Best New Royal Hats of 2015

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Royal Hats

2015 best hat small

I am so excited to share your choices for the top ten best new royal hats we saw in 2015. You have chosen very well, dearest readers, and now is time to pick a winner. In random order, here are your ten finalists (please click on any of the captions below each photo to jump back to original posts to see additional description and detail of the hats):

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You have seen the finalists- now it is time to cast your vote. Voting will remain open until January 15 at midnight GMT and we will celebrate the winner shortly thereafter. You can vote once every twelve hours for as many hats as you wish. To make things interesting, I have hidden results until the poll is finished. Happy voting!

Photos from Getty as indicated; Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A./Corbis; Sören Andersson / TT via The Swedish Royal Court; Eric Gaillard / Reuters; Patrick van Katwijk/dpa/Corbis, and Patrick van Katwijk/dpa/Corbis

Best New Royal Hat of 2015: Luxembourg and Norway

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Royal Hats

2015 best hat small

After looking at the royal hats worn by Belgian and Danish royals in our quest to find the Best New Royal Hat of 2015, we turn our attention today to entries from Luxembourg and Norway. While even the monarchs in these two nations are not frequent hat wearers, there were a number of new pieces that the Grand Duchess, Queen and other princesses débuted this year. I have continued my editorial hand here, omitting a number of hats (the Grand Duchess’ two pillboxes here and here; Princess Claire’s spiky cocktail hat and Princess Alexandra’s headband; Princess Mette-Marit’s fascinator and these funeral hats) from the pollfor streamlining purposes. Click on any of the photos to jump back to original posts to see additional description and detail of the hats.

A reminder that the hats with the most votes across this semifinal will move forward to the final face off. If you don’t think any of these hats are worthy of the title of Best of 2015, save your vote (or take another look at the Belgian or Danish polls). The next poll will be up tomorrow.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Princess Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

1. 2. Princess Stèphanie, June 17, 2015 | Royal Hats 3.

Princess Claire and Princess Tessy of Luxembourg

4. 5.

Queen Sonja of Norway

6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11.

Are any of these hats deserving of the title of Best New Royal Hat of 2015? Voting will remain open until January 1, 2016- you can vote for multiple hats once per day.

Luxembourg National Day

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Royal Hats

The Luxembourg royal family celebrated their country’s national holiday yesterday with attendance at a civil ceremony, a military parade and an inter-religious Te Deum at the Luxembourg Cathedral. While hats did not appear at the first two events (except for uniform caps), a quintet of lovely pieces were donned for the Te Deum.

View image | gettyimages.com

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa used the occasion to début a new ‘slice’ brim picture hat with upfolded brim raised high over one side of the hat’s crown. The dramatically shaped hat was trimmed in bold, wide curling straw ribbons (the same ones we saw adorn numerous hats at Ascot last week) which adorned the underside of the raised brim. Maria Teresa has worn this style of hat in the past- while some argue it gives her some height, I think the shape overwhelms. It’s a beautiful hat and it pairs well with her tan and black embroidered suit but I think a different shape would have been better suited the Grand Duchess.

View image | gettyimages.com

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

The Hereditary Grand Duchess topped her beautiful yellow dress with a light picture hat. The hat, made of slim strips of crin sewn together to give a striped effect, featured a gently ruffled brim on one side into which a large yellow feather was tucked. I am firmly on the fence with this piece- the stripes give it a dime-store vibe that I just can not shake and the feather is simply awful. It does, however, have a lovely sense of light airiness that works well with Princess Stèphanie’s yellow dress and her beautiful hair and makeup provides the polish and elegance which the hat lacks. I adore that Princess Stèphanie is slowly starting to experiment with her hats and hope this trend continues.

View image | gettyimages.com

Princess Stèphanie, June 23, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Princess Claire wore a large white picture hat with rolling brim, trimmed simply with a black band around the base of the crown. The hat is a simple but very chic piece that worked very well with her dotted red dress and amazing earrings.

View image | gettyimages.com

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

Princess Alexandra topped her pale green lace dress with a 1920s flapper-style headband. While I’m not sure the headband was a great match for her dress, there is something so lighthearted and unexpected about this piece that makes me smile.

View image | gettyimages.com

Designer: Amelie D’Hooghvorst
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Princess Tessy fast-forwarded two decades from her sister-in-law, bringing a 1940s fashion vibe into her look today. Her headpiece, a high curling base of gossamer grey straw trimmed with feathers, worked beautifully with her navy dress and waved hairstyle and perfect red lip (has ever a red lip set off a hat so well?). The modern headpiece is an unexpected choice to round out a vintage look but Tessy looked stunning in it.

View image | gettyimages.com

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

It is always lovely to see the entire family together at this event- which one of these hats stood out most to you?

View image | gettyimages.com

Photo from Getty as indicated and Jean-Claude Ernst via Tageblatt

Luxembourg Royals Join Octave Procession

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Royal Hats

Members of the Luxembourg Royal family took part yesterday in the closing procession of the Octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg, a national religious celebration that occurs every year several weeks after Easter. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa used the occasion to début a new pillbox hat in dove grey felt. Maria Teresa wears pillboxes well (her hairstyle is particularly well suited to them) and while she often favours ensembles in brighter colours, I liked this more streamlined combination of hat and silver brocade coat on her.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, May 10, 2015 | Royal Hats

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, May 10, 2015 | Royal Hats Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Princess Claire topped her raspberry red dress and jacket with a black percher cocktail hat trimmed with several feather pompoms. The black hat tied well with Claire’s other black accessories and added a touch of whimsy to her ensemble but its placement was off- instead of perching over an eyebrow on the side of the head as a percher should, Claire wore this hat just off the center of her forehead. Move it down a bit and I think we’d have a winner.

Princess Claire, May 10, 2015 | Royal Hats

Prince Felix and Princess Claire brought their daughter, Princess Amalia, out for the royal family’s balcony appearance. The wee princess sported a tiny pink hair bow along with her quizzical expression. Adorable.

Princess Claire, May 10, 2015 | Royal Hats

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

Princess Tessy repeated the lovely grey and navy saucer hat she wore for this event last year. The grey hat, trimmed with navy piping and large looped straw bows, is a great shape and scale on Tessy and she wears it well. I’m just not sure its pairing with her blousy grey jacket was a good idea. Her sleek navy lace dress last year showed this hat so beautifully and the proportion of this ensemble seems painfully off in comparison.

Princess Tessy, May 10, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: I suspect it is House of Fraser
Previously Worn: May 26, 2014

While several members of the family were not in attendance for the Octave procession (the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess were away attending WWII commemoration events across Europe), it looks like an enjoyable time was had by those who took part. What did you think of this trio of royal hats in Luxembourg?

Luxembourg Royal Family, May 10, 2015 | Royal Hats

Photos from Chris Karaba, Lucien Koneczny, Lucien Koneczny, René Scho, René Scho, René Scho, Chris Karaba and Chris Karaba via RTL and Wort

Royal Hats this Year: Liechtenstein & Luxembourg

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Royal Hats

Royal Hats Year In Review 2014 Here are a look back at all of the hats and headpieces worn by members of the royal houses of Liechtenstein and Luxembourg this year. Please click on each photo to link to larger views and detailed information on each hat.