Tag Archives: Princess Märtha Louise

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  

Dutch Royal Wedding 20 Years On: Guests

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We finish our look back 20 years at the May 2001  wedding of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien today with hats worn by royal guests and extended members of the Dutch royal family to the couple’s religious ceremony.

Princess Mathilde wore a white parasisal straw hat with slightly flared, flat-top crown and generous mushroom brim. The classic black and white scheme always works and I really like how the black stitching on her coat was reversed in white on the hat’s black hatband.

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Crown Princess Victoria took a more neutral path with a tan and cream subtle plaid coat and dress topped with a picture hat in beige straw. It was not a dynamic look (it’s all rather biscuit!!), not helped by the low curve of the hat’s gently sidesweeping brim that sat awkwardly low over Victoria’s face.

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Mette-Marit Tjenssem, who would become Crown Princess of Norway three months later, wore a blush coat with sequin detail repeated on the hatband of her cream picture hat. It was another quiet ensemble (despite the sequins) but nice, from today’s vantage point, to see Mette-Marit in a brimmed design.

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We can usually count on Princess Märtha Louise to bring some colour and she did not disappoint at this event, pairing her lilac shantung silk suit with a deep orange statement hat. Between the hat’s vibrant shade, extended brim with point ends, fuchsia brim binding and brim stitching and hatband of cut orange and fuchsia silk leaves, it was a memorable design.

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Princess Kiko was in head to hem pale butter yellow. Her hat was a most interesting shape with a bumper style overtop a downward facing visor- it really defies description. Can you remember seeing her in another design of this shape? It feels unique.

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Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg topped her red suit with a natural straw woven hat with rounded crown and fluted brim bound with chocolate binding and topped with a layer of silk petal studded crin… or a large patterned lace? The hat was finished with a large flower on the left side.

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The Countess of Wessex wore two toned hat with green fluted crown and palest seafoam parasisal straw with very interesting, inverted brim and trimmed with peacock feathers. We don’t see many two toned hats and while this one reflects millinery styles of the time, still was a well balanced and interesting (in a good way!) design.

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Princess Alexandra De Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berlebourg (Princess Benedikte’s eldest daughter) contrasted her pale blue ensemble with a copper straw picture hat. The unexpected scheme worked, as did the hat’s scale on Alexandra’s tall frame. I really like the proportion between the hat’s crown and wide brim and the textural contrast provided by the stitched silk bow.

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Princess Miriam of Bulgaria wore a folded black sinamay design with black and white feathers and a black veil.

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Princess Margriet wore a wide brimmed hat in red sinamay with long sinamay sash folded over the hat. That folded sash was unique, as hat trimmings go, but seemed at odds with the rest of the design.

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Princess Marilène (back row behind Prince Constantijn) wore a dark hued, wide brimmed hat. Princess Irene (front row on right, beside Maxima) wore a lime green straw boater with extended brim. Princess Christina (second row, in between Prince Constantijn and Queen Beatrix) looked to be in a hat with black brim and royal blue crown.

It’s always interesting, looking back at past events, which hats seem timeless and which ones reflect specific styles of the time. Looking back 20 years at this event, which hats stand out most to you?

You can see hats worn by immediate family (and the bride’s attire) at the religious ceremony here and hats at the civil ceremony here.

Images from Getty as indicated  

Christening of Princess Estelle, Nine Years On: Royal Guests & Extended Family

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t’s no surprise that Princess Estelle’s christening on May 22, 2012 was also attended by numerous royal guests and extended members of the Swedish royal family.

Queen Margrethe wore a navy straw wide-brimmed picture hat. Navy dotted white tulle overlaid the open-weave straw brim and a large flower of white feathers adored the piece on the side. The scale of the piece is such a contrast from the brimless and short-brimmed hats we’re used to seeing on the Danish queen today and while the tulle looks overly fussy to me now, it links the hat well to Margrethe’s dotted ensemble.

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Queen Mathilde (was was Crown Princess at the time, wore a layered calot hat in the same taupe silk chiffon as her skirt. It’s not an terribly exciting hat but anything with more presence likely would have competed with her elaborate beaded jacket and the overall look is certainly festive, however subdued.

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Princess Máxima, who would become queen a year later, stood out in a red suit and Fabienne Delvigne ruched turban. The turban is beautifully draped and pairs well with the modern-vintage vibe of the suit, the vibrant colour giving some much needed pep at an event that, as we’ve seen, saw so many pale and neutral ensembles. Trust Máxima to liven things up.

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Princess Märtha Louise wore a pale straw pink hat with layered raw-edge brim. The jaunty angle provided by the brim’s sidesweeping shape gave it lovely lift and that unfinished edge, echoed on the hat’s wide hatband, contrasted well with the smooth silk of Märtha’s jacket. With diamond chandelier earrings and an ecru and blush striped dress, it was a great look for her.

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As this was Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy’s first major royal event (she and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume would marry five months later), it wasn’t a surprise that she dipped into her future mother-in-law’s closet for a hat. This grey pleated silk abaca headpiece by Fabienne Delvigne requires some millinery courage to pull off and while I wasn’t thrilled about its pairing with this grey bouclé jacket, Stéphanie still wore it well.

