On Saturday, the great-granddaughter of the late Lord Mountbatten of Burma, Alexandra Knatchbull, was married to Thomas Hooper at Romsey Abbey, near the bride’s family estate Broadlands, in Hampshire.
The bride looked wonderfully elegant in a structured silk gown topped with a lace veil, anchored with the Mounbatten Star Tiara.
The bride’s family has very close ties with the British royal family – she is a great-great-great granddaughter of Queen Victoria, her grandmother and the Duke of Edinburgh are first cousins, one of her godmothers was the late Princess of Wales, her mother and the Duke of Edinburgh are long-time carriage driving partners, her family’s estate played host to royal honeymoons of the Queen in 1947 and the Prince of Wales in 1981 – and it was no surprise to see British royals attended the wedding. The Prince of Wales stepped in to escort the elegant bride into the church (her father Lord Brabourne is unwell and rumours are that relations are strained with his daughter following this scandal).
The bride’s mother, Lady Brabourne, topped her silver silk dress with a pale grey straw picture hat with sweeping brim and squared, flat topped crown. The hat is trimmed with a hat band, side bow and wide brim piping all made of the same silk as Penny’s dress, bringing the two pieces together in a unified and very elegant ensemble. We have seen Lady Brabourne in several similar picture hats with upswept brims and the style and scale suits her very well.
Designer: I believe it is Dillon Wallwork
Previously worn: This hat is new
The bride’s grandmother, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, wore a delphinium blue hat with upturned brim, edged in a wide stripe of silk. The same silk formed a ruched a pleated hatband around the base of the crown.
Queen Elizabeth surprised not only by appearing at this event with the Duke of Edinburgh, but by also wearing a new hat. In a light coral straw, her hat features a short, sharply upswept brim on one side and a flat crown. The hat is embellished with silk edged ribbon bows on the side (the same ribbon looks to be used for overlapping hat bands around the base of the crown) and silk flowers. I think it’s a great hat for Her Majesty and really like the contrast between the hat’s crisp angles and it’s very soft, romantic trim.
Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously worn: This hat is new
As she is apt to do, Princess Anne wore a hat we’ve not seen on her in a while. With a pink silk ruched crown and slightly duller, thulian pink straw brim, the hat features a gently raised brim on one side and three straw calla lilies on the side. It’s nice to see Anne in some colour- I really like the shape of this brim and the straw flowers- but I’m not sold on the shiny silk crown. My favourite part of the ensemble is how the different shades and textures of pink combine to create a harmonious look that’s interesting and unified but not overly matchy.
Designer: Walter Wright
Previously worn: June 21, 2001 (and likely numerous others)
Princess Alexandra wore a cream straw hat with rounded crown and cartwheel brim embellished with a cream widely woven net veil, pale green silk roses and tiny curling feathers. It’s a great hat for her and I really like the height of the crown- slightly elevated but not as high as some of the other designs she wears.
Designer: likely Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously worn: This hat is new
The wedding was also well attended by members of the Greek royal family (I didn’t realise until preparing this post that Alexandra Knatchbull was one of the bridesmaids at Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantall’s wedding back in 1995). Queen Sofia of Spain topped her grey suit with a headpiece made from grey silk leaves, beaded berry clusters and a swath of very fine grey net tulle. Her sister, Princess Irene of Greece, wore similar style headpiece of dotted navy net tulle, anchored with a simple navy bow.
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece topped her navy lace dress with a simple pillbox hat, trimmed in a slim bow. Anne-Marie’s short hairstyle favours small hats and she wears this navy pillbox well.
Designer: unknown
Previously worn: April 13, 2011; April 16, 2010
I thought there were some beautiful hats at this event- which ones stood out to you, most?
Photos from Rex Features and Rachel Adams via the Southern Daily Echo
We wrap up our nostalgic look back at 
to this day in 1969 and the christening of Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark. The hats worn by his mother, Queen Anne-Marie, grandmother Queen Frederica and aunts Princess Sofía, Princess of Asturias (future Queen Sofia of Spain) and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark are a parade of brimless millinery at the height of fashion in the late 1960s.
