On Tuesday, King Phillipe and Queen Mathilde were received by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Queen Mathilde unveiled her second new grey hat on this tour, a round felt saucer percher style trimmed with two black feather quills. This is a new hat shape for Mathilde and the proportion was just right for her. The simplicity of the hat was a perfect contrast to Mathilde’s printed dress and made for an ensemble which was stylishly modern but very pretty.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Yù&me” design. Dress by NATAN
Previously Worn: This is a new hat
Yesterday, the fifth day of the royal tour, Queen Mathilde joined Peng Liyuan for visits to an academy of art and experimental school for deaf students followed by a dinner with leading Chinese women hosted by fellow countryman Juan Van Wassenhove, founder of the Temple Hotel Founder. For these events, Queen Mathilde repeated her pale grey silk covered calot hat trimmed with a wide grey straw twisted ribbon tail. The pairing of this printed hat with Mathilde’s silk suit made for a demure but very elegant outfit.
Designer: Philip Treacy. Suit from Ann Demeulemeester
Previously Worn: February 19, 2014
After three grey hats in a row on this tour, Queen Mathilde surprised today with the most beautiful red ensemble.
A nod to the host nation’s flag, this large red straw saucer hat is simply trimmed with large, stylised abacca leaf that curves around one side of the brim. While lovely on its own, its pairing with Mathilde’s red dress is exquisite.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Chinatown” design. Dress by Bernard Depoorter.
Previously Worn: This is a new hat
With the exception of her first ensemble, I think Queen Mathilde has looked fabulous on this tour. What do you think of the three hats she has worn this week?
Royal Hats 
I liked all of Queen Mathilde’s looks but the red was the very best. It is her best daytime look of all time. Even from the rear, the hat and the dress are amazing beyond words.
All three ensembles are gorgeous. The first dress is fabulous; the colors are amazing. The last – the red – is absolutely sensational!!! To see her and her Handsome King, holding on to each other, is charming and exciting! Fabulous!
other royal romance
All three hats are excellent, a real treat to see them all, but the red one is particularly exciting because it isn’t a style that Mathilde wears very much. (I’d probably have brought it forward an inch or two on her head for maximum wow factor, but the whole ensemble is wonderful.)
The entire red ensemble is fabulous. Love! One of Mathilde’s best looks ever. I like the floral print dress and the grey percher hat sets it off nicely and doesn’t compete with the dress. It does seem more like something that Empress Michiko would wear though. Still, good to see Mathilde mixing things up. Not a fan of the 2nd grey outfit, the white trim on the jacket stands out too much somehow. I like the hat, but not terribly fond of these curlycue ribbon tails that Treacy is so fond of lately. They always seem just plonked on at strange angles. However, all respect for trying calligraphy with pen and ink whilst wearing white gloves and a silk dress!!!!
The red dress and hat are a fabulous pairing. Very retro, so chic.
The rest of the outfits tired me with too much grey. Grey, grey, grey. Come on, summer is here!
strong looks elegant and lovely
The Queen is fabulous.
Queen Mathilde looked sensational in her red straw saucer hat and I loved the simple trim with large straw leaves. Her dress was amazing, and very retro, and I loved that the hat and dress looked great from every angle. This is one of her best overall looks ever, if not the best! Her nude beige shoes were a good idea, so as not to compete with the hat or dress. I am not a fan of percher hats in general, but I did like Queen Mathilde’s grey round felt saucer percher style hat, and I liked the minimalist trim of the two charcoal feather quills. Perchers can’t withstand a lot of trim usually, and I think that is where a lot of perchers fall down, and why this one works. Placement is everything with a percher, and the Queen got the positioning just right here. I am not so crazy about Queen Mathilde’s pale grey silk covered calot hat, even though I am a huge fan of calots. I think there is just something a bit off about the trim, with the very wide grey straw twisted ribbon tail, as it seems a bit large relative to the hat size. I do love the suit she wore it with, but there is a disconnect between the suit and the hat. With its prominent white lapels, I wonder if a smaller white trim of some sort on the calot would have been a better choice to tie the entire look together, and I also feel a bit bored with three gray hats on the one tour. All of these hats are better than the crumpled napkin gray hat she wore the first day!
All three outfits are beautiful, but the red is a real eye catcher.
I’m glad the antennae stayed on a hat this time and didn’t appear alone again; I like this little grey saucer cocktail hat, althought I’m not the biggest fan of the dress. The second hat (Treacy) and outfit were just so glamorous. Finally, I was waiting for that red piece to show up on here! I love it all and agree it’s one of her best appearances ever; my only complaint is it seems to sit too far back on her head (but, minor detail). Brava Mathilde for more than redeeming yourself for that first headpiece of the tour.
Oh my goodness, Mathilde looks wonderful in all three ensembles from head to toe. The red outfit, however, was a real show stopper. Absolutely beautiful!
The red hat and dress. Oh my. Glorious. When you look that good from the back… timeless, elegant, alluring… what a winner!
The hat and grey print dress and the red ensemble were fantastic! Balanced, great shapes, elegant. HatQueen, do you know the designer of the grey print dress? The pattern is so beautiful. I don’t care as much for the grey silk suit and hat. I won’t go on and on…again…about wrinkles but I do have a question for HatQueen about the hat: while you talked about a school visit, dinner was also mentioned. My mom, who I have to admit was obsessive about Old School Manners, would say that hats are not appropriate for dinner. Thoughts?
The grey print dress is Natan. And I should have clarified- Queen Mathilde changed into a floral blouse and cream trousers for dinner, without a hat. Your mother is right up on her hat etiquette!
Fabulous. I really loved the red. It looked like something from an old movie from the 50’s maybe? It just had a lovely retro vibe, and she looked just amazing. I liked the first gray hat, but not the second., and ditto on the outfit. I just did not care for that either.
I agree. That red dress really feels like you’re watching stills from an old movie or so. Just look at that picture taken from behind. With those buttons, that neckline and how the skirt flares. I can’t stop looking at it. Definitely on the list of her best looks ever.
And these three hats may not be spectacular by itself but the combination with the dresses are perfect. Well done Mathilde!
I agree totally with your comment about the red dress in the picture from behind. Everything about that picture just says, “glamour.”
Well done Queen Mat – applause for all the hats here!
Wow! Queen Mathilde has looked extraordinary during their visit to China. I loved her red hat, but was impressed by her grey silk dupioni suit. like you, Hat Queen, the folded grey hat was not a favorite of mine, but she always carries herself so well that I think she wore it better than many could. All in all, a great fashion hat and ensemble week for Queen Mathilde.
Lovely.