Members of Monaco’s Royal Family gathered to celebrate their national holiday today. And a national holiday, dear friends, means lots of royal hats! While Princess Charlene did not attend the celebration mass at Cathedrale Notre-Dame-Immaculee de Monaco or watch the military parade, she did make an appearance on the balcony in the most quintessential of French hats. While the black hue feels too harsh for my taste, the simple lines of this beret seem a good fit with Charlene’s clean-lined fashion aesthetic. She looks quite chic in this beret, don’t you think?

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

Princess Caroline of Hanover and Monaco’s hat was neither clean nor simple but it was great fun. She topped her navy tweed dress and jacket with a whimsical navy cocktail hat trimmed with straw ribbon twists, feathers flying off in all directions, and a large navy net tulle veil. On its on, I find the hat to be rather run of the mill but paired, to great contrast, with her austere suit, it made a fantastic combination.

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

Tatiana Santo Domingo Casiraghi wore a gently sloped black pyramid hat trimmed with a large black bow. Tatiana is known for her bohemian fashion style and I thought that her ensemble was an interesting style departure for her. In the end, I think her beautiful grey and blue lace suit was much more successful than the hat which, from a distance, looked like a squashed mortar board.

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

Oddly shaped as it was, Tatiana’s hat was a vast improvement to the headpiece worn by Princess Stephanie. For the second year in a row, Stephanie trotted out a royal scrunchie to secure the chignon in her hair. I defer to the words of commenter edoep who wrote last year, ” ‘dear steph, please note: a scrunchie is NOT a teeny-weeny hat!” That sums up my sentiments as well.

Baroness Elisabeth-Anne de Massy (Prince Albert’s first cousin, the daughter of his father’s sister Princess Antoinette) wore a stylised black bowler hat with black net veil (behind Princess Caroline, below), Her daughter, Mélanie-Antoinette Costello de Massy (beside Princess Stephanie, below), wore a black cloche variation with a square crown, wrapped in a ruched black sash.

And finally, the Duke and Duches of Castro, who are close friends of Prince Albert, were also in attendance. Camilla topped her purple coat dress in a coordinating slouchy Fez-style hat which was trimmed in a swath of net tulle veil. While the hat has a slight air hostess vibe about it, the colour is lovely on her and the concept is unique. It’s nice to see a hat we don’t see every day, isn’t it?

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

Because Monaco’s national holiday falls at this time of year, we usually see hats in dark, wintery hues and this year was no exception. Did any of these hats stand out to you?

Photos from Getty as indicated