It's been far too long since we've had royal wedding hattery fun on the blog, hasn't it?  Good thing the Dutch royals were happy to oblige us today!

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This looks like a fancy lampshade that someone's grandma would keep in her parlor, yes?

PHOTO CREDITS: PPE

This is a LOT of pink.  And this hat is NOT good.  Oh, Laurentien.  I can't even.

PHOTO CREDITS: PPE

All right, hatters, you know what time it is!  Drumroll, please!

That's right -- slap on your black-tie attire, pour yourself a glass o'champers, and settle in for the Mad Hattery Awards of 2010!  (No, seriously, hurry up -- King CG is clearly waiting on you!)

We've moved the festivities inland from last year's cruise-ship do, but that just means more room for all of us and the maddest hatters of the year!  So, without further adieu, let's get the party started!

And the winners are...

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Oh, Laurentien.  I can't decide if this looks more like a sea creature or a head wound.  Sigh.

PHOTO CREDITS: PPE

Basically, this year, nothing was going to be able to top the Warrior Princess headband that Laurentien donned last year for the state opening of parliament.  But I'm so underwhelmed by this.  There are feathers.  There are flowers.  There's an ill-fitting jacket.  There's an unfortunate ketchup-and-mustard, Ronald McDonald vibe happening with the outfit and sash.  Eh.

PHOTO CREDITS: PPE

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

We've got another brand-new tiara for the blog on Princess Laurentien's crown here: this is Queen Emma's Diamond Tiara, one of Beatrix's absolute favorites.  It was made for -- surprise, surprise -- Queen Emma in the late 19th century, and can be worn as an all-diamond piece or, as Laurentien has it here, with a single ruby in the center.

Not a fan of the lone ruby, myself, though -- it sort of makes the tiara look like it has a pimple.  And that's never good!

But it does coordinate with the dress -- full-length shot below...

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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

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