Queen Máxima of the Netherlands is one of the most frequent royal hat wearers and this year, she kept us on our toes with her bold millinery. Please click on each photo to link to its original post which will contain larger views and detailed information on each hat. Note that while Queen Maxima did repeat a number of hats this year, each of these hats will appear below just once (usually, the most recent outing).
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Are there any hats here you nominate for Favourite Royal Hat of 2014? Adversely, are there any you feel compelled to name among your least favourite?
Royal Hats 
Maxima has some real winners, but then usually follows it up with an absolute howler.
#22 has to go down as the worst hat thing of the year!!
I always love her in wide brim hats, they are what I would want in a hat. #21, 23, and 31 have to go down as favs of the year.
I adore Maxima for so many reasons, and her hattery game is almost at the top of the list! My personal favorite is 31, followed closely by 23, 21, and 10. I wish I could add 11 to the mix, but unfortunately that crown was too tall, otherwise it would be amazing, especially with her outfit. 35 is also special to me: I loved it at the christening, but when she wore it this year, her hair was all wrong, so I blame the other details of the day, and not the hat itself.
I love Queen Maxima so much! She is, by far, the most interesting hat wearer in the royal world. I love the giant leaf. I love all of the big hats, whether picture hats or modified fedoras or top hats. She rocks a pill box, too, but those aren’t my favorites.
My least favorite hats are the bandage hats. Ugh. The donut hats are a close second.
But, since it’s Max, all is forgiven.
My favorite of the bunch is #31, the burgandy picture hat with the pinch in the brim. I also really like #10 and the similar, #3, 10, 23, 24, as long as the crown doesn’t get too high like #4, 6, 11. I also think #1 and #18 are lovely classics and show Queen Maxima’s amazing versitility and creativity. Now #2 I just can’t even handle and I hope she has a very amusing story for why she is attracted to it.
First of all we must thank Maxima for the pleasure she has given us over the year – whether we comment positively or negatively, we are enjoying ourselves discussing far more hats than almost anyone else has given us! My favourites are probably 17, 18, and particularly 19. All the big picture hats are good solid performances. I see a lot of people not liking 22 (the antennae), but I do feel it might be much better if worn in a much more formal style, with hair neatly up so as to showcase the “hat” better. I’d like to see it that way before damning it forever!
Maxima’s problem is that she wears hats very well and looks good even in awful hats. However, there is something slap dash about her hat choices and even about her general grooming. In my view the effect of a a beautiful hat can be lost if it isn’t well matched to the outfit or if the hair or general grooming is off. I would like to see Maxima experiment with different milliners for a while and choose her hats more carefully to add finish and polish to her appearance. In my opinion, no. 36 is a beautiful hat that deserves a fabulously coordinated coordinated outfit/hair. Numbers 29, 14, 16 and 23 don’t deserve to be on a royal head.
Hi Kew Gardens, I think you might have missed that the numbers for each hat are on the *left* side of the photo, otherwise I don’t get your beef with no. 23, which is a beautiful straw hat. However, I might understand your dislike of no. 22 the “insect hat”! 🙂 On my screen the numbers at the end of rows apply to the photos at the start of the row below so I figure that’s what’s happened.
I meant 35 not 36. Also 28,13, 15 and 22. Sorry I was sure I checked that.
22 Worst 23 Best!
HatQueen, this post today is a heckuva lot more fun than grading term papers, or wrapping Christmas packages . . thanks a bunch!
I know I’ll be in the minority on this, but I like NORMAL hats . . .12, 18, & 25. 4, 6, & 11 look all the same, which i like, but they’re too big.
Hats for the Boxing Day Shoot: 2, 22, & 35.
Most of the rest should go back to the nurse’s station or the donut shop.
Merry Christmas, people.
She’s definitely one of my favorite royal hat wearers! 🙂
15, 22, 26 and 39 should be retired. The rest are what they should be – memorable and stylish (in one way or another). Max carries them off with panache, so much so that it’s extraordinarily difficult to pick a favourite. Wide-brimmed hats suit her so well, so any of those, but I also like some of her more quirky outings, esp. if they’re in a colour that suits her (and most colours do), say 19.
For the best…10, 18, 19, and 23. (I’m a sucker for a big picture hat.)
22 and 35 should never see the light of day again.
I love that Maxima embraces hats of all types, even if I don’t like all of the styles she selects. She wears hats beautifully (ok, maybe not 22 and 35)!
Princess Beatrix has an easily identifiable style. Queen Máxima, on the other hand, is all over the stylistic map but always has her winning smile.
