Tag Archives: Princess Maria Laura

Luxembourg Royal Wedding: Royal Guests

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 This wedding was attended by a number of “minor” royals from across Europe. Princess Maria-Laura of Belgium, who is also Archduchess of Austria-Este through her paternal side, wore a brimless bright pink hat with swarthy net veil.

Princess Maria Laura, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor, seen here behind Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen of Austria, were the only members of the British royal family in attendance (although their attendance was not in an official capacity but a personal one). Lady Nicholas wore a new hat that is difficult to see here but that appears to be a brimless sphere in cream straw. I think it’s a great shape for Paola although I will wait for a better view to weigh in further.

Lady Nicholas Windsor, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Fürstin Gabriela zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn wore a very beautiful beige picture hat with a diagonal band that wrapped around the crown down to the brim, edged in black. I think the hat would be improved with the removal of the red carnation flower but it is still a beautifully shaped hat. (On a side note, I get a kick out of Gabriela’s husband Fürst Alexander stealing some happy iphone snaps in the second shot!)

Fürstin Gabriela zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog Fürstin Gabriela zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Archduchess Alexandra of Austria topped her cream suit (I love the pleated ruffles around the cuffs and collar) with a classic black cartwheel-brimmed hat. The oversize bow on the hat was not to my taste and made the hat look rather dated.

Archduchess Alexandra of Austria, September 21, 2013 | The Royal Hats Blog

Archduchess Hélène of Austria wore a very small grey ribon fascinator. I was disappointed in this headpiece; Hélène’s beautiful sharply graphic suit could have carried a much more dramatic hat and I thought this crumpled bit of ribbon did not measure up. Hélène’s daughter Archduchess Priscilla of Austria wore the same cream hat she wore to Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen’s wedding last year. This hat is fascinating to me because underneath the mass of wide ribbon trim this hat is a simple straw bowler. I think the ribbon trim makes the shape work very well and it is very flattering on  Priscilla’s oval-shaped face.

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While not officially a royal, Donna Beatrice Borromeo attended with her longtime partner, Pierre Casiraghi. Beatrice wore a dramatic headpiece of two black feathers that wrapped around her head in a wide spiral. I’m not sure I like the way the headpiece attached to the side of her head but the overall effect of this hat was unique and startlingly beautiful.

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Designer: Philip Treacy

Archduchess Anna-Gabriele of Austria wore one of my favourite hats of the day, a wide brimmed taupe straw picture hat with a short crown. It’s such a fun hat that I thought looked lovely with Anna-Gabriele’s short hairstyle.

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I think the most showstopping hat of the day was worn by Princess Isabelle of Liechtenstein. Her choice, a gigantic purple mushroom shaped picture hat trimmed in white edging and voluminous tulle veil, was dramatic to say the least. The hat was a little over-the-top for my taste and I am still perplexed by the outfit she chose to pair it with. Picture hats and turtlenecks just don’t work well together… ever.

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I think this showstopper is a great hat to end my hat coverage of Claire and Felix’s wedding. I’m sure you join me in wishing this lovely young couple a lifetime of love and happiness.

Photos from Getty as indicated; Albert Nieboer and Crystal / Slash News via Corbis

Belgium National Day: The Rest of the Family

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The Royal Hats Blog

The entire Belgium Royal Family was on hand today to celebrate National Day and witness the swearing in of new King Philipe (see Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola and Queen Mathilde in this post).  Philipe’s sister, Princess Astrid, wore a pink Chanel bouclé suit and matching textured fabric pillbox hat, trimmed with large flat bow at the back. Astrid’s fashion and hat choices in the past have tended toward the bold (and avant garde) and this look seemed unexpectedly demure.

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Astrid’s eldest daughters, Princess Maria Laura and Princess Luisa Maria, both wore pink fascinators. Maria Laura was in a pink and blue mass of loops with a blue net bow; Luisa Maria wore a pink base covered in silk roses in varying shades of pink with green net and pink feathers. Both fascinators were fussy, fun, lighthearted and slightly crazy- all the things that a fascinator should be. I thought they were great choices for these two young royal women.

