Seen It Before: Sharing Among The Swedish Royals

Royal Hats One of the major royal events this summer will be the wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Sofia Hellqvist. Sofia has attended a number of royal occasions in the past and worn several hats and headpieces. Eagle eyed reader Sara noticed something familiar about one of these hats:

Sofia Hellqvist. March 16, 2013 | Royal Hats Sofia Hellqvist at the March 2013 funeral of Princess Lilian

Crown Princess Victoria, May 14, 2012 | Royal hats

Crown Princess Victoria at the May 2012 funeral of Count Carl Bernadotte

No question- it’s the same hat. It makes me curious if we’ll see some more hat swapping between Sofia and Princess Victoria as Sofia starts her royal life.

Photos from Lehtikuva.fi and Ragnar Singsaas / Stringer via Getty

 

 

This Week’s Extras

Royal Hats

Wonderful to see Princess Astrid of Norway enjoying a Worldcup Biathlon race (Royal House of Norway)

Prince Charles in protective headwear to mark the 150th anniversary of London’s sewer network this week (Getty)

Cuteness alert- Princess Estelle learning to ski in Verbier (Iltalehti) and cheering at the Nordic Skiing World Championships with the Swedish Royal Family (Robin Utrecht Photography). You can also see the Swedish Royal Family bundled up at the championship’s opening ceremonies (Paris Match)

Pierre Casiraghi’s fiance Beatrice Borromeo in a voluminous fur hat in St. Moritz (Hola)

Royal Hats

Fantastic interviews with 3 generations of princes in Liechtenstein on the occasion of Prince Hans Adam’s 70th birthday last weekend (Luxarazzi)

The Duchess of Cornwall sparkled at a movie premiere this week (The Daily Mail). Head over to The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendour for a closer look at Camilla’s ruby collar necklaces.

Two interesting articles on the Queen Elizabeth’s art in her private apartments and a piece of royal history saved from the scrap heap (Telegraph)

And finally… part one of a BBC documentary about Prince Charles’ relationship with the media. I’ll post part two next week.

Swedish Royals Attend Opening of Parliament

Members of the Swedish Royal Family accompanied King Carl Gustaf this morning to officially open Swedish Parliament. As is tradition, the family was dressed in black and white, a dress code they adopted in the 1970s when the court dress requirement for this event was abolished.

Swedish Royal Family, September 30, 2014 | Royal Hats

Queen Silvia repeated a white ruched calot hat with a large beaded, looped bow. I thought her beautiful pearl jewellery helped tie the hat with her black suit and kept the ensemble from looking too starkly contrasted.

Queen Silvia, September 30, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Silvia, September 30, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: April 5, 2014; June 4, 2013; May 29, 2012; April 26, 2010; May 24, 2009; April 22, 2009; April 15, 2008

Crown Princess Victoria topped her black and white dress with a striped hair bow nestled in her chignon. While I like the integration of the bow with her hairstyle, I really do think royal hair bows are best left to her daughter. It might be too much to dream but can you imagine how fantastic she would have looked in something like this non-royal but very famous black and white picture hat, worn earlier this week?

Crown Princess Victoria, September 30, 2014 in Evelina Persson | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Victoria, September 30, 2014 in Evelina Persson | Royal Hats

Designer: Evelina Persson
Previously Worn: I believe this headpiece is new

Sofia Hellqvist, fiance of Prince Carl Philip, attended this year’s Opening of Parliament for her first time. She wore her hair back in a neat chignon as well, and topped it with a sweeping headpiece of black and white feathers. From the front view, you can see how nicely this fascinator framed Sofia’s face. I particularly liked how the  mix of black and white on both her headpiece and clutch provided just the right compliment to her beautiful black suit. For her first official royal engagement, I think Sofia did very well.

Sofia Hellqvist, September 30, 2014 in Mode Rosa | Royal HatsSofia Hellqvist, September 30, 2014 in Mode Rosa | Royal Hats

Designer: Evelina Persson
Previously Worn: I believe this headpiece is new

Click here to see a lovely seven minute clip of the Royal Family’s arrival. The hats today were not that exciting, I’m afraid, although we did see the official debut of a new royal hat wearer who did very well. What did you think of this lineup of Swedish royal hats and headpieces?