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The King’s sisters were all in attendance, Princess Margaretha in a grey pillbox with side bow, Princess Birgitta in a white rose fascinator and Princess Désirée in a red Garbo hat with relaxed brim. Princess Christina wore a disc headpiece in navy straw painted with white Swiss dots, edged in white binding and trimmed with navy and white feathers (see a better view of it at Crown Princess Victoria’s 40th birthday celebration here).

Princess Christina’s daughter-in-laws, Emma Magnussen, Vicky Andren and Frida Bergström were all in attendance. Emma’s navy crin headpiece featured a birdcage-style transparent brim and was studded in slim feathers. Vicky’s taupe straw hat was trimmed in a triple stacked hatband with straw flower and goose feathers on the side.

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Frida Bergström (4th row, far left) wore a loden green pillbox hat swathed in a gold dotted net veil. Also seen in the photo above are Countess Marianne Bernadott (3rd row, far left in front of Frida) in a mint green brimmed hat (see a better view at a later wearing here) and Dagmar von Arbin (4th row, 4th from left) in a purple straw pillbox studded with silk flowers (see a better view at Prince Oscar’s christening here). After the palate of very pale neutrals we saw in the first post, the brighter spring hues seen in the photo above give some welcome vibrancy to this event!

Nearly a decade on, which hats stand out most to you from this event?  To see hats worn by Princess Estelle’s family members and godparents, jump over to this post. 

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Photos from Getty as indicated; SVT and the Swedish Monarchy

This Week’s Extras

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Last Sunday, Princess Kako was spotted arriving at the Imperial Royal Palace to greet her grandparents on the occasion of her 25th birthday.
Also last Sunday, Princess Hisako attended the national Women’s Football Championship final in a chocolate bowler variation with interesting black knotted felt hatband. On January 1st, she attended the Emperor’s Cup football match in an ecru bumper hat with fur brim and side bow.


Members of the Norwegian royal family wore simple bandeau headpieces (some in pink, presumably a statement of hope) for yesterday’s funeral of Ari Behn. Princess Laurentien wore a sleek black turban-style hat. You can also read Princess Märtha Louise’s touching statement, released last night, here.


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The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Statement folded star headpiece by British milliner Bee Smith
Elegant brimless blocked hat in oxblood felt by Russian milliner Lia Gureeva
Dark green ruffled velvet bandeau by UK brand Camilla Rose Millinery
White button percher with wonderful printed twists by Hong Kong-based Irish milliner Noeleen

Lovely picture of the Emperor and Empress Emeritus and their family, taken in mid-December
Amazing new photo of Queen Elizabeth and the UK’s future 3 kings released to celebrate this new decade

Photos from social media as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Weighing in on last week’s extras a bit late. Stay tuned later today for a separate post on the British royals at the Braemar Games and church this weekend.

On September 1, Princess Märtha Louise donned a fluffy pink organza and net fascinator for Derbyday at Øvrevoll Racecourse.
On August 31, Queen Margrethe wore a white straw hat with kettle brim and lace hatband to unveil a statue of Bernhard Arp Sindberg in Aarhus. The hat is so well paired with her blue and white dress.
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Crown Princess Mary repeated her black straw wide brimmed hat with pleated wave on one side of the brim last Thursday for Danish Flag Day. The hat, by Danish milliner Susanne Juul, had a newly added large black pleated flower on the side.

 

For Prince Hisahito’s 13th birthday last Friday, the Imperial Household Agency released photos taken on the private leg of his recent visit to Bhutan with his parents that show the young prince and Princess Kiko in informal cotton bucket hats. It’s fun to see the Akishinos looking so informal!
Princess Anne, Timothy Laurence and Mike Tindall in casual hats yesterday at the Burghley Horse Trials to watch Zara compete (she took a fall off her horse but reportedly, both were not injured)
Empress Masako in a white hat with double sky blue hatband and back bow yesterday at the 39th National Sea Enrichment Festival in Akita City.
The following new millinery designs caught my eye last week:
Black straw bumper with trio of large, rolled crin & straw flowers by New Zealand milliner Monika Neuhauser
Mustard yellow felt percher (in such a unique shape!) with bows by British milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan
Two-tone sinamay rolled disc hat with wonderful floral trim (see the back!) by Kenyan milliner Chloe Mitchell

And from Russian milliner Denis Gulyaev, this sculpted fedora in the most stunning shade of dark raspberry felt with a deep purple wrapped hatband.

Empress Emerita Michiko underwent surgery for breast cancer Saturday (Sunday in Japan). I’m sure you all join me in surrounding her with wishes for healing and wellness.
Interesting article in the New York Times about Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Princess Beatrice’s boyfriend). Seems he’s much more than a handsome face.
Charming photos shared by the Belgian monarchy of Princess Elisabeth, Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel and Princess Eléonore on their first day of school last week
Several royals came up against interesting doppelgangers last week- King Philippe and Queen Mathilde both faced their likenesses on canvas (the portrait of Queen Mathilde is wonderful!) while the Duchess of Cornwall met herself in this charming work in blackwork needlepoint (a type of embroidery using only black thread).
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Photos from social media as indicated