to this day, 60 years ago. Fresh from a holiday and participation in the Red Cross Training program in Norway, Princess Margrethe of Denmark arrived at Victoria Station en route to her 21st birthday party at the Danish Embassy in London in a brimmed hat.
We’ll pop into her hat closet for an inventory next week.
to Queen Margrethe’s 18th birthday on April 16, 1958. For this coming of age milestone, she wore a lovely floral frock with matching calot hat. Photos from the time are all in black and white but, thanks to the Danish Monarchy, we have a view of it in full colour.
Next week we’ll celebrate Queen Margrethe’s 81st birthday with another inventory of her hats- what colour would you like to see?
Images from Getty and social media as indicated
Images from social media as indicated
Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful words yesterday. I’m humbled and inspired to keep our millinery conversations here at Royal Hats going! We’re going to do this today with a look at Queen Margrethe’s purple hats. At the start of this millennium, the Danish queen had several in rotation:
Since 2000, she has added four additional purple designs. Here they are, in order of introduction:
1.
2.
Designer: unknown (likely Per Falk Hansen)
Introduced: April 16, 2000; April 16, 2000; January 15, 2012
3.
4.
Designer: unknown (likely Per Falk Hansen)
Introduced: January 15, 2012; March 15, 2015
I’ll admit surprise that there are just four purple hats currently in Queen Margrethe’s wardrobe (so surprised that I triple checked my archive to make sure I’d not missed any!). This group certainly covers a range of shapes and shades, each with standout details – brims on #1 and #3 and trims on #2 and #4. This inventory also brings up an interesting question about hat #4: do you notice how close it is in colour and shape to the hat in the pre-2000 row (the photograph is from a 1992 visit to Norway)? I can’t shake the suspicion that it might have been updated with black feather and sequined trim and trotted out again in 2015.
What do you think of this quartet of purple hats?
Images from Getty as indicated; Tim Graham, Antony Jones, Antony Jones, Chris Jackson, and Elisabetta Villa via Getty
Queen Margrethe joined members of the Danish Society for Natural Science at New Carlsberg Glyptoteket yesteday to present the society’s Ørsted Gold Medal. For this occasion, she wore a new hat.
Following a traditional boater shape, the hat is covered in the same fabric as its coordinating suit- red on the brim and dark aubergine on the crown. The design is completed with a slim hatband and small back bow with trailing tails. The simple lines of the hat are punctuated with the unexpected colour scheme, flawless execution and the most jaunty of angles placed on the head. Shape, scale, placement and colour are all superb. It’s such a great hat.
Designer: Mathilde Førster
Previously Worn: this hat is new
Head over to this gallery for more photos. What do you think of Queen Margrethe’s new hat?
Photos from Getty as indicated
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