Members of the Belgian Royal Ramily attend the annual celebration of the Eucharist in memory of the family`s deceased members at Our Lady Church in Laken today. Queen Mathilde used this occasion to début a new cloche hat. With a grey felt crown and beige felt brim, this hat was trimmed with a simple double band in beige fabric, wrapped around the bottom of the crown. We have not seen Mathilde in many cloche hats and while it is not my favourite millinery style on her, this particular hat brings and air of innocence and beauty that works well for her. Don`t you think Queen Mathilde looks incredibly young in this hat!?
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
While Queen Paola did not wear a hat, Princess Astrid and Princess Claire also wore new pieces of millinery. Princess Astrid’s black felt hat featured a flat crown and wide, cartwheel brim. The brim was trimmed in the same black silk ribbon that was wrapped around the crown and while this embellishment was simple, I thought it was wonderfully effective and emphasized the graphic lines of the hat. Princess Claire wore a navy fedora with oversize brim. Trimmed with a triple band around the crown that twirled into bow loops on the side, this hat was an excellent colour and scale for Claire. We have seen Princess Claire successfully wear several fedoras in the past and this hat further solidifies this style as one very well suited to her.
Designers of these hats: unknown
In a photo released later yesterday, we could see that Princess Marie-Esméralda wore a black feathered fascinator (below, right). Princess Margaretha and Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein were also in attendance; Princess Margaretha wore a simple black pillbox hat.
It is not often that we see the simultaneous début of three new Belgian royal hats so today is special indeed! What did you think of this trio of new millinery?
Photos from Robin Utrecht/Hollandse Hoogte, Robin Utrecht/Hollandse Hoogte, Robin Utrecht/Hollandse Hoogte, Robin Utrecht/Hollandse Hoogte, Robin Utrecht/Hollandse Hoogte, and Robin Utrecht/Hollandse Hoogte via Corbis; and Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Queen Mathilde looks amazing in this cloche hat and it compliments her stylish outfit perfectly!
I do not usually post but I vote in the polls. I thought I may as well join in the fun. Some points:
1. Queen Mathilde:
A. I agree with the HatQueen that Queen Mathilde looks incredibly young in this hat! This is not just a hat, it is a TIME MACHINE!
B. Queen Mathilde really suits this cloche style and I hope we see her in another one of this type.
C. The grey felt crown and beige felt brim could have been drab, but the shades of these colors are good and work well side-by-side.
D. The hat’s trim with a simple double band in beige fabric, wrapped around the bottom of the crown, kept the hat looking elegant and uncluttered.
E. The hat brings an air of innocence and beauty that works well for her as the HatQueen stated.
F. This is the best hat featured here today.
G. I will chalk this hat up on my list of Most Preferred Royal Hats 2015.
2. Princess Claire:
A. I agree with the HatQueen that this Princess looks great in fedoras. I hope she wears many more.
B. The navy color suits her coloring well and suited her outfit.
C. The simple trim with a triple band around the crown that twirled into bow loops on the side, kept the hat looking elegant and uncluttered.
D. This is the second best hat featured here today.
E. I will chalk this hat up on my list of Most Preferred Royal Hats 2015.
3. Princess Astrid:
A. The black hat suits her coloring well and suited her outfit.
B. I agree with the HatQueen that the style of the black felt hat with its flat crown and wide, cartwheel brim, suited her well.
C. The simple brim trim in the same black silk ribbon that was wrapped around the crown, definitely emphasized the graphic lines of the hat as the HatQueen stated, and it kept the hat looking elegant and uncluttered.
D. This is the third best hat featured here today.
E. I will chalk this hat up on my list of Most Preferred Royal Hats 2015.
4. Princess Margaretha:
A. I think a simple black pillbox hat is appropriate for church.
B. While I like pillbox hats as a general rule, and I will admit to owning a few, I am so over this hat style after we saw so many in 2014, that I give no points for effort here.
