Tag Archives: Queen Sonja

Dutch Royal Wedding 17 Years On: Royal Guests Part 1

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When Crown Prince Willem-Alexander married Máxima Zorreguieta seventeen years ago, his status as heir to the Dutch throne made the wedding a state occasion and as such, a large number of royal guests attended. We now look at some of these royal hats.

Queen Margrethe’s hat linked with her fur trimmed coat, the domed crown covered in the same textured blue wool fabric. The denim blue inverse brim made this design unique, hugging the bottom of the crown tightly before opening horizontally, the shape punctuated by a slim lighter blue hatband on the under side. the brim’s front brim vent was further highlighted with a pearl brooch. Despite its small footprint, this hat packs a lot of punch- perhaps too much in combination with the fur collar and cuffs on the coat?

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Princess Benedikte is also listed among the royal guests, although I’ve not been able to find a photograph of her. Her eldest daughter,  Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, topped her lilac dress and coat with a magenta felt brimless hat trimmed with a tall spray of feathers.  

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Queen Silvia’s midnight blue hat combined straw and velvet- not a combination we often see. The hat’s wide, upturned kettle brim was edged in a wide stripe of velvet which was repeated on the crown. A ruched hatband of light straw added softness, volume and textural contrast between the crown and brim.

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Crown Princess Victoria topped her tailored chocolate suit with a matching straw hat. It’s a hat I’m happy to leave in the past for Victoria, its unrefined finishing and awkward looking hatband making a less than flattering look for her.

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Princess Madeleine’s hat packed a little more style punch and finesse with its angular crown and upswept brim around the back. The sequinned hatband reads a little ‘glitzy cowgirl’ and the roughly woven straw feels slightly unmatched against Madeleine’s beautifully tailored dress and jacket but somehow, the look works for what it was.

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Queen Sonja topped her cantaloupe orange lace suit with a matching silk cloche hat. The upturned brim updated the traditional shape with some angular edge (a touch somewhat nullified by the wide, rather dowdy lace hatband) and a small spray of orange feathers and a canteloupe silk twist on the side attempted to liven the design. A matching canteloupe lace purse and fur stole completed the look- and a lot of canteloupe it was. Melon overkill, I’d say.

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit was barely six months into royal life at this point and her ensemble reflects some of this inexperience. Her navy silk cloche hat was embellished by a wide, ruched hatband and the same matchstick cream stitching around the outside of the brim edge as on the neckline of her dress and, in reverse, on her cream coat. All in all, it was rather bland.
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From bland and boring we move to brilliantly bizarre with Princess Märtha Louise’s hat. A fantastical design that combines a tall, olive green felt square-edged hourglass crown, a wide purple felt brim, purple roses and cobalt, orange and red feathers, the hat is unexpected, whimsical and… well, it’s just bonkers. Pairing this embellished purple suit with this hat was a gutsy move I’ve always admired and makes me smile, still.
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Well- there’s much to discuss here! Which hats stand out to you, most? Which hats have weathered the passage of time, best?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Ascot Hat From the Past

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Royal Hats to the arrival of Queen Sonja and Queen Beatrix to Royal Ascot on June 18, 2002. This year saw multiple monarchs attend the famous races (we’ll see more in coming days) including Grand Duke Henri, who can be spotted in this arrival carriage as well. Queen Sonja wore a rounded bumper hat with crown in the same fabric as her coat while Queen Beatrix pulled out the stops with an oversize black and white straw picture hat with double brim and floral explosion ’round the back.

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If there are any royal hats worn today, please share and discuss in the comments as well.

Photo from Getty as indicated

Norwegian Royals On Christmas Day

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On Christmas Day, King Harald , Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Ingrid and Prince Sverre attended the Christmas service at Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo. Queen Sonja repeated her wintry chocolate hat with velvet crown and fur bumper brim. The brim coordinates with the collar on Sonja’s coat, a touch which adds a bit of formality to piece, and the rich colour works wonderfully with her royal purple silk dress.


Designer: 
Previously Worn: Dec 25, 2017;  Oct 14, 2010; Dec 25, 2009; likely others
What do you think of this hat’s styling on this Christmas outing?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Norwegian Royals Attend Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

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King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit  attended the annual Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo City Town Hall yesterday. For this event, Queen Sonja repeated her black brimless hat with pyramid shaped crown trimmed with sequins. The piece is certainly festive paired with her aubergine velvet jacket.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Feb 7, 2014; Dec 11, 2013; Dec. 10, 2008
Crown Princess Mette-Marit topped her brown tweed and cream colour blocked coat with her winter white felt pillbox hat, worn on the back of her head in the style of a calot.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: May 15, 2014; June 2, 2010; May 17, 2010; December 10, 2009
This is always a glittering event- what do you think of these two repeated royal hats?
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Photos from Getty as indicated

Golden Anniversary in Norway

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King Harald and Queen Sonja celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary yesterday with a service of thanksgiving at Oslo Cathedral, the same church where they married.

