HRH Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant and Countess Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz
December 4, 1999

Of the six crown princely weddings we'll be hatting about with in preparation for Crown Princess Victoria's June nuptials, Prince Philippe of Belgium's wedding is the first.  Married to Belgian aristocrat Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1999, Philippe is currently their heir to the Belgian throne, now occupied by his father, King Albert II.

Since their marriage, Mathilde and Philippe have lived an active but fairly low-key royal life.  In between major royal events and charity work, they have found time to have four children: Princess Elisabeth (future Queen of the Belgians), Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel, and Princess Eléanore.  But let's do a little time-traveling jaunt back eleven years, and -- dare I say it -- party like it's 1999!

Wedding Hatters

Here's a rare appearance from a royal and a brand-new country to add to the blog: the woman in the center of the photo, sitting one row behind Prince Laurent and Crown Princess Mathilde, is Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein.

Margaretha was born a princess of Luxembourg, the daughter of Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg -- and Joséphine-Charlotte was the half-sister of Prince Alexandre of Belgium, making Alexandre the uncle of Princess Margaretha.  Whew!  The royal families of Belgium/Luxembourg/Liechtenstein certainly are linked in complicated ways.

I quite like the hat she's chosen to wear to this funeral as well -- sort of a winter-weight pillbox hat, I suppose.

The Luxembourgers were out in force at their cousin Philippe's wedding -- here's Hereditary Grand Duke Henri (as he was in 1999), Hereditary Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein (Henri's sister), and her twin brother, Prince Jean of Luxembourg.

Maria Teresa's got a ringer of a cap on, but let's save her for a bit and focus on her sister-in-law.  What in the world is Margaretha wearing here?  This looks like the formal version of Olivia Newton-John's sweatband from the "Physical" video!  Perhaps she can pull it down over her ears to ward off the December cold?