Tag Archives: Queen Silvia

Swedish Monarchs Welcome Papal Visit

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King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden welcomed Pope Francis today for a two-day visit to Sweden marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The royal couple greeted the Pope at the Royal palace in Lund this morning where the queen repeated her vibrant purpley-blue brimless hat trimmed with black feathers.

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Queen Silvia, October 31, 2016 | Royal Hats   Queen Silvia, October 31, 2016 | Royal Hats

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While the shape of this design looks like a rounded pillbox from the front, the side view reveals it to be more of a calot with indented crown similar to a Pork Pie hat. The shape nestles nicely into Queen Silvia’s hairstyle and the vibrant colour (which is reported to be a royal blue despite taking on a very purple hue in many photographs) suits her very well.

Queen Silvia, October 31, 2016 | Royal Hats  Queen Silvia, October 31, 2016 | Royal Hats

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Designer: Kerstin Carlefalk
Previously Worn: January 19, 2016; May 31, 2015
Thoughts about this royal purple-blue hat in Sweden today?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Michael Campanella, Jonathan Nackstrand, Max Rossi and Michael Campanella via Getty

Swedish State Visit To Germany

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King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia arrived in Berlin yesterday to begin a state visit to Germany. Not surprisingly, Queen Silvia used the occasion to debut a new hat. In camel coloured felt, the design features a rounded cloche style crown and wide brim, raised on one side and edged with a wide black stripe. The black stripe gives a great punch of contrast to the hat and I particularly like the dimension provided by rows of camel stitching on it. While worn a little lower on Silvia’s head than I would prefer, my main quibble about this hat is its pairing with this grey coat and dress. Mixing neutrals can work well but in this instance, I’m not such a fan.

 

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Queen Silvia, Oct 5, 2016 | Royal Hats

Queen Silvia, Oct 5, 2016 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new
I like this hat on Queen Silvia but not with this coat… what do you think of it?
Photos from Getty as indicated and IBL

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

King Carl Gustaf in his trusty fedora cheering on his son at the racetrack last weekend (Svenskdam)

A pair of nautical and rain hats for the Norwegian monarchs last weekend as they closed the 2016 royal yacht tour

Queen Silvia in a simple black hat for the funeral of Countess Gunnila Bernadotte on Thursday (Swedish Royal Court)

Great article about the designer and story behind the hat worn by Sophie Gregoire Trudeau for last weekend’s royal welcome (Ottawa Citizen)

Even the royals do standard ‘baby in pumpkin patch with cozy hat’ poses. Here is adorable Prince Oscar.

Wonderful conclusion last weekend to the Countess of Wessex’s cycle from Edinburgh to London in support of the Duke of Edinburgh Award (Daily Mail)

Interesting interview with Crown Prince Leka of Albania (who was raised in exile in South Africa) as lead up to his October 8 wedding, Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here and Part 5 here (Noblesse et Royautes blog)

Speaking of weddings- huge thanks to our friends at Luxarazzi for translating RTL’s interview this week with Prince Louis and Princess Tessy of Luxembourg on the occasion of their tenth wedding anniversary.

Sculptures made by Prince Henrik of Denmark are featured in a Spanish exhibition (El Diario)

Great interview with Queen Margrethe released yesterday, sharing the story behind an embroidered tapestry she designed and will be presenting to Schlosskirche in Wittenberg next week. Her stance on Danish succession and smoking is also made rather clear (Der Spiegel)

While we will always shy away from politics here at Royal Hats, this interview with King Abdullah of Jordan is insightful (60 Minutes)

Princess Beatrice became the first member of the British Royal Family to complete a triathlon this week, all in support of charity (Daily Mail)

And to close out the week with something to warm your heart-  wonderful moments captured on Thursday (all by British photographer extraordinaire Chris Jackson) when a number of Canadian military families joined the Cambridges in Victoria for an outdoor children’s party. Charlotte’s hair bow is by Amaia Kids. So sweet

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Opening of Swedish Parliament

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Members of the Swedish Royal Family gathered in Stockholm yesterday for the opening of parliament dressed in the  traditional black and white dress code associated with this event. Queen Silvia led her family in a repeated white ruched straw headpiece with wide bow at the back. The lovely movement of this piece, which swirls around Silvia’s head, almost makes up for it’s open crown. I have long disliked such open crowned hats but paired with an impeccably cut black suit and pearls, this one almost works.

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Queen Silvia, September 13, 2016 | Royal Hats   Queen Silvia, September 13, 2016 | Royal Hats

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: September 17, 2013

The three Princesses sported chignon hairstyles, each topped with a fascinator style headpiece. There has been growing controversy here at Royal Hats over the merits of this style of millinery and, like them or love them, I think each worked particularly well with this hairstyle.

