When a noble bride’s extended family contains members of the Brazilian, Belgian and Luxembourgish aristocracy, one can expect many royal guests at the wedding! Such was the case for last weekend’s marriage of Princess Alix de Ligne and Count Guillaume de Dampierre last weekend. As the bride’s father, Prince Michel de Ligne, is a first cousin of Grand Duke Henri, most of the Grand Ducal family of Luxembourg were in Belgium for the wedding. My sincere thanks to Valentin Dupont, author of Royalement Blog, for generously sharing his photos of the event.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa repeated her black straw slice hat with ribbon twist trim, a hat that remains a great one for her. With her tan leaf trimmed suit, the hat made for a polished ensemble.

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: June 24, 2015

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie went a more vibrant route, pairing her electric blue knit dress with a sunny yellow straw picture hat. While the hat looks to feature a double brim, it is actually a simple sedge shape with pyramid top (the brim of the base hat is just above ‘s eyebrows) with a curving, wide silk edged wrap of sorts that circles around the base hat’s brim (view this video at 1:33 for a full picture) and curling blue feather trim. While I want to commend Stéphanie’s bold use of colour, I’m not sure that the hat flatters her. There’s also something about the placement of those feathers I don’t like, perhaps because they are competing with the soaring wrap on the brim.

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

Princess Claire paired her peachy pink wrap dress with a coordinating straw hat trimmed in a slim cerise hatband and silk rose at the side. While the Hereditary Grand Duchess opted for too much colour, Claire’s ensemble read a little bland.

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

Princess Tessy got the colour mix in her ensemble just right, pairing her white dress and floral coat with a turquoise statement headpiece. I imagine the unique shape of this piece is meant to frame the wearer’s face… in this case, it looks more like it’s swallowing her up. With its mass of curling straw ribbon, it is fun design that I think would work better for Tessy if it was about half the size.

The Luxembourg royal family celebrated their country’s national holiday yesterday with attendance at a civil ceremony, a military parade and an inter-religious Te Deum at the Luxembourg Cathedral. While hats did not appear at the first two events (except for uniform caps), a quintet of lovely pieces were donned for the Te Deum.