Senior members of the Dutch Royal family took part in Prinsjesdag today, the start of a new session of Dutch parliament that takes place every year in The Hague on the third Tuesday of September. As in years past, Queen Máxima, Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien joined King Willem-Alexander, whose speech from the throne addressed a joint session of the Dutch Senate and House of Representatives. As per tradition, the women dressed in long gowns and hats according to the 18th century court dress code that remains in place for this event.
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Queen Máxima wore a slate blue gown in transparent silk brocade printed with large roses. A pleated toque hat (a pillbox calot hybrid) made of the same ruched fabric as the gown and worn on the back Máxima’s head completed the ensemble.
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We saw Queen Máxima in a short, pale pink version of today’s gown during her and the king’s recent trip to Italy, which she paired then with a large straw hat with upswept ‘slice’ brim. The combination of this dress with a straw hat was one I preferred- I think straw gives better dimension, texture and interest to an ensemble than the same fabric head to toe. I also prefer the drama that a large brimmed hat brings at high profile events such as these!
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Designer: unknown. Gown by Natan.
Previously Worn: this hat is new
Previously Worn: this hat is new
Princess Laurentien topped her pale green and gold silk jacquard gown with a matching pleated turban headpiece. The contrast between the pleated hat and streamlined dress was a good one, although the same use of fabric for both pieces again felt a bit flat. As a strong opponent of open crowned hats, I have to concede that in this instance, an open crown was a good call as a full turban would have been fabric overkill.
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Designer: Eudia. Gown by
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Prinsjesdag is always a highlight in the royal hat calendar and while this year’s pieces were not as dramatic and memorable as in the past, they are certainly still memorable. What are your thoughts, dearest readers, on these two new pieces? You can see all the hats Queen Máxima has worn to previous Prinsjesdags at this post.
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Actually, I like Laurentien’s overall look. I think this hat looks unique and it will be OK with other dresses as well as this dress.
Finally getting around to comment after a crazy busy week!
I must say, when I saw the first photo of these hats on Tuesday, I groaned in disappointment. Both Máxima and Laurentien looks absolutely lovely from the neck down, but this might be my least favorite Prinsjesdag appearance hat-wise.
Máxima’s hat is too matchy-matchy, and the size combined with the color means it blends in way too much with her surroundings and the rest of her outfit. Her black slice hat or a navy wide-brim would’ve been a great contrast here, or a neutral-colored (white or black) wide-brimmed hat with this grey-blue color incorporated into the trim.
Laurentien’s hat isn’t the craziest thing she has ever worn, but after some great hats in the last few years, this falls quite short, especially after the great black cocktail hat from last year.
Do you think the more muted colours and styles are because she’s being mindful of the recent hurricane damage to the Dutch islands in the Caribbean?
This outfit would have been in the works long before that. I think it’s simply the direction she went this year.
I am a little disappointed… I like Maxima being Maxima on Prinsjesdag and killing us with oversize hats and dramatic gowns.
This year’s hat is small and the colour is not what I call bright. The gown is really beautiful but all in all, Laurentien and Maxima are dressed and hatted very similarly, both in colour, shape and hat type.
Still there are a lot of jewels to look at! Yay!
PS: you recognized the gown from the trip to Italy? How do you do that? you are such a sharp-eyed royal watcher! 🙂
I need to credit Josine over at http://www.modekoninginmaxima.nl for identifying the specifics of the repeat dresses, although I did think something was familiar about it the moment I saw it!
Seeing the two dresses side by side in Josine’s post make it clear that they are the same. It’s too bad she didn’t have a more dramatic hat made for the grey one comparable to the one she wore with the pink.
I think máx’s outfit is very regal, the dress is stunning and she’s letting it rightly be the star of the show. She wears her large slice hats a lot, so I’ve got no issue with this hat being the minor player. And Laurentien looks put together too, when you consider some of the things she’s worn for this gig in the past!
I don’t like the colour nor the texture or the placement of Max’s hat, basically I think it is not very flattering
Laurentien’s hat is … awful and she looks terrible in it.
I love the toque hat shape but I believe it works better when worn further forward on the head. Maybe not as much as Queen Mary’s always did, but not looking like it’s going to fall off backwards. The dress and hat fabric doesn’t SING to me, perhaps it’s the color but it just doesn’t SING. Something with a more saturated color like the fuschia/magenta hat from 2012; now that hat (and dress) was a WOW! Nothing needs to be said about Princess Laurentien’s hat. It’s a BAD HAT. If you’ve got the circumstances and means WHY would you go out of the house with that thing on your head. One last thought even though it’s off topic (sort of) but both royal ladies should have been to their hairdressers YESTERDAY and had their blond locks highlighted for today’s big event. Those roots!!! Oh dear me. Sigh.
That’s the new style these days. It’s called balayage
Queen Maxima looks marvellous – as always! What effortless elegance!
Does anyone know why P. Beatrix would not have also joined the family at this event? What I mean is, is it a protocol reason, as opposed to maybe she just didn’t feel up to it?
If memory serves, she has not attended since abdicating, so protocol.
It’s protocol- the previous monarch does not attend.
Thank you, Gransgirl and HatQueen! And obviously the only way there would be a “previous monarch” is if that individual had abdicated, so your replies are basically the same. I can understand that it might be uncomfortable for the monarch to have the previous monarch there, even if it’s one’s mother, but still, it seems a shame. I hope Beatrix at least got to watch the proceedings on TV!
Regarding the hats and gowns, the two women were dressed so similarly that I actually thought the phrase “court dress” meant the whole thing – dress style, including color and long sleeves, as well as hat style – until I looked at photos from past ones and see that is not the case. I don’t dislike these as much as others who have already commented, but they don’t really blow me away either!
Here’s a sweet picture also taken today- Princess Beatrix waving the king and queen off in their carriage!
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So sad! Both of these looks are just ehh. The ladies look very regal and professional, but just sort of boring. I miss color, and good hats. I hope Q Max will be back to larger brimmed hats soon, I’m so tired of these small turban/pillboxes/calots on her we’ve seen lately.
Princess Laurentien’s hat is horrible – hate how it droops down on one side. Max’s hat is OK in my book – not swell, but just OK.
I don’t mind QMaxima’s hat, but I dislike PLaurentien’s “hat” with the heat of 1,000 suns. She looks like she’s got a bandage on her head!
I’d steal QMaxima’s trellis necklace in a New York Minute!