Royal Hat of the Day: The Countess of Wessex's Lattice (x3)

The Countess of Wessex joked at an event last week that she has her royal wedding outfit all ready to go, and I'll be shocked if it doesn't include a new hat from Jane Taylor, her favorite milliner. Sophie warmed up for a hat-tastic weekend by attending the first Buckingham Palace garden party of the season yesterday, selecting a Jane Taylor hat we've seen in two different versions with three different outfits. Comparison time!

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Royal Ascot 2017

Here's the hat's debut, with a black accent on top and a green Emilia Wickstead dress. I loved the lattice effect on this hat and so did many of you; the whole look garnered enough mentions to be in the running for your best day outfit of 2017.

Attending the Sultan of Brunei's Golden Jubilee celebrations
RTB screencap

Luckily for us, Sophie wasn't nearly done with the hat. Come October, the black twist on top was swapped for matching beige twists and coral feather accents to match a new outfit from Suzannah with a white top and coral skirt.

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Attending a Buckingham Palace garden party yesterday

Now we have our third hat appearance, still in its coral version and worn with a red dress from Alaïa. (I assume she's informing the guests that she's wearing, like, a totally important designer).

Royal Family

Props to Sophie for repeating the same hat three times and managing to make each look completely different, right? Three times in less than a year and I'm not tired of this hat yet. That's a feat.

Azzedine Alaïa Scalloped Wavy Stripe Knit Dress, per the Countess of Wessex Blog

I'm still gonna ask the question, though: When did she wear it best? Give me Ascot any day, really. Can we get the black accent back? Coral might be my very least favorite color, so I'm biased.

(While we're at it, the first two outfits here contain some safe guesses for the designer behind Sophie's wedding outfit: either Suzannah or Emilia Wickstead, her current go-to designers for all her bespoke needs.)

May 16, 2018

Royal Flashback of the Day: King Harald and Queen Sonja's Wedding

It took 9 years for Crown Prince Harald of Norway and Sonja Haraldsen to walk down the aisle, and now the King and Queen are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

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Harald's father, King Olav, and the government had objections to Harald marrying the commoner he met at a party in 1959 instead of making a royal match. So Harald eventually stood up to his father and said that he wouldn't marry anyone if he couldn't marry Sonja - a significant problem since Harald was the sole heir to the throne - and the King gave his consent. The couple finally tied the knot on August 29, 1968. As a show of acceptance and support for Sonja, whose father passed away some years before, King Olav walked her down the aisle. (That's right, the Duchess of Sussex was not the first royal bride to get a helping hand from her father-in-law on her big day.)

Queen Sonja's wedding gown was made by Norwegian brand Molstad & Co. It was a structured silk shape with simple pearl ornamentation on the collar and cuffs, with a long train extending from her shoulders. Although Sonja would soon have access to Norway's biggest tiaras - King Olav was a widower, so then-Crown Princess Sonja stepped right into a role as Norway's first lady - she opted for a simple floral-style headpiece to top her veil.

Sonja's dress is easily identified with the decade in which she married, yet five decades on, one of its closest royal comparisons may be something a little more recent: Queen Máxima's 2002 Valentino wedding gown. Does that make it timeless? Maybe so.

A post shared by Det Norske Kongehus (@detnorskekongehus) on Aug 27, 2018 at 11:54am PDT

The golden couple isn't having a huge celebration, since the last couple years have seen them celebrate the Silver Jubilee and their 80th birthdays. There are a few things going on, though; they opened Queen Sonja's childhood home - where they spent a lot of time in the years before they could marry - as a museum and recreated a photo from their engagement while they were at it (click through the Instagram gallery above for the original). They'll also have a celebratory church service on their anniversary.

August 28, 2018

Wednesday Tidbits for September 5: Anniversaries and More

Here we go again:

--As noted last week, King Harald and Queen Sonja celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with a church service, plus a later private dinner. Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore an Emilia Wickstead dress also owned by the Countess of Wessex; Queen Sonja wore her gift from the King, a gold rose brooch. The royal ladies wore commemorative bow medallions designed by Sonja. [NRK]

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--From an earlier Mette-Marit engagement, this made me laugh: How do those royal ladies cope with high heels on duty? By throwing a pair of UGG slides in the car for immediate relief. [Twitter]

--Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia released a new picture of little nugget Prince Gabriel for his first birthday!

Erika Gerdemark, Kungahuset.se

--This is devastating: Brazil's National Museum, one of the largest museums of natural history in the Americas, was gutted in a major fire on Sunday night. Officials say almost 90% of their priceless collection has been destroyed. The building itself is another big loss; its rich history includes use as a residence for the Portuguese royal family and later for the Brazilian imperial family. [Guardian, BBC]

--Over at the Jewel Vault, QEII enjoyed a giggly day out with Anne and Chaz, and brought one of her famous diamonds along for the summer holiday.

--And finally, a little respect for another kind of queen: The Band of the Welsh Guards played "Respect" during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace on Friday, the day of Aretha Franklin's funeral.

Tidbits is your spot for royal topics we haven't covered separately on the blog, all week long. Please mind the comment policy, and enjoy!

September 05, 2018

Royal Outfits of the Day: Letizia and National Day

While we were tending to royal wedding business, the Spanish royal family was out and about for National Day. Queen Letizia left the color to her daughters, including the Princess of Asturias, who was wearing the brooch of the Order of the Golden Fleece she received earlier this year.

House of HM the King

Letizia remains exclusive to Felipe Varela for this annual event, and this offers exactly what you expect from Varela in terms of excellent fit and construction. It doesn't come without its quibbles, though; I'm not loving the length and froof of the skirt mixed with the structure of the jacket, plus this is one of those colors of blergh that kind of actively sucks up all the color around it. Not a bright outfit, not a bright day. (On multiple fronts, since the King and Queen ended the day visiting flooded areas in Mallorca.)

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But my outfit quibbles were much reduced once Letizia headed inside the palace for the reception, ditching the coat and allowing the delicate Chantilly lace skirt to be its best ballerina self.

House of HM the King

Color has already made its return - Letizia's best color, in fact. She visited Rome for World Food Day, repeating the Carolina Herrera dress she wore in Asturias last month. Definitely worthy of a speedy rewear. That said, this might be the first time I'm actively distracted by her Steve Madden heels with transparent straps. Man, I hate that I sorta want to advocate for a plainer nude shoe.

October 17, 2018