European royals gathered in Waterloo, Belgium yesterday to participate in a ceremony hosted by the Belgian government to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. The 1815 battle, which saw the overthrow of Napoleon Bonaparte and the restoration of Louis XVIII to the French throne, is being celebrated during three days of grand scale re-enactments which include more than 5000 historical re-enactors from around the world. The Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg monarchs were on hand yesterday for the first event.
As hostess for this ceremony, Queen Mathilde stood out in a natural straw hat with large, flat crown and wide mushroom brim. The considerable scale of the piece was lovely on Mathilde and gave some neutral grounding to her vibrant goldenrod dress and jacket. We haven’t seen this piece worn since 2004 and it was lovely to see it again.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: June 26, 2004
Queen Máxima repeated her silver grey silk ringed headpiece with new grey and blue lace dress. In the past I have been rather critical of these open-topped headpieces and while I’m still not in love with this one (and retain quibbles about the puckered seams), I appreciate it much more. The open top gives this piece a lightness needed for a summer hat and places the focus on Máxima’s face. This is the third outfit we have seen Máxima pair with this headpiece (we’ll look at those in greater detail in a few weeks) and is, so far, my favourite.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: April 4, 2014; November 24, 2013; Oct. 20, 2007
The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg topped her oyster-grey suit with a domed pillbox hat made of the same fabric. We have seen Maria Teresa in numerous pillbox hats over the past year and the shape suits her well. The ensemble is a little bland for my taste, however, and I would have loved even a subtle bit of colour to liven it.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new
The Marchioness of Douro (née Jemma Kidd), who is the Duke of Wellington’s daughter-in-law, wore a Philip Treacy percher hat in cream, trimmed with a signature Treacy twist.
It always seems that the European royals are delighted to get together and this event was no different. What did you think of the royal hats seen yesterday in Belgium?
Photos from Getty as indicated
A number of other reigning royal houses were represented among the guests at Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist’s wedding yesterday. Queen Mathilde of Belgium topped her blue gown with the bandeau bottom piece of the 
One of Queen Máxima’s signature hat shapes is the upswept ‘slice’- a wide brimmed picture hat with brim that soars high on one side of the hat above a rounded crown. Large brimmed picture hats can be difficult for royals to wear as the wide brim obstructs the all-important view of one’s royal face; the raised brim on this design not only alleviates this issue but it frames the wearer’s face in a kind of royal millinery halo. Máxima’s hats in this genre are usually simply trimmed with hatband around the base of the crown, leaving the dramatic shape of the hat to remain the focus of its impact.
Royal Hats 