C. This is the fourth best hat featured here today.
D. I will not chalk this hat up on my list of Most Preferred Royal Hats 2015.
5. Princess Marie-Esméralda:
A. I don’t like fascinators as a general rule, and I think a fuller hat is more appropriate for church.
B. I don’t like feathered fascinators and I am so over this hat style after we saw so many in the last few years, that I give no points for effort here.
C. This type of black feather fascinator looks more like cocktail wear than a church related headpiece.
D. This fascinator looked too light to coordinate with her heavy wintery layered outfit.
E. This is the hat I like least here today.
F. I will chalk this hat up on my list of Least Preferred Royal Hats 2015.
I agree with what Empress Pandora says: February 14, 2015 at 8:28 pm. This is an excellent critique of all the hats. I think Queen Mathilde has set the bar very high and she is also on my list of Most Preferred Royal Hats 2015. So far, I think this is the best hat seen this year.
I realize this is about hats, but I have to say Queen Mathilde looks fantastic head to toe. The shape, color and angle of the hat looks perfect with her hair and make-up. Maybe, it is just me, but her last several outings, she has looked very, very good.
Congratulations to Fabienne Delvigne, a milliner of great talent, who may well win best hat, or at least one of the best hats, of 2015 with this amazing cloche worn by Queen Mathilde. I look at the photographs before I read the blurb, so at first I thought this was a Flashback moment, so I wondered how I didn’t recall this unique cloche. When I read the blurb, I was shocked at how much younger the Queen had become by putting on this hat. It reminds me of the Roaring 20s, and The Great Gatsby and Thoroughly Modern Millie are the films that come to mind. Though there is still something modern in this one despite its Flashback to the Roaring 20s look. While we are on the subject of retro-glam hats, Princess Astrid’s hat had a 1950s era influence about it. This would be a versatile hat which would be right at home at events as diverse as funerals, church services, the races, or opening a school. It is a perfect hast for a Princess, or even for us mortals! Princess Claire has shown us once again that the fedora is a great hat type that is perfect for any occasion. Three wonderful royals and three memorable hats.
I agree with what Splendid Jewels says: February 13, 2015 at 6:31 pm. Congratulations to Fabienne Delvigne on a great job! Queen Mathilde’s hat is one of a kind.
Such lovely hats. Queen Mathilde looks beautiful.
Does Princess Margaretha usually attend this mass? I know she’s a cousin (through her mother, Grand Duchess Josephine of Luxembourg) and perhaps she attended to remember Queen Fabiola?
Princess Margaretha and her husband usually attend this mass. Luxarazzi noted this week that while they are close to Margaretha’s Belgian relations, their eldest child, Prince Léopold, who died two days after his birth in 1984, is buried at Laeken Cathedral. This likely explains their annual attendance.
ADORE Mathilde’s hat! The grey and beige is so unexpected and while I’d expect it to be boring, it’s not!
Lovely millinery all around!
I hope you’re right about this being the year of the cloche because I’m loving this.
I actually think it’s the year of the calot but it would be great fun if we saw more cloche hats!
All three ladies hats are great and very appropriate to the occaision.
Wow, what a change in QM, she looks positively 20 years younger, that hat on her is perfect. The color, the style and her entire outfit is wonderful. She is glowing and her make-up is so much more youthful then ever. At first glance, I thought if was someone else who was accompanying KP, I want her secret. The other two ladies look very nice but not unusual in their hat choices.
OMG, HM Mathilde and the Princesses look lovely! A beautiful way to start my day, seeing their smiling faces, and gorgeous hats!! The colors, the proportions, and the perfect way for Royals in 2015 to attend a special Mass.
I agree with what Susan says: February 13, 2015 at 6:21 am.
I am positively surprised by Mathilde’s hat! I never thought beige and grey to be a good color combination and yet it does work very well here! I agree with the other comments about the fact that she looks beautiful and young wearing this. It might be the beige colour surrounding her face, or the good make-up or the sunshine but there is a lovely glow on her face. Very successful indeed.
