We've got another outing from a tiara that debuted last June at the Swedish wedding: Claire's Diamond and Pearl Tiara.  Still love this one -- it's delicate and pretty, but still substantial enough to be highly visible.

PHOTO CREDITS: PPE

Belgian lampshade numero dos!  But at least Claire can use the immense shade provided by her hat to hide her blushes, because look what her hubs did on the red carpet:

Oopsie-daisies!  Ye Olde Royal Red Carpet Banana Peel Trick again, clearly...

PHOTO CREDITS: PPE

I love this on Claire -- her features call for some seriously delicate hattery, and if you're going to go minimal, a little deconstructed ribbon headband isn't a bad choice!

PHOTO CREDITS: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Princess Claire obviously had the wrong event penciled in on her calendar today -- rather than the national day military parade, she clearly thought she was scheduled to attend prom in 1954.

The hat on its own is actually quite lovely -- I really like the pearly gray -- but the entire ensemble makes me want to bust out a karaoke rendition of "Hopelessly Devoted to You."  But now, there's noooooowhere to hiiiiiide, since you pushed my love asiii-iiide!

(Also: hey, Astrid!  Hold on, girl -- you're up next.)

Photo Credits: Belga; REUTERS/Yves Herman

HRH The Crown Princess of Sweden and Mr. Daniel Westling
June 19, 2010

Well, kids, yesterday we partied hardy in the wedding live posts, and today we get to have a tiara fiesta!  I've compiled all of the tiara entries for the royal guests at Crown Princess Victoria's wedding to Daniel Westling (now Prince Daniel) in this entry.

The wedding, of course, took place in Stockholm yesterday.  The couple has been together since 2002, when Daniel became Victoria's personal trainer.  Love blossomed, and on their wedding day, Daniel became royal.  During their balcony appearance, Victoria thanked the people of Sweden for giving her a prince.

And now, we'll all just have to wait to see how long it takes before the pitter-patter of little royal feet are heard in Haga Palace!

Wedding Hatters

It's a banner day in the tiara world, hatters -- a Belgian royal got a new tiara!  And, even more shocking, it wasn't Paola or Mathilde, but Princess Claire!

At first, when I saw this on TV, I thought it was her wedding tiara, but on closer inspection, it's clearly a different piece.  The Belgians don't have extensive jewel archives -- a case of too many daughters getting tiara inheritances and marrying into other royal families and of a former sort-of queen who sold off family treasures -- so it seems unlikely that this is an heirloom piece. 

Maybe Laurent purchased it for her?  Until we know any more about it, I'll just call it Claire's Diamond and Pearl Tiara.

Claire's whole look for the wedding was wonderful ... click below to see a full-length photo of her dress...

Read the rest of this entry »

HRH The Crown Prince of Denmark and Miss Mary Donaldson
May 14, 2004

Our last major tiara wedding before Crown Princess Vic's big day was the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Tasmanian-born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson.  The two met during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, fell in love, and got hitched four years later.

Frederik and his Aussie bride have two children: Prince Christian (who will one day be king) and Princess Isabella, the first Danish princess born in a generation.  Mary has transformed from an everyday girl to a glamorous crown princess, and this wedding was definitely high on the glamour factor as well: we've got more than thirty tiaras on parade here, many of which are brand-new to the blog.  A good trial run for Victoria's wedding, no doubt!  Enjoy!

Wedding Hatters

And the big hattery winner for today ... Princess Claire!

I can hardly stand it, this is so chic!  I love how it takes the traditional beret concept and puts a new twist on it, with a jaunty angle and size, and interesting pleating and shaping through the top of the hat.  It also contrasts really well with the fur collar of her coat.  And it's even great from the back!

It's perched just perfectly on her ponytail.  Well done, Claire!

Princess Claire is the second woman on the right in this picture, standing between Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein and her husband, Prince Laurent, in the line to receive communion at Prince Alexandre's funeral.

Though Princess Claire has spent the vast majority of her life in Belgium, she was actually born in England and lived there until she was three.  And I think there's something quite British about her hattery choices -- wouldn't this delicate little fascinator look right at home on Zara Phillips or Princess Beatrice?  It's a little quirky, but I like it.

Meet the British-born, Belgian-raised Princess Claire of Belgium, daughter-in-law of the king and queen and wife of Prince Laurent.  She's hanging out with the rest of the family at today's National Day military parade, and she's wearing quite a tiny little hat.

I think I like this one -- not a fan of the color, because, ugh, beige -- but it's fun.  The tulle isn't overpowering, and she can see the military parade with no problem.  Sophie Wessex over in Britain should take note -- you can wear cute little hats without sticking them to your forehead!