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Princess Claire, wife of the King’s brother Prince Laurent, also chose a dress and jacket by Natan with a Fabienne Delvigne designed folded asymmetrical straw apricot-coloured hat. It looked like a stylized rose bloom to me and I think paired well with her patterned dress. I have waffled back and forth about this hat all day, wondering if it’s too off balance… in the end I have decided to like it.

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For the military parade, Princess Claire removed her jacket and changed into a cream coloured straw hat with ribbon and bow around the crown also designed by Fabienne Delvigne. It’s a perfect summer hat and I thought it was lovely on her.

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Princess Léa (wife of King Albert’s late step-brother Prince Alexander seated behind Princess Claire to the left), wore a feathery pink fascinator. It coordinated perfectly with her tailored pink suit and looked great with her hair in a chignon. It was an understated look but I thought it was very elegant

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All in all, it was a great day of hats in Belgium. Which one was your favourite?

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Photos from Getty as indicated 

Hat Coming of Age

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 Reader M.C. submitted the following hat question:

 I noticed the royal little girls do not wear hats. Is there a time in their lives when they “come of age” and start wearing hats?

Great question! If you look at the current generation of younger adult royals (age 20-45), you will notice a few trends. In the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Denmark and Norway), I was not able to find hats worn by princesses before they turned 18. I believe the first hat publicly worn by Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden was for her father’s 50th birthday celebrations in April 1996, just before she turned 19 years old.

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The Spanish royal ladies wear hats very seldom (we have only seen Princess Letizia wear three hats in her decade of royal life) and the Dutch Royals have no birth princesses in this generation to review. In the Belgian royal family, Princess Astrid’s eldest daughter Princess Maria Laura was just shy of her fifteenth birthday when we first saw her don a hat for her uncle Prince Laurent’s wedding.

In Great Britain, the royal little girls start seem to start wearing hats at an earlier age. The first hat I can find Zara Phillips wearing was to Ascot in 1989 when she was eight years old (although we have no way of knowing if the hat was worn for fashion, for Ascot dress code or for sun protection). The next hat I was able to find  Zara wearing was at Christmas 1994.

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Zara Philips at age 8, June 20, 1989 and age 13, December 25, 1994

There are only two birth princesses in the British Royal family in this generation- Princesses Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of York. These young girls were first seen in hats at the funeral of their aunt Princess Diana in September 1997.

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From this point, the two York princesses were seen in hats at most royal family events.

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At Balmoral (age 8 & 10) with their grandparents, August 31, 1998

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Christmas at Sandringham (ages 11 and 9) December 25, 1999

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Princess Beatrice (age 13) and  Princess Eugenie (age 12) attending the Queens Golden Jubilee, June 4, 2002

Lady Louise Windsor appeared publicly in her first hat last on Christmas Day 2011 when she was eight years old. It appears, however, she has not made a full transition to hat wearing as we have not seen her in a hat since then (she attended most of the Diamond Jubilee festivities last year as well as Trooping the Colour the past two years and the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation last month)  I suspect Louise will start wearing hats to Christmas and Trooping the Colour on a regular basis within the few years.

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Christmas Day at Sandringham in 2011

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium (who will become Crown Princess when her parents accede the throne on July 21) will be twelve years old this fall and we will have to stay tuned for her first hat as well. I also suspect that Princess Amalia of The Netherlands, if she inherits some of her mother’s flair for fashion, will start wearing hats  earlier than her contemporaries Princess Leonor of Spain, Princess Ingrid of Norway, and Princess Estelle of Sweden.

One thing is certain, M.C. – there are a few exciting years of hat watching ahead as the youngest generation of European princesses start wearing hats and find their individual millinery style! Thanks so much for submitting your question.

Photos from Crochet/Demaret/Photonews via Getty Images

Wedding Guest Hats, Ten Years Later

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The wedding of Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of Belgium ten years ago today was a “mini” royal wedding – Laurent was the son of a king but not the heir to the throne. A number of royals from across Europe attended and there were some great hats on display. After looking at the bride’s veil and dress earlier today, let’s now turn our attention to the guests’ hats.

