Members of the Belgian royal family celebrated their country’s national holiday today, attending a Te Deum mass at Cathedral of Saints Michel-et-Gudule in Brussels followed by a parade honoring victims and heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic in front of the Royal Palace.
For the mass, Queen Mathilde wore a new picture hat in almond parasisal straw. That hat follows a traditional shape with rounded crown and extended, drop edge brim and is simply trimmed in a straw hatband.
You can’t go wrong with a classic picture hat and this one’s scale, shape and colour are right on point. It’s a great counterpoint to Mathilde’s navy Battenberg lace printed shirtwaist dress, the two refined pieces a better pairing than the felt feodra she wore with this dress last month. I give both the hat and the ensemble top marks.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Louisa” design. Dress by Natan
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Mathilde changed into a bright floral dress for the parade, topped with a fuchsia ringed headpiece trimmed in a ruffle of pleated silk abaca.
It’s another good look, the sleeker silhouette of the dress playing well with the smaller scaled headpiece. I’ll never embrace these open crowned doughnut-shaped pieces but must concede that the way this one frames Mathilde’s face, as a bandeau, is very good. The pleated ruffle also gives some asymmetrical interest and the vibrant colour can’t help but feel celebratory. This hat’s design is also is slightly reminiscent of one of Mathilde’s best hats ever, worn on this day seven years ago.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Rueda”design. Dress by Dries Van Noten.
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Elisabeth wore her first hat for a public engagement, a draped bandeau headpiece in blush banana (abaca) fibre straw.
It’s a great debut piece for Elisabeth with scale and colour well suited to a younger wearer, the ruched abaca giving a textural softness and the bandeau shape framing her face in another very lovely way. The headpiece is also a good pairing with Elisabeth’s floaty floral frock, grounding the look (with such a fun pop of orange on her purse!). We’ve talked here about the challenges facing a young princess venturing into hat-wearing and this piece is a fine start.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Lisly” design. Dress by Natan.
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Astrid topped her bold striped dress with a black parasisal straw hat. The hat’s strong lines from its straight-sided crown and curved brim are softened with its large silk bow trim on the front; it pairs well with the equally strong striped dress to make a balanced monochrome look (love the yellow purse!)
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Every royal hat we see is a wonderful sight these days and to see four new designs debut at a single event is a rare treat. What do you think of these hats in Brussels today?
Photos from Getty and social media as indicated
Royal Hats 
A really good selection all round. The large hat Mathilde wore first is a great improvement on the fedora. Very simple, but the scale gives it enough grandeur for a formal occasion. I love the shocking pink hat from the front and side, it’s just a disappointment that it’s a doughnut!
The picture hat is possibly the most flattering hat that QM has ever worn. The circlet, at least from the photos posted, worked well. Although the magenta color is wonderful, I have seen QM in more flattering dresses. This is a small quibble, though, because the overall look was fabulous. Princess Elisabeth? Such a poised young woman! The bandeau totally works for her. This is a good looking royal family who invariably projects style and dignity.
This picture hat balances perfectly with this dress and is a much better choice than the fedora from back in May; so elegant! I’m also glad to see Mathilde chose a navy clutch this time, but I still want to see this dress with a blue hat at some point (something like the Delvigne “Hepburn”: https://www.fabiennedelvigne.be/eshop/hepburn-2/?from=collections, or this Treacy hat: https://www.philiptreacy.co.uk/en/collection/ss20/OC-773).
While I was slightly disappointed to find out Mathilde’s second hat was a circlet and not full-crowned, it barely dulls my overall love for this. The fuchsia color is fabulous on her, and I love that the dress is multicolor-patterned instead of her going for the monochrome like so often. Two solid-colored hats that can easily be paired with a variety of other outfits; I hope it’s not forever until we see these again! And like Shanon said, it’s been great to see Mathilde normalize masks by making them a coordinated/matching accessories during her outings.
I’m not surprised Elisabeth wore a bandeau for her first official hat. She looked fantastic, and the orange was a great accent color for her. My only complaint is in outdoor lighting (especially at certain angles) this bandeau blends in with her hair.
Astrid was the big surprise of the day for me! This is one of my favorite looks for her ever. The hat, the dress, the yellow accessories, it all flatters her so well! Brava! However, I’m still confused about Lorenz’s olive-colored mask being paired with a blue suit, black shoes, and purple-ish tie.
Overall a most fantastic showing of hats during the pandemic.
Great hats all round, and like you say, so good to see a group of new hats.
I love both of Mathilde’s, the picture hat in particular is really elegant. Astrid looks uncharacteristically downplayed too, this is a fab look.
And Elisabeth is going to be a future star I think; she’s a really pretty young woman, and her youthful style today is appropriate but also assured. Looking forward to the fun she gives us over the next few years!
I love Mathilde’s first hat. The neutral colour and clean simple lines make this a very versatile hat. So it can easily be used again in the future. The combination with the dress is great and indeed better than the other hat she paired it with. I’m just not too fond of the dress itself. I think it’s not the most flattering.
When I first saw Mathilde’s other headpiece I saw it from the side. And the pleated ruffle immediately reminded me of the hat from the inauguration. So I really thought Fabienne Delvigne made something similar this year. Then I noticed it had an open crown… The overall look is still great though. Love the flower print and the bright summery colors.
Elisabeth looks stunning. So happy to see her with her first headpiece. Great and promising start if you ask me! I loved the flowy soft parts of the dress. Her colorful purse is a great touch.
Astrid looks good. Normally she wears her uniform for National Day so I wasn’t expecting this. I guess the didn’t wear her uniform because the traditional military parade was replaced by a different kind of celebration. The yellow accents are great!
I also much prefer this hat to the fedora Queen Mathlide previosly wore with this dress and I agree that Princess Elizabeth’s headpiece, dress and purse are perfect for her.
Great looks all around! I particularly love Queen Mathilde’s picture hat with that beige/navy dress. It’s a wonderful look and she shines! Her floral frock and hat for the parade is lovely and bright, ensuring she stands out.
Princess Elisabeth looks great. I do like the bandeau, and agree that it’s a great starter “hat.” Her purse is divine with the dress.
Princess Astrid looks fabulous! I love the yellow accessories, and only wish that she had a yellow mask to go with that outfit. It would have made a great impact.
Speaking of masks, I love that everyone wore one, and that everyone seemed to coordinate theirs with their respective outfits. I think it’s becoming a wonderful fashion statement and I love that Queen Mathilde, in particular, embraces the coordinating mask looks.
Seeing these new hats was so very nice today! Loved the colors and styling on both the men and boys and the women and girls in the royal family of Belgium. The coordinating face masks made for a harmonious look for Queen Matilde and Princess Elisabeth. Coordinating and contrasting accessories also look fab especially the yellow purse and shoes! I was so glad to see Princess Elisabeth wearing her first formal headpiece and a bandeau is a great start for a future Queen. The footage in the video really show the fushia open crown hat on Queen Matilde and even though I thought at first that it was a calot, my favorite style of hat, I agree that the asymmetrical placement of the flower and the color make up for my disappointment. Lovely hats all around. Thank you HatQueen for your prompt coverage of these events!