Lovely photo holiday greeting from the Norwegian (the adorable gingerbread Royal Palace model was made by children from Fridheim kindergarten in Oslo), and Belgian royal families
Happy news from Bhutan- during a speech on the nation’s 112th National holiday, King Jigme announced that he and Queen Jetsun are expecting their second child early next summer
More lovely Christmas photo greetings (both involving vintage transport!) from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall
The Duke of Sussex sent a cheery message to a children’s bereavement charity
This year’s sweet video greeting from Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar
We wrap things up this weekend with new photos of the Queen, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Prince George, preparing Christmas puddings for a charity supporting the Armed Forces.
Princess Nobuko in a feather trimmed cream pork pie hat to take in a match of the Women’s World Handball Championships on Wednesday
On Thursday, Princess Yoko continued her visit to Myanmar with a stop at Yeway Japanese War Cemetery in Mingaladon Township, Yangon. For this event, she wore a fedora belonging to her late father.
The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Back on November 30, Prince Léopold of Nassau (son of Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg) and Princess Maria Carolina (daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Castro) were photographed at the Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris
The same day, Princess Tsuguko wore a hat in pleated pink printed silk with a mini rolled brim to take in the final match of the Japanese Squash Championship in Yokohama.
On November 17th, Princess Tsuguko of Takamado attended the 48th All Japan Squash Championships Final at Tressa Yokohama Mall in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. She is Honorary President of Japan Squash Association. 🎥 https://t.co/MLkgUzazLm 📸 https://t.co/ps7QWguA0Zpic.twitter.com/MbCEtoTydD
On Monday, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted the second Daikyo-no-Gi grand banquet. The Imperial Princesses were in attendance in a colourful array of hats.
Imperial princesses at the 2nd Daikyo-no-gi banquet on November 18.
Lady Amelia Windsor shared photos of herself this week sporting casual winter hats- see here and here.
On Thursday, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrived in Mie Prefecture for a 3-day visit. For their arrival, Empress Masako wore a white hat with wide, beaded headband and kicky trilby-style brim. Yesterday, the couple visited Ise Grand Shrine to report recent enthronement and Daijosai ceremonies and worship. Arriving there, the empress repeated a cream jacquard silk bumper hat shown below. She and the emperor wore traditional dress for the ceremony (see photos here and here)
On November 21st, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako began a 3-day visit to Mie Prefecture. They will report the enthronement and Daijosai ceremonies have been completed and worship at Ise Grand Shrine. 📸 Kyodo, Sankei, Iseshima, Jiji pic.twitter.com/gCJL5oVHhE
And from Surrey-based Karen Geraghty who works under the ‘Mind Your Bonce’ label, this midnight blue beauty with Dior brim and angular crown trimmed with sparkling winter night sky and shooting star.
Royal photographer Chris Jackson took the most beautiful portrait of the Duchess of Cornwall this week during her and the Prince of Wales’ visit to New Zealand
We end this week with this gem from Queen Elizabeth.
In other royal news: The Queen tells Sir David Attenborough: “Sir David, this award recognises your many talents and one can’t help but feel that, for those of us of a certain generation, we can take great pleasure in proving age is no barrier to being a positive influence.” pic.twitter.com/2WG6I0OqPW
Last Friday, November 8, Princess Beatrix attended a Science Symposium in Leiden in a layered straw hat in shades of blue. On Friday, she commemorated 30 years of children’s rights at the Peace Palace in The Hague in a vibrant green hat.
Last Saturday, Princess Yoko and Princess Akiko donned eerily similar hats. For the kendo competition at the 68th National Youth Convention, Princess Yoko wore a short-brimmed ivory hat with tall crown and wide melon-hued silk hatband . To opene a national health festival in Princess Akiko an ivory hat with wider kettle brim and soft peach silk hatband.
The Duchess of Cambridge in a black headband studded with sparkling beads from Zara last Saturday evening at the annual Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall
Princess Beatrice supported her cousin, the Duke of Cambridge at a gala for the charity Centre Point in London Wednesday night in an embellished bandeau.
Princess Hisako in a tweed suit and hat with lace trim Wednesday to open an interior design show in Tokyo.
Queen Silvia met with Pope Benedict at the Vatican on Friday in an exquisite black lace edged veil.
And two show stoppers from from Australian milliners- from Amanda Smith, an amazing hand embroidered pentaptych (5 panel) headpiece and from Erin Bridget, a fabulous Dior brimmed design with stripes of sequins and
Empress Masako sparkled regally last Sunday in a parade through Tokyo from the Imperial Palace to their residence in the Akasaka Estate to mark the recent enthronement.
On Thursday and Friday, enthronement rituals concluded with The Daijosai (Great Thanksgiving Ceremony), a festival that dates back to at least the 7th century and is performed by a new emperor the autumn following his enthronement. This festival was held in temporary Shinto shrine compound called the Daijokyu, composed of nearly 30 buildings (about 6,500 square meters) specially built in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace grounds for the Daijosai. For those of you in Tokyo, this will be opened to the public free between November 21 and December 8 before being dismantled, the wooden building materials being recycled for parks and disaster-prevention facilities.
The Imperial Household Agency purchased specialty vegetables, fruit and seafood from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures for this festival. Rice was cultivated in two rice paddies in the country’s east and west with the locations determined by divination using turtle shells; special fabrics- hemp from Tokushima and silk from Aichi were also provided.
The day began with Empress Masako arriving at the royal palace (earlier than the emperor, to prepare her elaborate costume) in a cream silk jacquard printed bumper hat.
For the ritual, the emperor wore white sokutai robes with the distinctive black kanmuri hat.
The empress wore a traditional “junihitoe” multi-layered kimono, this one in white and peach, along with this Heian Era costume’s triple pronged silver headpiece.
The Imperial Princess (I’ve spotted Kiko, Mako, Kako and Nobuko and suspect the other Mikasa and Takamado princesses also attended) wore a similar metal headpieces but with more delicate, beaded triple prongs (following a tree shape, I think?) and silk cord that loops around the top of the head and hangs down in a multi-bowed tassel on either sides of the face.
The event concluded with a banquet, hosted by the emperor and empress. The Imperial Princesses were in attendance, the Akishinos in cuffed calot hats, Princess Nobuko in a teal button percher, Princess Akiko in a brimmed cream hat, Princess Yoko in a pale blue percher, Princess Hisako in a green saucer with cream brim and flowers around the raised back, and Princes Tsuguko in a petal trimmed peach bumper.