Photos by IBL via Svenskdam; and IBL via Svenskdam

Swedish Royal Christening: Extended Family

As I wrap up a review of the hats at the Swedish royal christening on Sunday, I thought we would take a quick peek at some hats worn by members of the extended Swedish royal family. The King’s sister, Princess Christina (who is Princess Madeleine’s godmother), wore a purple flower fascinator trimmed with wispy purple feathers. I love the contrast of this shade of purple in her white hair but paired with her purple dress, coat, and wrap, the look was rather one-note.

Princess Christina, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Princess Margaretha (to the left, behind Chris O’Neil) wore what looks to be a white feathered fascinator. To her right (immediately above Chris’ head), Princess Désirée to her right seems to be wearing a white calot hat at the back of her head. We’ll have to save judgement on these pieces until better photos are available.

Swedish Royal Christening, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Countess Gunnila Bernadotte of Wisborg (widow of the King’s uncle Prince Carl Johan of Sweden)  wore a stunning pale grey straw hat. The under side of the brim was in  white straw, edged in slim black piping and the hat was trimmed with a black sash around the crown and large black loops. Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg (widow of the King’s uncle Prince Sigvard of Sweden) wore a lovely mint green straw hat trimmed with a monochrome ribbon around the crown and spray of silk blossoms on the side.

Countess Gunilla Burnadotte of Wisborg, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats  CountessMarianne Burnadotte of Wisborg, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Bettina Aussems (wife of Queen Silvia’s nephew Thomas Sommerlath) topped her red sheath and scarf with a simple hat in the same colour. Embellished only with a ruched sash around the crown, I thought this hat was a great tutorial for effective monochrome dressing.

Bettina Aussems, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Maline Sommerlath (wife of Queen Silvia’s nephew Patrick Sommerlath who was named one of Princess Leonore’s godparents) followed the unofficial dress code of the day: lace dress + fascinator in the same colour. I thought the headband on this fascinator drew too much attention away from the bloom itself and would have preferred it hidden in her hair. This one fell a little flat for me.

Maline Sommerlath, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats  Maline Sommerlath, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

And finally… Prince Carl Philip’s longtime girlfriend Sofia Hellqvist wore a grey looped bow fascinator trimmed with white net and feathers. I found this headpiece most haphazard, with the trimmings unrelated to the looped bow (and another visible headband problem). Sofia’s hair was beautifully styled for a fascinator but this was not the right one.

Sofia Hellqvist, June 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Looking back at all the marvelous millinery at this christening, my favourite headpiece was the one worn by Crown Princess Victoria. I am curious- which one was your favourite?

Photos from Patrick Van Katwijk via Corbis; Bertil Ericson/TT via Kungahuset; Patrick van Katwijk and Patrick van Katwijk via Corbis; Lasse Allard and Jonas Ekstromer via Aftonbladet

Te Deum for the New Princess

The Swedish Royal Family formally celebrated the birth of their newest member, Princess Leonore, with a Te Deum service in the Royal Chapel in Stockholm. Queen Silvia wore a classic pillbox hat in powder pink to mark this celebration of her new granddaughter. I can only imagine the colour of this hat was deliberate (cue the “aaahs”) and Silvia always looks good in a pillbox.

Queen Silvia, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog

Crown Princess Victoria wore a large white feather fascinator around her chignon. To be honest, I thought it was messy headpiece and made her look like a kagu. I want to be kind but I know she can do so much better.

Princess Victoria, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog Princess Victoria, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog

Previously Worn: April 16, 2010

Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg (widow of King Carl Gustaf’s uncle Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg) chose what looks like a hat with a wide fur upturned brim. While I am not usually a fan of fur hats, I do like how well this one paired with the matching stole and cuffs on her coat. The whole look was quite regal.

Countess Marianne Burnadotte of Wisborg, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats Blog

Sofia Hellqvist, longtime girlfriend of Prince Carl Philip, wore small beaded black headpiece. It’s a little small and cutesey for me but since she is not officially a royal it seemed appropriate. Since we see Sofia consistently at these Swedish Royal Family events, I can only imagine it is a matter of time before she officially joins the family.

Sofia Hellqvist, March 2, 2014 | The Royal Hats BlogThese hats fell a little flat for me today- what do you think?

Photos from Pelle T Nilsson via Expressen