Hey, everybody -- can Hunky Haakon and I have your attention for a bit?  We've got an important announcement to make!

In an effort to keep the blog running as smoothly as possible, especially during that big event that's coming up at the end of next month, I'm implementing a change I've been thinking about making here at Mad Hattery for a while.  (If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me posting about it a few weeks ago!)

From today on, users will be required to register at the site before they can comment on posts.  It won't be any different than other sites or forums that require users to register before posting; in fact, if you post over at Royalty with Ella Kay, it will be essentially the same system.

So, if you've been a regular commenter here previously, what do you do?  I want to make sure you get to keep the screenname you've been using here, so register that screenname and use the same e-mail address you've been using up until now, and I'll be able to ensure that you get to keep your name (and no one else can snag it!).

Users will have to use a legitimate e-mail address when registering an account; you will have to verify your account using a link sent to that address.  After you verify your account, I'll approve it -- and then you'll be good to go!

I'm hoping this change will do a few things:
-- Keep our community as fun and vibrant as it has been up until now.
-- Make it easier for you to post, as you won't have to enter your screenname and e-mail address every time you comment.  There is a new widget in the sidebar so you can conveniently log in to the site.
-- Cut down on the amount of nuisance comments I've had to filter out.
-- Make sure that each user has a unique screenname, so no one tries to post as an "imposter" user.

Whew!  I'm hoping that a tiny bit of inconvenience now will lead to a much more comfortable commenting experience for everyone.  So, head over to the registration page to grab your screenname, verify it, let me approve it, and then let us know you're here with a comment in this post!  Thanks, hatters!

Note: If you can't locate your verification e-mail, please check your e-mail program's spam folder.  Some programs are filtering the messages there.  If you've not been approved, and you're still waiting for the verification message, check there!

(And then, make it a real party by snagging some of the new MH gear from over in our shop!)

PHOTO CREDITS: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images North America

Before we get to the Queen's Sunday hat, a quick note.  Recently I've been receiving a massive number of e-mails from a disgruntled reader whose posting privileges here were removed after making comments that included inappropriate content.  Some of these e-mail messages have been bordering on threats, and as such, I feel it's important to establish firmly the guidelines for commenting on this blog.

Please review the blog's comment policy, and remember that, as the blog owner, I have ultimate jurisdiction over the content, including comments, that is included on this blog.  Any user found in violation of the policies is subject to immediate and permanent revoking of commenting privileges -- and commenting here is indeed a privilege and not a right.

Those who violate or have violated the policies will not be allowed to participate here, and they needn't bother appealing to me here or harassing me through e-mail.  As noted in the policy, I will not respond to e-mails on this matter from those who have violated commenting guidelines.  This is my blog, and them's the rules.  Thank you!

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Okay -- that's done -- hattery, anyone?

A hot pink and purple hat is my seven-year-old self's dream chapeau, seriously!  Talk about your brights and your bolds ... I just know this is a pre-blog repeat, but I can't pinpoint where I've seen it before.  Anyone?

Also: am I the only one who thinks this is bordering on cake hat territory?

PHOTO CREDITS: Belga

A couple of quick announcements on this Mother's Day afternoon -- one of them I hope especially will be an exciting development!

Royal Wedding Extravaganza!

To get us all ready to celebrate Crown Princess Victoria's wedding -- just about six weeks to go! -- I've decided to do a series of posts featuring hats from the weddings of the current crown princes of Europe!  We'll be looking at one wedding a week, starting today with Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium, and continuing on with Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Prince Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Prince Felipe of Spain, and Prince Charles of the UK.  Some are tiara weddings, some are just big fat hattery bashes, so get ready for some extra-special hattery fun!

An Itsy-Bitsy Commenting Change

I've decided to make a very minor change to the way comments are submitted to the blog, mostly to help keep my workload with the blog as manageable as possible.  Up to now, posters have not been required to enter e-mail addresses when they post, even though most do so anyway; I'll be changing the settings so that this will now be required.  It's not because I'm looking to get more information from you -- it's because comments without e-mail addresses automatically go into the moderation queue, and I then have to approve each one individually, which can take a while! 

This way, once you've entered your e-mail address once and I've approved your comment, the blog software will recognize you and I won't have to moderate your future comments.  Just so we're clear, your e-mail address will not show up on the blog -- the only one who would be able to see it would be me, and I'm not going to share your e-mail with anyone else (or start spamming you myself!).  Hope this isn't too big of an inconvenience!  I know it will save me some time, so I can provide you with more of your regularly scheduled hattery fun.

Thanks, everybody!  Now, off to gear up for the hattery from the Belgian royal wedding...

Unfortunately this evening, I've discovered that Hello! magazine's website cribbed passages from two of my blog entries in their article on the Swedish Nobel events of this week.  Here's a screenshot of the text in question:

The first underlined passage is from my blog entry on Queen Silvia's tiara at the Nobel awards ceremony; the second is from my blog entry on Princess Madeleine's tiara at the Nobel awards ceremony.

I've contacted the website and asked them either to quote and credit this blog or to revise the text in question.  While I'm flattered that the writers over at Hello! are enjoying Mad Hattery, it's not okay to lift passages from the blog without proper credit.  I'm really disappointed over this -- I'm a longtime reader of Hello!, and I'd like to be able to continue to enjoy the royal stories on their website.

While the issue's up in the air, though, I thought I'd take a moment to issue a kind reminder to everyone who may be reading that the text on this blog is my intellectual property and needs to be accurately credited.

Thanks, everybody!  Now, back to your regularly scheduled hattery...