This is the third outing for Crown Princess Victoria’s layered headpiece of black and white butterflies and while still not my favourite for her, I think it worked better with her Paule Ka dress than it has with any previous ensemble.

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Designer: Malinda Damgaard
Previously Worn: October 19, 2015; September 15, 2015

Princess Madeleine’s black free form shaped headpiece was worn as a calot the last time we saw it. I think the scale of this piece suits the placement we saw here and the combination of hard edged headpiece with the very delicate lace collar of her blouse made for an interesting contrast.

Princess Madeleine, September 13, 2016 | Royal Hats   Princess Madeleine, September 13, 2016 | Royal Hats   Princess Madeleine, September 13, 2016 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: September 15, 2013

For my favourite ensemble of the day, Princess Sofia topped a streamlined Max Mara black dress with an over-size white camellia bloom headpiece. Black and white ensembles can be tough to balance but the scale of this headpiece works so beautifully with the dress, understated jewellery and a large chignon. The resulting combination is timeless, classic and so very chic.

Princess Madeleine and Princess Sofia, September 13, 2016 | Royal HatsPrincess Madeleine and Princess Sofia, September 13, 2016 | Royal Hats Princess Sofia, September 13, 2016 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: this headpiece is new
Any thoughts to share on the quartet of Swedish royal headpieces for this year’s opening of parliament?
Photos from Getty as indicated;  Anna Karin Nilsson and Olle Sporrong via Stella Pictures; and Dana Press

Christening of Prince Alexander: Immediate Family

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As with other recent Swedish christenings, today’s baptism of Prince Alexander was an family-centric affair. Queen Silvia debuted her third ‘grand-baby christening colour’ (she wore pink for the christenings of Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar and blue for the christenings of Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas) along with a new hat.

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In a modified calot shape (the back did not completely cover the crown of Silvia’s head), this design is entirely covered in silk hydrangea blossoms that cascade down onto the shoulders of her coordinating jacket. While the hat has a decidedly 1960s vibe to it (reminiscent of other past royal hats here and here), the flowers lend wonderful texture and celebratory feel to this piece, which is a beautiful colour on Queen Silvia.
Queen Silvia, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats   Queen Silvia, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats
Designer: unconfirmed
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Crown Princess Victoria topped her coral pink Elie Saab dress with a custom bowed headband made of the same lace. Any more use of lace on the headpiece would have been complete overkill but… this headpiece left me wanting more. I think this is another case where a neural straw percher could have done a lot to lift this all-lace ensemble and provide some much needed textural contrast.

Crown Princess Victoria, September 9, 2016 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats   Crown Princess Victoria, September 9, 2016 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Victoria, September 9, 2016 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats    Crown Princess Victoria, September 9, 2016 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats

While this headpiece fell completely flat for me, my heart was warmed by the matched hues of Victoria and Estelle’s frocks. So very sweet.

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Designer: Malinda Damgaard
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new

Princess Madeleine topped her blue floral Erdem dress with a stylised double bow headpiece in navy and sky blue. The pointed shape of the bows saves the bow from saccharine cutesey-ness (barely) and the piece works well with Madeleine’s chignon hairstyle. I’m not a great fan of the piece but at an event that saw almost no real hats, it held its own.

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Princess Madeleine, September 9, 2016 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats

Princess Madeleine, September 9, 2016 in Malinda Damgaard | Royal Hats

Designer: Malinda Damgaard
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new

Inquisitive young Princess Leonore sported a white double hair bow.

Princess Leonore, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats   Princess Leonore, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats

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Designer: I suspect Livly
Princess Sofia’s mother Marie matched her pink lace dress to a fascinator of straw leaves and feathers in the same hue.
Marie Rotman Hellqvist, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats   Marie Rotman Hellqvist, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats
Sofia’s sister, Lina Frejd, who was named as one of Prince Alexander’s godparents, topped her chic blue dress with a ruffled floral fascinator in pale grey, pinned to the back of her hair. Sofia’s other sister, Sara, wore a navy triple bow fascinator anchored to a headband. At an event with such pared-back millinery, the pieces worn by Hellqvist family members fit right in.
Lina Frejd, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats Lina Frejd, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats   Sara Hellqvist, September 9, 2016 | Royal Hats
 All in all, I’m afraid today’s royal millinery in Sweden was disappointing for me. My favourite piece here is Queen Silvia’s hat simply because it’s the only thing that comes close to being an actual hat. What are your impressions of the hats worn by the Queen and Swedish princesses today?