Yesterday, the Belgian king and queen continued their visit to the Middle East in the United Arab Emerites, attending the Belgium National Day at the Dubai Expo.
For this visit, which saw the coupe tour the exhibition’s Belgian pavilions, Queen Mathilde repeated her green parabuntal straw hat with rounded crown and wide, sidesweeping brim.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
It is a lovely hat on her, the muted olive shade pairing well with her delicately embroidered dress and the hat’s presence beautifully balancing the dress’ border print skirt. Something, however, about the shape of the hatband is a little off for me- I think it’s the ridge on top, which might do better at the bottom where the crown and brim meet.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne “Spinalli.” Dress by Natan
Previously Worn: Sep 6, 2019
What do you think about this hat on its second outing?
Images from Getty and social media as indicated
Royal Hats 
I do love this hat and it’s subtle colour on Queen Mathilde. I think its a such a pretty outfit. The Queen’s shoes are gorgeous too. It is rather odd that Queen Maxima previously wore a very similar ensemble but I’m just pleased to have the chance to admire Royal Hats again.
Jake, the dresses are somewhat similar but not identical (https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2021/11/dutch-royal-sparkle-in-the-desert.html), however, I thought I had read somewhere that Mathilde and Máxima were good friends and frequently and knowingly purchased the same dress. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, as long as they don’t both wear them in a joint appearance. (Unless of course they do that on purpose for a laugh.) I like Mathilde’s hat better of the two, though I couldn’t find any photos of Máxima’s from the top showing the hatband. The style is well suited for an occasion where a mask is required.
HatQueen, I agree about the hatband ridge on top looking a little off, but an interesting alternative to consider might be, rather than moving the ridge to the bottom, having two ridges, both top and bottom.
The dress style is identical (neckline, sleeve flounce etc.). What’s different is the border print placement (at the bottom of the skirt on Mathilde’s version and at the waist on Máxima’s version.
I love this hat shape on Mathilde and the dark olive-moss color is nice choice for her while pairing well with the dress. I do agree the hatband isn’t as refined as it could be, but I also personally prefer ribbon/fabric hatbands.
However, and I know I am a broken record when it comes to this, Máxima has this same ensemble (the pattern’s placement on her dress and the hat’s materials are different, but still essentially the same) AND Máxima wore hers to the Dutch Pavilion at the Dubai World Expo just back in November. I know I like variety more than the average person, but it just feels suspicious/odd to see queens of neighboring nations in the same outfit/hat at the same expo in the same country/city only 3 months apart.
Ok, rant over. Sorry!
I join your rant… or did, on the first outing of this hat and dress.
Yes, it’s not a new rant, but all the coincidences this time just made me wonder “why?” haha. All this to say though, after multiple outings for both of them, I think Mathilde wears this ensemble better (probably helped by the higher quality hat).
Hats of such varied quality coming from the same millinery studio- that’s another perplexing issue.