Hats 18 and 19, although very different from each other, are both spectacular and my favorites. 17 and 22 are my least favorite, along with all the small flesh-colored wraps, donut or not. Although I seem to have been about the only person who liked it on its initial outing, I remain interested in hat 11 for its bizarre brown and bright blue combination with matching coat.
(Numbering the hats is such a wonderful idea! Thank you!)
Hands down the worst royal hat of 2014 are those black antennae/antler things #22. Horrible.
#2, #19 and #35 are fantastical works of art. Best of the year.
No hat fear here is there! Well… they may not all be that successful, but you’ve gotta love her for trying. I like Max in a cartwheel hat with neat hair, and she gives a few excellent examples. I do love the enormous pink number, though she is struggling to see! I love the variety of styles she’s willing to try and her sheer exuberance – even if the doughnuts and turbans leave me somewhat cold.
Numbers 2 and 22 are definite candidates for worst of the year. Not a fan of the donuts, either, but we saw so many between Max and Mathilde this year that it is tough to pick one to nominate.
#31 is my fave, with 18 and 21 close behind.
She is the best in wearing a hat in royal circle. Refreshing , young and very often very elegant. These are my favourites: 20, 29, 30, 31, 38. Top favourite: 29!!!
This is certainly a woman who is not afraid of hats. Some of our Royals seem allergic to hats, so it is refreshing to see Maxima try. I prefer her in the larger-brimmed hats, and if she wears a pillbox, I prefer it with her hair in a chignon, which is far less messy looking.
best = 18 & 19
worst = 22, 17, 15, & 39. Awful.
The black and white picture hat (#18) is lovely, but I’m still sticking with my Princess Haya votes 🙂
Best of 2014
Worst of 2014
Marcus, you have the same taste as me and my family. My overall best hat choice would be the white brimmed hat, in the top row, second from the left, in your picture series. The worst of all is the black antler headpiece third from the right in the bottom row of your picture set.
I agree with Eliza’s choices, however, I think the hats must be displayed differently on her monitor than on mine, (given her numbering system), so could HatQueen please number the hats? The black antler hat is the one I loathe the most (hat number 22 reading left to right and top to bottom). I dislike bandage hats, especially the flesh colored bandage head wrap (hat number 15). I dislike all her donut hats.
I like all her brimmed hats and I do think Queen Maxima suits this style. I love the black trimmed white picture hat and I would love to wear it myself (hat number 18). My other favorites are the red brimmed hat (photo number 30), the burgundy huge picture hat (hat number 21) and the purple hat (hat number 12) and the blue hat with the stand-up brim (hat number 10).
I also like the little floral hairband (photo number 16).
Done. I’ll also edit the comments to reflect this revised numbering system.
Thanks HatQueen.
How many of these are donut hats?
#9 silver, #13 gold, #15 beige, #26 pale pink, #28 yellow, #32 orange, and #37 tan.
7 out of 39 hats were donuts. Less than 20%.
There are 7 donut hats too many! I hate donut hats!
Interesting statistic! The open crown hats are worn much less frequently than I would have guessed. Because they elicit such strong reactions from us hat fans, perhaps it feels like they are worn more often than they actually are?
What is that I hear? Could it be singing? Queen Maxima’s giant black and white picture hat with squared crown and mushroom brim (#18) has caught my attention! The angels may be warming up in order to sing the Hallelujah Chorus. I am reserving judgment until I see the hats of the Danish and British royal ladies, but I LOVE this hat! It just might be my favorite!
That is one of the most elegant hats I have ever seen. It is a very big but she is able to pull it off. I also love the black pillbox number 36. That one is very elegant as well.
Maryanne you are right about that black pillbox, it is one of the best of the pillbox variety. We have been inundated with pillbox hats this year, and although it’s usually a hat type I love, we have just had so many that I have been put off them. With this hat, I think Queen Maxima proved she can pull off a pillbox.
Rodney I agree, that white hat with black trim will probably get my vote for best hat of the year.
The first hat pillbox (#1)w…the black and white (#18) and the next one to it on the right (#19)….red hat on the end (#30). Best hats .
Worse hats all of the small neutral coloured ones that get absorbed into her hair colour..shame so much money spent and so many misses.
Nominations for best hats of 2014: the black & white picture hat (#18), the burgundy huge picture hat (#21) and the purple hat (#31)
Nominations for least favorite hat: the black antlers (#22), the banana yellow donut (#28) and the flesh colored bandage head wrap (#15).
Ditto nominations for me. To the worst list I also have to add that brown and navy hat (#11). It looks like its from a Dr. Seuss book.
I also nominate the huge black & white and burgundy hats and add the pink swirling headpiece (#19) with the rose on it beside the black & white hat. That has to be one of the prettiest headpieces I’ve ever seen.