As promised, we’re going to continue our inventory of orange hued royal hats with a peek into Queen Mathilde’s closet:
1.
2.
3.
Designer: unknown; Fabienne Delvigne; Fabienne Delvigne
Last Appeared:July 21, 2004; May 2, 2009; July 21, 2014
4.Embed from Getty Images 5.Embed from Getty Images
Designer: both are Fabienne Delvigne
First Appeared: May 21, 2015; October 2, 2013
UPDATE: Since this post’s publication, Queen Mathilde has added several additional orange hats to her wardrobe:
6. 
7.
Designer: both are Fabienne Delvigne
First Appeared: October 11, 2016– revamped and reintroduced March 13, 2018; March 15, 2018
8.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne custom
First Appeared: October 16, 2019
Finally, there is one more hat that deserves inclusion here- a natural straw picture hat with wide orange stripe around the brim. Queen Mathilde first wore this piece for National Day in July 2010 (below left) and repeated it most recently while on a July 2012 visit to Burundi (below right).
A hand full of orange hats in a royal millinery closet might not sound like much but in relation to the size of Mathilde’s overall wardrobe, I think it is significant. I’m also struck by the bold shapes and brave shades she has chosen- this is not orange for the faint of heart! Queen Mathilde wears orange well and my guess is that we will see more hats in this colour appear in coming years. For now, what do you think of this collection?
Photos from Newscom; The Belgian Monarchy; Benoit Doppange, Photonews and Christophe Licoppe © Photo Newsvia Getty; Benoit Doppange via Belga; Julien Warnand/epa/Corbis; Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A./Corbis; Albert van der Werf/dpa/Corbis;
Royal Hats 
The last picture hat is my favorite followed by Hat 5. The rest I wouldn’t even dream of wearing. When this Queen gets it right, she really gets it right, but most of the time, I don’t like her hats, as there are too many bandages and strange fascinators for my taste.
I like Mathilde in orange, and again, it’s good to have a queen who embraces boldness! Having said that, I don’t think hat number 3 quite works. I do like the fourth, especially having looked at your original post and seen the back of it. And I like the fifth. I think I like #2, but would want to see a back view. The seventh little headpiece is good as far as it goes, which is not very far. I do like the big straw hat very much. I wonder if the edge trimming could be replaced in another colour? That would make it very versatile!
My favourite hat in this Queen Mathilde collection is the last hat, the natural straw picture hat with wide orange stripe around the brim. She carries off a picture hat so well, and the orange shade is bright and contrasts well with the beige straw colour. Hat 5 has an unusual rust colour that is quite flattering to her colouring and its intriguing shape gives it some drama, without going into costume mode. The fascinator at photo 2 is an interesting shape and the dark orange colour contrasts well with her light blonde hair. I don’t like the others at all.
I love the variety in Mathilde’s hats. I wonder if at one point she will go for one style and stick to it, like QEII, Beatrix etc. Mathilde gets it wrong from time to time but that’s how it goes when you’re not afraid to take a risk and experiment a bit;
About these hats: I never liked #3. #4 is ok, #1 and #2 are very nice. But #5 is a clear winner. Reminds me of some old school glamour.
I guarantee that I’ll be all alone on this, but I ONLY really like #1! With no disrespect in mind, I think #3 is ridiculous. What if it rains? It reminds me of a wonderful 2 minute clip of Lucy (I Love Lucy) falling into a swimming pool. HQ, may I send the link for all to enjoy? Happy Halloween.
Of course- share away!
These hats really do indicate how adventurous Queen Mathilde’s millinery really is. There’s not a single ‘traditional’ shape here.
Start this funny video at 19:00. Hedda Hopper shows up at the end with a very whimsical chapeau. ENJOY!
Going with the (thus far) unanimous consensus that #5 is also my favorite and deserves another appearance soon! While the distressed edge portrait hat worked so well for Máxima, it was less successful for Mathilde; clean up the brim’s edge, and #3 would be a winner as well (the hat paired amazingly with her shoes that day too!).
Love this color for Mathilde! Number five is far and away my fave. I like number three in theory, and have adored similar styles on both Max and CP Victoria. I find it a little overwhelming for Mathilde’s more delicate features.
Number 5– lovely, as is the straw picture hat with orange brim.
Not a fan of orange but I really like nr 3. It has more of a rust color and is a very nice hat for the autumn