Crown Princess Mary has made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to meet with the Danish troops on the ground there.  And while she was in military mode, she wore not only this baseball-style cap but also a helmet -- another hattery two-fer from Mary!

Mary looks so elegant even when wearing military gear out in the desert -- the world is so unfair!

Okay, 'fess up: which one of you was in Port-of-Spain during HM's visit and did not approve of the big tropical flower on her hat???  I just know this lady reads the blog...

Tiara Alert!

It's the second outing for the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara during this week's tour of the Caribbean.  I think it looks especially nice with this multi-colored gown.  She really does pop when she wears color, doesn't she?

I love these wide-brimmed hats on Máxima ... she's just so spunky and fabulous that she can totally carry them off.  And what's better for late fall than a nice chocolate color?

I feel like this may be yet another new hat for HM, worn to the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.  Really, if were the Queen, and I were making an address to the heads of state of the Commonwealth, I'd wear a big fancy gold hat, too!  I think it's just perfect.

Beatrix sort of looks like she's daring me to say something mean about this hat, doesn't she?  Well, to be totally honest, I don't know what to say about this one.  For a Beatrix hat, I guess it's fine.  If I saw it on anyone else, I probably would have to have words with the wearer.

One curiosity, though: do you think that's just a random orangey-yellow spot on the hat, or a hat pin?

Tiara Alert -- and an unusual one, too!

This little sparkler is Queen Mary's Fringe Tiara.  It was made for Queen Mary in 1919 out of diamonds that had originally belonged to Queen Victoria.  Mary gifted it to The Queen Mum (then Queen Elizabeth) in 1936.

The tiara surely also has some sentimental value to HM, because it's the tiara she wore on the day she married Prince Philip sixty-two years ago in Westminster Abbey.  Here's a link to the tiara on the Royal Collection's site comemmorating the wedding.

I think this actually may be the first time she's worn it since that day -- but maybe she was just a little nervous to put it on.  When it was placed in her hair on her wedding day, it snapped and had to be repaired before she could walk down the aisle!

Princess Anne also wore the tiara on her first wedding day.  HM inherited the piece along withe rest of The Queen Mum's jewels in 2002.

HM's landed in Port-of-Spain in Trindiad for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and I quite approve of her choice of hat for the day.  I like the tone-on-tone colors of this hat, with the lighter sage on the hat contrasted with the darker sage fabric wrapping around the front and mixing in the bow.  Very nice!

One too many colors on the bow and one too many brims on the hat.  Definitely not my favorite.  But then, to  be fair, I'm probably not totally up to date on my "palm tree planting" hattery etiquette.

It's a Tiara Alert -- and another outing for one of my favorite British sparklers, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara.

We haven't talked about the history of this fabulous tiara yet, have we?  Its unusual name comes from the women (the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland) who helped to gift it to Queen Mary (back when she was Princess Mary of Teck).  Lady Eve Greville organized a committee to raise the money from the girls of the kingdom to buy a wedding present for Mary, and more than five thousand pounds was amassed.  Lady Eve comissioned the tiara from Garrards, and it was given to Mary in 1893.

Mary gave it to her granddaughter, Elizabeth, on her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947.  Since then, it has also been affectionately known as "Granny's Tiara."