Happy birthday to the maddest of the Norwegian royal hatters, Princess Märtha Louise!  Here she's pictured attending the wedding of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark a few years ago, wearing her standby sparkler, the King Olav's Gift Tiara.  But, oh, the hats!

The Crown Princess of Sweden's Wedding (2010)
The Prince of Asturias's Wedding (2004)
The Prince of Orange's Wedding (2002)
The Duke of Brabant's Wedding (1999)

Hope you have a truly angelic day, your highness!

PHOTO CREDITS: Life

Ari Behn's got two princesses on his arm at this state banquet -- his wife,  Märtha Louise, on his left, wearing the King Olav's Gift Tiara, and his aunt-in-law, Astrid, on his right, wearing the stunning Vasa Tiara which once belonged to her mother, Crown Princess Märtha.  Excellent!

PHOTO CREDITS: siste.no

Hunky Haakon and his fam may have been off globe-trotting on this Christmas, but the Behn gang was out in full-force in the frigid Norwegian weather to celebrate with the king and queen!  Here's the always-interesting Märtha Louise, in a hat that would seem a little young on most women with three children.  But I don't know, somehow she's just whimsical enough that it works for her.

The coat, however...

PHOTO CREDITS: Belga

Princess Märtha Louise went for a feathery-hair-bow-fascinator look at Countess Ruth's funeral; it sort of reminds me of the fascinator Princess Claire of Belgium wore to Prince Alexandre's funeral, but not quite as lovely.  Maybe hair up would have improved things here?  (Either way, ML looks like she was really moved by the funeral -- she strikes me as a lady who would be more concerned with the emotions of the day than with the state of her hair, anyway.)

(Thanks to lovely readers Kiri Anne and Eliza for sending in info about this event!)

PHOTO CREDITS: MSN Starlounge

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

I've had a change of heart when it comes to the Amethyst Necklace Tiara -- I love it!  But only when Märtha Louise wears it, and wears it with her hair like this!  It makes it look less sparse when there's some serious hair built up behind it!

ML looked fab all around -- her best since her own wedding day, I think!  See the full dress below...

Read the rest of this entry »

HRH The Prince of Asturias and Miss Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano
May 22, 2004

Only a week after Crown Prince Frederik married Mary Donaldson in Denmark, Prince Felipe of Spain tied the knot with journalist Letizia Ortiz in Madrid.  Theirs was the first wedding of a member of the Spanish royal family to take place in Madrid since the wedding of King Alfonso XIII and Princess Ena of Battenberg in 1906.  That wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on the royal couple and the tragic deaths of several bystanders -- this one, thankfully, went more smoothly, although it was a cloudy, rainy day in the Spanish capital.

There were a few controversies, however, about Felipe's choice of bride.  Letizia, a journalist who covered the September 11th attacks in New York and the Iraq War, will be the first commoner to be queen of Spain.  She also had previously been briefly married and divorced.  However, because her first wedding was a civil rather than religious one, the Catholic Church did not recognize it, and she was free to marry Felipe.

Felipe and Letizia have become quite a working team since their wedding, frequently appearing together on royal engagements.  They have also had two daughters, Infanta Leonor (born in 2005) and Infanta Sofia (born in 2007).  Leonor is expected to become queen of Spain in her own right one day -- that is, if her parents don't provide her with a baby brother!

Wedding Hatters

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

You guys, I think Märtha Louise is trying to psych me out ... I'm working on the Danish royal wedding posts right now, and this is exactly the same outfit and tiara (the King Olav's Gift Tiara) that she wore to Mary and Fred's big day.  Soooo ... I guess you'll have to wait until I post about it later in the week to hear what I think!

HRH The Prince of Orange and Miss Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti
February 2, 2002

Here's our third crown princely wedding in the run up to Crown Princess Victoria's June nuptials -- less than a month now!  The crown prince of The Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, wed Argentine investment banker Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002. 

The wedding was not without controversy; Máxima's father, Jorge Zorreguieta Stefanini, was a minister in the administration of Argentine dictator Jorge Videla.  Videla's government carried out what was called a "Dirty War," killing tens of thousands of Argentine citizens, and Zorreguieta's involvement was suspect.  However, the Dutch States-General granted permission for the couple to marry -- but neither of Máxima's parents attended the wedding.

Since their marriage, Máxima's relaxed and friendly personality has become quite popular with the Dutch people.  She and Willem-Alexander have three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, Hereditary Princess of Orange (who will likely one day be queen), Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane.

Wedding Hatters