brim that sloped downward in back and upwards in front. An overlay of informally ruched sinamay paced over the brim gave movement and a touch of modernity to the design.

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Princess Benedikte’s younger daughter, Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein Berleburg, seen behind Prince Charles in the photo below, wore a sky blue sinmay hat with squared crown and sideswept brim trimmed with a multi-looped bow on the side.

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While Queen Sofia did not wear a hat, Infanta Elena’s statement piece was impossible to miss. While structure here is difficult to pinpoint (Is it a pyramid? Do I see a small, rounded straw crown on th very top?), the hat’s focus was its wide cartwheel brim entirely covered in cream ostrich feathers. The phrase “lot of look” comes to mind to describe Elena’s couture suit and hat on steroids and I admire how much milliny confidence it must have taken to carry off such an over-the-top hat. It’s such a memorable royal hat moment.

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Infanta Cristina topped a blue dress and grey silk organza coat with a neutral almond straw hat with curved brim. The hat’s classic shape and streamlined trim (just a slim hatband) made a chic maternity look for Cristina.

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Infanta Margarita, who we seldom see, wore a very simple veiled headpiece. This is one of those times when function seems to have trumped fashion as the choice seems to satisfy the need for a headcovering, but that’s all. Do any of you recall seeing this headpiece from other angles?

There are some colourful and memorable hats among this group of royal relatives- I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Photos from Getty as indicated; ORBAN THIERRY/CORBIS SYGMA