"GASP!  Ladies, have you SEEN the amount of plumage in this castle today???"

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St. Paul's was simply lousy with royals today!  Let's get this Jubilee party started, hatters!

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Peek between Autumn and Peter -- it's the Linleys!  I'm really digging Serena's dramatic fur for the day ... very Princess Margaret of her, no?

PHOTO CREDITS: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

"HAHAHAHAHA ... I know!  I can't believe I wore a flowered headband with bright red netting to this shindig, either!"

PHOTO CREDITS: Isopix

Okay, to be honest, this is actually more of a "spot everyone we haven't mentioned" post than one specifically about Sylvana St. Andrews (who is the woman in the fairly basic black-and-white hat between Flora and Eugenie) or Serena Linley (in the white pillbox on the right, who looked all day like she vaguely wanted to be watching something on television instead).  Because we've also got Rose Gilman's floating blue feathers on the extreme right, as well as the hunky Gloucester sons-in-law (George behind Serena, Gary talking to Helen Taylor).

Sigh.  Anybody want to help me start a petition to have risers put on the balcony for family occasions?  At least tomorrow, St. George's has those lovely picture-taking stairs.  See you then for more Windsor millinery merriment!

PHOTO CREDITS: Zimbio

First: haircut for Serena! Interesting to see her with short hair -- I'm so used to the shoulder-length 'do. Second: what the heck is this hair corsage business she's got going on?

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Okay, by now, I know that my general dislike of fedoras on women has been firmly established ... but I'm willing to give the lovely Serena Linley a pass for this one.  I actually like it!  Very chic!

(Also, LOL, David, how's that ride on your invisible motorcycle going?)

PHOTO CREDITS: David Hartley/Rex

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

God, Serena Linley looks bored.  I should know -- that's the same expression I have on my face when I look at her hat.

Happy New Year, Mad Hatters!  While I'm sure you're all quite busy enjoying the bubbly and kissing your sweethearts at midnight, I thought a little hattery fun might be in order tonight as well.

(Well, this is Mad Hattery -- I'm sure you're all actually lounging on cruise ships in your Sunday best, wearing construction helmets and sipping champers just like Queen Silvia up there.  You are, aren't you?  I knew it!)

Anyway: everyone's doing year-in-review posts right now (heck, I just did two: The Top Ten British Royal Events of the Decade and 2009's Royal Romance Review -- check 'em out!), so I thought we'd join right in.

And so, without further adieu, I present: the Mad Hattery Awards of 2009, recognizing the wackiest, zaniest, and most completely out-of-control hattery worn this year!

And the winners are (drumroll please)...

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