For the abdication ceremony, Princess Amalia, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane looked adorable in matching flower-adorned headbands coordinating with their lovely Pili Carerra designed yellow sundresses. So sweet!
For the inauguration, the three little princesses changed into royal blue dresses and matching hair bows designed by NATAN. I loved how the family created a united team in royal blue. Those hair bows were quite darling!
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Princess Beatrix was beautiful in one of her classic round brimless hats. This one, made of royal blue straw, had a flourish or stylized leaves in the back. I loved that she was also in blue- it made such a statement of solidarity from this family.
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Princess Beatrix was poignantly accompanied by her daughter-in-law, Princess Mabel (her husband, Princess Beatrix’s son Prince Friso has been in a coma since a skiing accident in February 2012). Mabel wore a bandeau headpiece of black feathers borrowed from Queen Maxima.
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Princess Laurentien looked very elegant in a red statement hat trimmed with matching red net designed by Fabienne Delvigne. Laurentien has worn some seriously questionable hats in the past but I thought she looked fantastic today. I think this is one of the best hats she has ever worn and I loved that she wore red (a final nod to Holland’s red, white and blue flag).
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Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Queen Beatrix’s hat was very nice on her. She looked so happy and proud sitting with her granddaughters
Princess Beatrix did look great. I don’t like these round cake hats but it’s her style and this one looked really nice with her dress. I agree that it was so touching that Queen Maxima, Princess Beatrix and the A-team were united as team blue!
I’ll admit the A-team were pretty cute.
A-team!! too funny. they were super cute. loved the blue hair bows
Beatrix and the girls looked exactly as they should have- sweet, modest, subdued. It was Laurentien and Mabel who looked FANTASTIC. Mabels dress was such a FASHION MOMENT and the black feathers in her hair were all out glamour. Love to see some glamour! Laurentien’s hat was sassy and so high fashion. They both looked amazing.
Princess Beatrix has her own style. It does not follow fashion but we know her for her own style. On this day she did not leave her style and she looked regal and radiant.
That red hat is smokin’!
Laurentien looked great. That hat was amazing. I don’t know about that feathered headband on Mabel.
For once, she did. Best hat (and dress) out of this bunch. Mabel’s dress…. there are no words. She needs a 12-step program for her bow addiction.
In some photos, Laurentien’s hat looks red. In others, coral. No matter the color, I loved how her hat was small but more interesting than most of the big ones.
The girls are cute and Princess Bea looks like herself. but WHAT is with Mabels wierd hat and crazy marshmallow sleeve?
I read on another blog that the bow/white sleeve on Mabel’s gown was taken from her wedding dress, in remembrance of her husband Price Friso, in a coma for over a year. She wanted some way for him to be ‘with them’ at the investiture.
Mabel is in a tough position. Had she worn a bright colour and memorable hat, I suspect she would have been harshly criticized for looking too happy (whatever that means). It must have been a very bittersweet day for her.
I just looked at her wedding dress really, really, REALLY closely and the bow on this sleeve looks different than the bows on her dress. The bottom of the bow on this dress flows down into the rest of the sleeve without ending and there aren’t any bows on her wedding dress that could do that. Since Viktor and Rolf made her wedding dress, is it possible that they had some leftover material and used that for this sleeve? We all think of her dress as “THE bow wedding dress” and they probably knew we’d immediately think of her wedding dress if we saw a big white bow.
Did you notice that everything she wore yesterday hat a bow on it? The dress during the abdication had navy bows woven into the fabric. There was this bow on her sleeve and the dress she wore in the evening had a big pink bow. I wonder if that was on purpose?
Here are links to the three outfits Mabel wore:
Dress for the Abdication
Dress for the Inauguration
Dress for the River Pageant & Black Tie Dinner
You’re right- they all had bows. The picture of the dress she wore for the inauguration has a close-up of the sleeve. I also can’t see how it was made from one of the bows from her wedding dress. Her wedding dress was a heavier silk that had some sheen. This looks like a much lighter and drapier silk crepe. I suspect the design was intentional (so we would all be reminded of Prince Friso) but that they didn’t actually cut apart her wedding dress to make this one.
I am a professional seamstress and work for a major designer in New York. There is no way the fabric on this dress is the same fabric as her wedding dress. They have totally different sheen, body, weight and drape.
I don’t mean to offend anyone but I just wanted to point that out.
If that’s true, that’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard.
the yellow dresses are from Pili Carrera.
Thanks for the correction! I’ve mad it in the main post.
The little princesses were very cute! I hope Princess Amalia’s style will beccome more like a teenager soon because she dresses very childish. Maybe we’ll see her in hats son!
Oh no. Let her stay young and innocent as long as possible. She looked so sweet today in the hair bow to match her dress. I just loved the little princeeses hair bows today.
Those girls outfits and hairbands and bows are so sweet. Adorable.
Beatrix’s hat was OK but a little disappointing
I thought it was lovely and very appropriate for the occassion. She is no longer Queen and must fulfill protocol likewise.