Royal wedding: What's with the hats?

The royal wedding was certainly a splendid and most envied one. I simply loved Kate's wedding gown, love the long sleeved lace and its simplicity.

It was also undeniably a fashion parade when the women guests arrived with their stylish attire and perhaps most captivating to the audience were their hats!

Well, aside the fashion statement each lady was trying to portray, did you know that there are reasons for their head coverings in church? This includes why the bride wears a veil too.

Meanwhile, if you can recall, both princes (and all the other men in uniforms) removed their caps upon entering the abbey and put them on again as they exit the church.

So, men remove their head coverings while women wear head coverings in the church. All these gestures mean something and are symbolical. Let's check out the biblical reasons to these:

1. Scripture

1 Corinthians 14:37

Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have any spiritual powers must recognize that what I am writing to you is a commandment from the Lord. 

St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians (11: 1-16) that women must cover their heads because it is a Sacred Tradition commanded by our Lord Himself and entrusted to St. Paul.
 
2. Divine Hierarchy 

 1 Corinthians 11:3

But I should like you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

There is a hierachy established by God, in both the natural and religious spheres where the female is subjected to the male. In a marriage, God has given the husband authority over his wife as mentioned by St. Paul to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 5:22-24
Wives should be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, since, as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church is subject to Christ, so should wives be to their husbands, in everything.

Nevertheless, we should be clear that this subjection does not degrade women in any way because in God’s kingdom everyone is subjected to a higher authority.

1 Corinthians 11:12

...and though woman came from man, so does every man come from a woman, and everything comes from God.

3. Symbol of Christ's Incarnation

One should know that in the Old Covenant, both Jewish men and women used to cover their heads when they were worshiping. However, later the Jewish Christians changed this custom as they did with many other Jewish customs. The practice of veiling is to be a symbol of Christ's incarnation (God the Son in human flesh). As mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14, these customs were not man-made, rather inspired by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 11:4-5

For any man to pray or to prophesy with his head covered shows disrespect for his head. And for a woman to pray or prophesy with her head uncovered shows disrespect for her head...

I shall quote Catholic Knight here:
Again, this goes straight back to the incarnation. All of this is a symbol of what we Catholic Christians believe about Christ, his incarnation, and the Eucharist. Paul tells us that if a man covers his head during mass, he dishonors his spiritual "head" which is Christ. In other words, a man who covers his head during mass dishonors Christ, because his action of veiling himself sends the physical statement that Christ was not incarnate as a man. The woman, on the other hand, representing the Church, ought to cover her head because if she believes that Christ is truly incarnate, she should veil herself as a sign that the Church has been made holy by Christ as his spouse. In doing so she honors Christ as a symbol of his sanctification on the Church. She also honors her husband with a physical sign that he represents Christ, because Christ came in the form of a man. The chapel veil is a sign of holiness because Christ has made his Church holy, and women represent the Church as the "bride" of Christ. It is a sign that the Church is covered and under Christ's protection. This is the symbolism of the Church's relationship to Christ. It is not so much a statement of a particular woman's holiness, but rather the Church's holiness.


4. Angels

1 Corinthians 11:10

...and this is why it is right for a woman to wear on her head a sign of the authority over her, because of the angels.

St. Paul explains that the angels, who are well aware with the customs of the church and what they mean, are offended when we ignore or don't follow the liturgical customs of the Church. We know that the angels are present and participate together with us each time we celebrate Holy Mass as explained in the Holy Scripture by St. John:

Revelation 8:3

And another angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne.

As a conclusion, we know that the symbolism of the veil takes that which is invisible, the order established by God, and makes it visible.