Queen Paola and Claire’s mother Nicole looked like they coordinated their millinery as both were in unadorned  light brown natural straw hats with upturned brims. Nicole’s hat featured a square shaped crown while Paola’s was a more traditionally rounded shape to highlight her dramatic diagonal brim. Their hats were both winners for me and both were designed by Fabienne Delvigne.

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The groom’s aunt Queen Fabiola of Belgium wore a hat in her favourite colour (lavender) with a wide upturned brim and silk flower trim. I loved how she placed it at a jaunty angle on her head and thought she looked just beautiful.

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Claire’s sister Joanna looked very demure in a soft pink 1920’s inspired cloche with side fan bow also designed by Fabienne Delvigne. In considerable contrast, Princess Mathilde (the groom’s sister-in-law) looked rather dramatic in a huge pink metallic straw conical pyramid hat designed by Maison van den Borne. It’s a lot of hat for this petite princess and I think it overwhelms her a little. Since we’ve never seen her repeat this one, I can only guess that she was on the fence about it, too (although, I can’t imagine the average daytime royal engagement warrants THIS big a hat!).

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Princess Astrid (sister of Prince Laurent) gave birth to her fifth child, Princess Laetitia only ten days after the wedding and thus was not able to attend. Her eldest daughter, Maria Laura, carried on her mother’s zany hat style with this ruched pink organza Peach Basket style hat. As this was this young Princess’ first major public hat occasion I’m going to give her a pardon and only comment one word: lampshade. Enough said.

Princess Lea of Belgium wore a blue picture hat of ruched straw while Princess Esmeralda wore a large red straw picture hat with square crown and breton-style upturned brim edged in a wide bias stripe of straw.

Princess Lea and Princess Esmeralda, April 12, 2013 | Royal Hats

Princess Esmeralda, April 12, 2013 | Royal Hats

Most of the Luxmbourg Royals (who are cousins as their mother was King Albert’s sister) were in attendance. Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein (née Princess of Luxembourg) wore an elegant beige straw hat with mushroom shaped brim and back bow. Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg wore a large lilac straw hat with high upturned brim. I loved both these hats, although I could have done without the rest of Sibilla’s outfit.

Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein | The Royal Hats Blog

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Grand Duchess Maria Teresa must have also received a memo to wear a hat with an upturned brim because that’s exactly what she did- in bright orange.

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The Swedish Royal Family was represented by Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine. Victoria wore a chocolate brown straw picture hat with a square crown designed by Philip Treacy (and trimmed by Treacy’s signature pink looped bow). This remains one of my favourite hats that Victoria has ever worn. Madeleine wore an ice blue straw hat with a slightly mushroom shaped brim and side fan bow.

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The Dutch Royal family were represented by Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien. Laurentien wore a watermelon pink straw hat with – you guessed it – another upturned brim! It’s a great hat, although I think Laurentien ‘s fine features would be better complimented with a more delicate hat (and no crazy collar necklace). It was also a Fabienne Delvigne design.

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Also in attendance were Prince Kardam and Princess Miriam of Bulgaria (before their awful car accident in 2008)  and the Duke and Duchess of Bragança. Miriam wore a peach straw hat with a small, flat brim and drown wrapped in organza net. With flowers also on the side, there’s a lot going on with this hat. Isabel wore a simple cream straw hat with rolled brim and side flower detail. It’s not the most exciting of hats but I like it much better than the chocolate brown hat streak she’s on these days.

 

Princess Inaara Aga Khan (wife of the Aga Khan) wore this whimsical transparent beige pstraw brimmed hat with purrple straw hatband.

Prince Laurent and Princess Claire celebrate this, their tenth anniversary with their children Princess Louise and twins Prince Nicolas and Prince Aymeric, who joined them in 2004 and 2005. The family does not play any official royal role but we see them joining the rest of the Belgian Royals for major events like the Remembrance Te Deums every February and the National Holiday in July.

Looking back at their wedding from a decade later, I have to name this “The Wedding of the Upturned Brim!” That being said, many of the hats were unadorned and could be easily worn today. I think my favourite was Princess Victoria of Sweden in that elegant brown and pink picture hat. Which one did you like best? And which one would you still wear today?

Photos from The Royal Forums; Svenskdam; and The Royal Forums