For the occasion, Queen Sonja wore a chocolate dotted net veil headpiece tucked into her hair. I thought the headpiece was a bit of a surprise for Sonja, who usually wears hats for major events, until it dawned that the use of the tulle veil might be a bridal reference? If that’s the case, it’s a sweet touch I can’t take issue with, especially as the colour complements Sonja’s hair and her gold suit so well.


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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this headpiece is new

Crown Princess Mette Marit wore one of her characteristic headbands, this one a new design in black with small rosettes curving around the ears. Princess Märtha Louise also wore a headband style headpiece in metallic silver. The only hat of the day was worn by Princess Astrid, who repeated her turquoise straw brimless design embellished around one side of the design with with ribbon work flowers. 

  

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Photos from Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix; social media and Getty as indicated

Catching Up Five Scandinavian Royal Hatted Events

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The Scandinavian royals were busy this weekend, leaving us five hatted events to catch up!

On Saturday, Queen Margrethe opened a Niels Skovgaard exhibition at Skovgaard Museum. The queen, who has lent a painting from the royal collection for the exhibition (one that usually hangs in her office), repeated her bright pink straw hat with double navy floral hatband and organza mini blossoms on the side.

Designer: likely Peter Falk Hansen
Previously Worn: May 29, 2018; Aug 28, 2017;  June 16, 2017; September 12, 2016; June 27, 2016; June 3, 2016; August 31, 2015; June 26, 201
On Saturday, Princess Benedikte was at Klampenborg Galopbane for her namesake “Princess Benedikt’s Honorary Prize Run” for female amateur riders. For this event, she wore a new cream straw hat with wide brim, upswept on one side. The hat looks to be simply trimmed with a wide hatband in the same cream straw. It’s a lovely, sleek piece that paired especially well with her bright dress and necklace.


Designer: likely Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: This hat is new 
Yesterday, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia attended an ordination service at Uppsala Cathedral. For this service, Queen Silvia topped her patterned royal blue dress with her repeated straw hat in the same hue. The hat features a rounded crown, gently upswept brim and is trimmed with a pleated blue silk hatband and a side spray of blue silk flowers at the side. We’ve discussed recently here about the success (or non success!) of one colour ensembles and I put this one firmly in the ‘success’ category, thanks to the mix of multiple textures on the dress and hat.


Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 6, 2016  
Also yesterday, Queen Margrethe was in Fredericia  to take part in the 350th anniversary celebration of Sct. Michaelis Church. She repeated her pale pink straw hat with tapered crown and slightly upswept brim on one side, trimmed with white silk flowers and pink silk ribbon hatband and brim binding piped with a slim stripe of white. She was joined for the service by her cousin, Count Ingolf of Rosenborg and his wife, Countess Sussie, who wore a smart raspberry straw bumper hat.

June 3, 2018 | Royal Hats

Designer of Queen Margrethe’s hat:  likely Per Falk Hansen. White silk flowers by Danish fleuriste Effi Pingel
Previously Worn: Nov 23, 2017; July 15, 2017
And finally, the Norwegian royal family welcomed Slovakia’s President Andrej Kiska today on a three day state visit. For the official welcome, Queen Silvia repeated a cream straw picture hat with trimmed with coral quills.
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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: May 19, 2014; May 31, 2012; June 2007 
Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore an embellished bandeau headpiece while Princess Astrid looks to be wearing a black  straw brimless hat with domed crown, trimmed with a black net tulle veil.
June 4, 2018 | Royal Hats June 4, 2018 | Royal Hats
Designer of both pieces: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe both are new
My apologies for the poor photos, dearest readers- the Scandinavian royals just get the level of media coverage that their British cousins do. Nevertheless, it’s been a busy weekend of interesting hats across Scandinavia! I think Princess Benedikte’s new design is a particular beauty. 
Photos from social media as indicated; Chresten Bergh and Scanpix Norway

Norwegian Queen Opens Music Festival

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On Wednesday, Queen Sonja opened the 66th Bergen International Festival, kicking off a lineup this year that will see 300 events in the areas of theatre, dance, opera and performing arts. For this event, the Norwegian Queen wore a light new summer hat in stripes of white crin. The design features a rounded crown and upturned kettle brim with what looks to be a embellishment (fluted bow? leaf?) of some variety on the right side.

May 23, 2018 | Royal Hats May 23, 2018 | Royal Hats

I try to showcase all new hats (especially ones worn by reigning queens) in stand alone posts here but have resisted hitting the ‘publish’ button on this one. Why? There’s nothing memorably about the shape or style and I really do not like the veined seam that runs down the center of the crown. Perhaps with some different embellishment, it can be improved. I hope we’ll get a better look at the detail of this design on its next outing because, as it stands now, it seems to be lacking in quality and design. I hate to say it but it looks like the kind of thing any of us could pick up at a local discount department store, and that makes me sad. Here’s hoping I’m wrong on this one.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: this hat is new
I’m looking forward to you all weighing in on this one to see if I’m being unnecessarily unfair about it!
Photos from Marit Hommedal / NTB scanpix via The Royal House Of Norway