bringing you the very best in ridiculous royal hats
So, One's armed forces decided to throw One a bit of a party in honor of one's sixty years on the throne...
Fondant fish scales for a military event? Why not! Lesson of the year: if you're the Diamond Queen, you do what you want.
At first I thought that we'd gotten a repe-hat from Princess Alexandra today -- such a rarity! -- but on second glance, I think it's just another variation on her standard: slightly exaggerated crown, normal-sized brim, and a little netting for the road.
As for Birgitte: she should just be glad that I ended my black beret moratorium a while back, because this velvety pillbox (which we first saw on Remembrance Sunday '09) is verging on jaunty at that angle.
PHOTO CREDITS: Indigo/Getty Images
An old trusty from Birgitte Gloucester at today's anniversary service at St. Paul's -- but sans scrunchie this time! 
Much better without, IMO.
(P.S. -- yep, this is a service for the 300th anniversary of St. Paul's Cathedral, but I can hear all of you smarties shouting, "but it's way older than that!" And you're right! The first St. Paul's building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and the current building, a Christopher Wren design, replaced it in 1711. So, you know, it's a spring chicken, cathedral-wise!) 
PHOTO CREDITS: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Little tough to see from a distance, but I think I give a thumbs up to both of these hats. Especially love Princess A in purple!
(Also, bit o' trivia: the man across from Birgitte Gloucester is her hubs, the Duke, and the other man is Christopher Rhys-Jones, Sophie Wessex's father. Aw! Love that the Queen welcomes in her in-laws' families.)
PHOTO CREDITS: BBC/YouTube
Looks like we've got Birgitte wearing the same coat she donned for William's wedding here, paired with a different (and, IMO, far less attractive) hat. The whole look's just so heavy.
And Dr. Claire's hair looks fab, but the gray and the tiny tiny headpiece are bringing me down...
Thanks to all the lovely hatters who sent this along -- it's Birgitte! I could have sworn I remembered seeing Birgitte in this slightly-unflattering blue pillbox before, but for some reason, I can't find it anywhere! Help! Is this hat overload?
Regardless: I've decided that I wish there was an "everybody has to buy a new hat" requirement for balcony admittance on Trooping the Colour day..
Also here: Lady Nicholas, wearing a bucket, and Julia Ogilvy, wearing the same hat she wore to William and Kate's wedding. But more importantly: Gary Lewis. Oooh.
PHOTO CREDITS: Belga
Thanks to lovely reader Brian for passing along this picture of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester at the papal beatification. Birgitte's veil is gorgeous, but I agree with Brian that I wish we could see her face!
PHOTO CREDITS: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images
Almost all of the photos of Birgitte Gloucester at the wedding are of the tilt-your-head-and-squint variety: here she is on the right of this photograph, in the hat with the cream crown and black brim.
HRH The Prince of Wales and Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles
April 9, 2005
We've reached the finish line, kids: it's our last hattery flashback post for the month! Which also means that Crown Princess Victoria's wedding is only three days away -- hooray!!!
Our most recent crown princely wedding in Europe was also easily the most controversial: in 2005, Prince Charles married his longtime partner, Camilla Parker Bowles, with whom he had admitted committing adultery during his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales. Both parties were divorced (though Charles, in the wake of Diana's death, was considered a widower), and so a religious wedding in the Church of England was impossible.
However, it had become clear by 2005 that Camilla's place in Charles's life was non-negotiable, and so the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury decided that marriage was the best option. The solution? A civil wedding ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor, followed by a Church of England blessing at St. George's Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle. There was one more unforeseen obstacle to overcome, however: the wedding had to be postponed by one day when Pope John Paul II died, and Charles had to represent the Queen at his funeral.
But on the day of the wedding itself, things went off largely without a hitch. Camilla went from being Mrs. Parker Bowles to being HRH The Duchess of Cornwall (she doesn't use the Princess of Wales title because of lingering associations with Diana). All of Charles and Camilla's children were present for the celebration, as were all of the senior royals -- and Camilla's ex-husband, too! The two celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary this year.
(For those hoping this wedding hattery flashback might be about Charles and Diana's wedding, never fear: I'm planning to do a flashback post about that event in the future!)
Wedding Hatters
Great Britain
Elizabeth · Camilla · Beatrice · Eugenie · Sophie · Anne · Zara
Serena · Sarah · Birgitte · Katharine · Alexandra · Marie-Christine
Foreign Royals
Anne-Marie · Mette-Marit · Laurentien
Okay, Birgitte, this is how you should wear your favorite color -- beige -- if you must embrace your Danish roots and stick to neutrals. The brim of the hat is perfect, it's got enough stuff on it to make it fun, and your hair looks totally fab underneath it. Get rid of that powder puff thing, and we'd have an A+ here!
Thanks to lovely reader James for sending in this photo!
