Mad Hattery!

Well, kids, it looks like the Christmas season is officially over: HM’s heading back to London!

These pictures of Liz on the train platform still crack me up a little bit, I’ll admit.  It’s just so incongruous … Elizabeth II, with her jeweled brooch, her royal blue outfit, and her Hermès scarf, in a train station beside one of those red-handled wheely carts.

But I love it … and I also love that she pulled out a different fancy Hermès headscarf to wear on the journey home than she did on the way to Sandringham.  Now that’s a lady with a massive headwear collection!

Looks like spring has sprung early on the Sandringham estate, doesn’t it?  That’s just not fair — it’s frigid and snowy over here.  Between the re-emergence of the Pepto-Sound of Music chapeau and that lovely basket of posies, I’m really tempted to book a ticket over to Norfolk!

P.S. — Still don’t like this hat — and I know that’s not a terribly popular opinion.  Feel free to disagree starting … now!

Oh, the life of a working royal … it must be so weird sometimes to have your job consist of dressing up in a fancy hat, going to a fishing museum, and looking at a tiny tiny little Gulliver-style town.  V. interesting…

The hat itself is one that I’ve liked and still like, but I think it might be a little much for the fishing museum.  It looked right at home at Westminster Abbey, but perhaps the color, shape, and flower are a bit too fancy for this particular engagement?

HM’s looking lovely out at RAF Marham today, isn’t she?  I do love those little curtains that they pull back to reveal those plaques.

We’ve seen this hat recently — less than a month ago at a church service — and I liked it then, but on this occasion, it just seems so flat!  I’m such a fickle hatter these days…

Get ready, hatters … it’s a new princess for the blog!

Welcome to Mad Hattery, Princess Isabella!  This adorable little hatter is the daughter of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.  Her hattery choice today is quite sensible — she’s on a ski holiday with her parents and her big brother, Christian.  Nothing like a knit cap to keep little hatters’ heads warm!

Reader Kirsten sent the photo in, and she also noted that some have suspected that little Isabella might be in the beginning stages of that most annoying of childhood diseases, chicken pox.  I agree, Kirsten — showing up with scratchy spots really is the height of princessly hattery commitment.  I just hope her mom and dad get her an oatmeal bath and some comfy pajamas as soon as they get off that mountain!

To paraphrase the immortal words of the rapper Eminem, “Guess what’s back, back again?”

But honestly, I cannot blame Camilla for busting out the Paddington for this particular official engagement.  I mean, it’s actively snowing in this photo.  When it’s snowing or raining, all traditional hattery rules are slightly suspended, if you ask me.

More important than the hat, though, is the town that Charles and Camilla are honoring with their visit.  Have all of you heard about Wootton Bassett?  I’m sure the British Hatters among us have, but for the rest, this is a little English town that has gained attention in the last year or so because of the quiet tributes paid by the townspeople to fallen British soldiers.  The bodies of soldiers killed in the line of duty pass through the town after returning to the country, and the people of the town line the streets to show their respect for the fallen servicemen and women.  It’s an incredibly moving thing to see, and I think it’s wonderful that Charles and Camilla are recognizing the town.

One more Tiara Alert from the Danish royal gala: it’s everyone’s favorite elegant Danish Crown Princess, Mary!  She’s wearing the same diamond tiara that she wore to her wedding to Crown Prince Frederik back in 2004.

This tiara isn’t a Danish royal heirloom; it’s new to the family, having been gifted to Mary by her royal in-laws, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik, as a wedding present.  It’s not my very favorite diamond tiara — I’m not a big fan of the short spikes in between the more elaborate ones — but overall, not a bad wedding gift, hm?

Hey, everybody, it’s a Tiara Alert from Queen Margrethe, and it’s a real stunner!  This is the unique Floral Aigrette Tiara, which apparently came to the Danish royals in the ’60s when it was either bequeathed to or purchased by Margrethe’s mother, Queen Ingrid, from an unknown Danish-American.

One of the coolest things about this tiara is how flexible it is; it can be worn in a number of different ways, and pieces can also be detached and worn separately as brooches.  I love how it almost encircles her head, draping back down over her hair.  No wonder it’s also sometimes called the Floral Wreath Tiara!

Another Tiara Alert from the banquet dinner at Christiansborg Palace … and, ooh, it’s one we’ve not seen before here on the blog!  Princess Benedikte is wearing Queen Ingrid’s Star and Pearl Tiara, an inheritance from her mother.

The Star and Pearl reportedly traveled to Denmark with Ingrid from Sweden; Ingrid was born a princess of Sweden in 1910, and she married the future Frederik IX of Denmark in 1935.  Almost all of the tiaras you see adorning the heads of the lovely Danish ladies these days were once worn by Ingrid.  Thanks for leaving all of us such a sparkly legacy to look at, Ingrid!

Tiara Alert!  Princess Marie certainly is looking lovely at this evening’s gala dinner at Christiansborg Palace, isn’t she?  The one-shoulder dress is a great look for her, I think, and really, can you ever go wrong with a big giant sparkly diamond tiara?  I think not.

This is, of course, the Diamond Floral Tiara that Marie wore a few weeks ago to New Year’s Court (and to her own royal wedding).  Still love it.  I have a real weakness for diamond floral tiaras, I’ve discovered.