Mad Hattery Returns!

The site is back up and running on a shiny, brand-new server!  Wedding posts will be copied over to the regular site soon; I'll leave this up with links so you don't have to repeat your comments (and just in case we ever need it in the future!)

As of now, comments here have been disabled -- the wedding posts have been transferred, so head over to the regular site to comment.

Hooray!  Mad Hattery lives! :)

Prince William's Wedding: HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

A hearty welcome to the official royal fold, Your Royal Highness!  Kate is now officially HRH The Duchess of Cambridge -- even the Prince of Wales's website has updated her bio to reflect her new status, and you know it's real if the internet says it is! :)

The bridal tiara is a Windsor family heirloom.  Royal watchers have been calling it the Scroll Tiara for years, but on the wedding day we learned that the royals call it the Cartier Halo Tiara.  So, choose your poison on the name.  

This tiara was commissioned in 1936 for the then-Duchess of York (later the Queen Mum) by the Duke of York from Cartier.  It was then given to the current Queen by her parents as an eighteenth birthday present.  It has most recently been worn by the late Princess Margaret and Princess Anne, but it hasn't been seen out and about for a number of years.

The tiara looked absolutely beautiful on Kate -- excuse me, on the Duchess -- and it's clear that it wasn't a last-minute choice.  The earrings she wore here are a custom design given to her by her parents, and the top photo clearly shows that they were made to reflect the scroll motif in the tiara.  Reports were that the tiara was a loaner from HM, but the earrings suggest to me that it's something of a long-term loan.

The veil too was lovely -- IMO, everything about the way she looked was just perfect.  It's gauzy rather than lacy (except for the trim), which means it doesn't compete with the lace on her Alexander McQueen gown.  Three cheers for the newest woman in the Windsor family -- I can't wait to see her hats for Trooping the Colour, her upcoming Canadian tour, and all of her future royal adventures!

Prince William's Wedding: HM The Queen

We've got one seriously happy queen on our hands at her grandson's wedding -- loved the buttery yellow color (which I called! ha!).  The hat, on the other hand, is just so unremarkable:

It's a terribly plain shape, and even the construction doesn't look as good as it usually does on her hats.  Disappointed with this one on the whole.

Prince William's Wedding: HRH Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia and HRH Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia

Two other royals who were extremely hard to spot in the wedding pictures are Crown Princess Katherine and Princess Elizabeth of Serbia (Yugoslavia).  Here's Katherine all the way on the right; you can see that her hat is sort of champagne colored.

Here's a slightly better look -- Katherine is partly obscured by Crown Prince Pavlos, and Elizabeth (CP Alexander's sister -- which makes her a first cousin to the Kents) is in the red feathers beside Prince Albert.  Nothing terribly exciting or unusual about either topper.

ETA: Much better view of Katherine's hat, courtesy lovely reader Jake:

Prince William's Wedding: HRH The Crown Princess of Sweden

You know, I am not a big fan of peach as a general rule, but I love love love this on Victoria.  She looks smashing!  (And, as is always true with the Bernadottes, her hair is amazing.  They need to lend their hairstylists out to the other royals for big occasions.)

Prince William's Wedding: HRH The Princess of Asturias

It's a first, everyone -- Letizia in a proper hat, not just a mantilla or a tiara!  (As if a tiara could ever be just a tiara, but anyway, I digress.)

I love this cloche shape on her, and I don't mind the soft ballet pink.  The netting gives interest, and if she'd just taken the feathers off of the back...

...it would have my unabashed vote for a "best hat" option.

Prince William's Wedding: HM The Queen of Spain

I was sort of hoping that Sof would go for a more substantial hat this time, but I'm not surprised she opted for her usual feathery fascinator for an event that requires hattery.  It's just so frilly for a woman of her status and position.

Wish she'd gone with a deeper color, too -- something about this purple is blah.