Paola and Claire’s hats are nice too, but nothing to write home about, in comparison.
Agree with everyone else here – that cloche on Mathilde is fabulous. A great colour combo too – it’s a winner!
I really liked the retro-glam look of Astrid’s hat; reminds me of the rare wide-brimmed hats of the 1950s, like those I think Givenchy featured at times. Claire is able to work many different hats, and this fedora is another winner for her; definitely my favorite hat wearer for the Belgians. The cloche shape is nice on Mathilde, but what I also dislike about the Belgian royal hats is that they always seem to be more boring, simple, and colorless compared to their neighbors (Britain, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands); that’s my biggest complaint here.
I would gladly wear all 3 of these amazing hats, but I declare Queen Mathilde’s cloche hat the best new royal hat so far in 2015, and her best hat ever! I never noticed how beautiful her eyes were before. I never knew that I could love a cloche so much. It has a superb 1920s vibe. I never knew a hat could transform someone so much and make them look about 10 years younger!
The Queen is magnificent: hat, outfit – from head to toe. She is ALWAYS perfect, and my favorite queen!
Love Queen Mathilde in that hat. Although I wish Mathilde’s dress or coat were a little bit longer, she was tastefully dressed and looked oh so very young.
The Queen looks wonderful. This might set a trend. The other hats are fine.
I’m not a big fan of the cloche style, but this one looks fantastic on her majesty. I like the other two very much as well, and would wear the fedora, if I owned it. I like the flat top cartwheel brim hat as well, partly because of the restrain in decoration, but neither can beat the cloche!
Wow. There’s no loser in this lot! All the ladies look amazing!
All three royal ladies look beautiful and so do their hats, which are in perfect harmony with their wearers. My family and I all agree that the Belgian Queen’s cloche is the best hat she has ever worn. Its proportions and tones are perfectly suited to her head and face shape and to her hair and eye and complexion tones. If we must pick a winner from this group, this is it.
A close runner up is Princess Claire’s fedora. This is one of her best fedoras. The fedora is my first choice for hat shape for women and for men usually, but the Queen’s cloche still beat this one.
Second runner up is Princess Astrid’s hat which is a good hat style for her, but we do see so many black royal hats, which is understandable because they are often at funerals where hats are required, so it isn’t as exciting as the other two hats.
Queen Matilde’s cloche is the most flattering. Her whole outfit is appealing.
The cloche is lovely and Her Majesty looks so young and carefree. I like the color palette too. Not a fan of Princess Astrid’s hat. It looks so somber, but her smile does lighten the mood very well. Princess Claire’s fedoras always look nice on her. I think it is a wonderful style and a personal favorite of mine, but on this outing, the Queen’s lovely cliche is a clear winner for me. Game, set, and match.
Queen Mathilde’s cloche hat looks perfect on her, and I agree with HatQueen, it makes her look younger. It looks modern, yet it has an amazing retro feel as well. As rgardner532 has already said, it is “timeless.” I think this is one of her best hats and best overall looks. This is the winning hat of the trio, but I like the other two hats also. Princess Claire’s navy fedora with oversize brim is the next best hat, and this style definitely suits her. This is one of her best hats. Princess Astrid’s black felt hat suits her well, but it just doesn’t have as much wow factor as the other two hats. I would like to own all three hats! Well done Belgian Royal ladies!
Queen Mathilde’s hat looks really very good on her. The whole look is beautiful.
Mathilde’s hat reminds me of the best of ladies hats. She could be boarding a train a century ago in this elegant shape. Timeless
Love Mathilde’s on her – the shape and color combo is terrific
I totally agree! The hat is beautiful ans tasteful and she looks wonderful.
I agree too – I think this is the BEST look I have ever seen on Queen Mathilde. I surprise myself because I would never have thought I would like a cloche that much!