Royal Outfit Grab Bag of the Day: March 11

Hello and welcome to another edition of "Hmm, What Else is Going On?" I will be your host, and this is my random selection of outfits for chitchat:

View image | gettyimages.com

Here's Queen Mathilde, with King Philippe, paying a visit to the Vatican and Pope Francis on Monday and exercising her privilège du blanc for the first time. Queen Robocop used a combination of crutches and a wheelchair to get around due to her knee injury, as she has been doing of late, but still managed to look incredibly elegant. Respect. I'm such a sucker for simple designs in white.

View image | gettyimages.com

I love that she chose a veil - because when don't I love a veil? - but this one was rather in your face. And I mean that literally, because it was obstructing one side of her face in several photos. Maybe she's just really getting into her Robocop groove, and can only show one side of her face at a time.

View image | gettyimages.com

Here's Queen Máxima kicking off the Week of Money for schools on Monday. She really likes this swing coat, and I really like it when it's open, at least. Anyway, the beige base left space for her statement jewelry:

View image | gettyimages.com

Which is...alive? Possibly? That necklace clearly has ulterior motives. I'm scared. Moving on...

View image | gettyimages.com

Here's Mary opening Grønningen's 100th anniversary exhibition this weekend, and her skirt is also alive, amoeba-style. Actually it's a paisley pattern, and it's from Joseph.

.
I mean, what can you say? Typically elegant. Totally Mary.

Photos: via Getty Images as indicated, Farfetch

Royal Outfit Grab Bag of the Day: December 9

'Tis time once again to pull a random assortment of recent outfits from some of our regulars, a little sampler platter of sartorial happenings, from which to pick and choose.

Been a while since we featured Mette-Marit here. But whenever she does pop up, there's a good chance she'll be sporting this dress, or so it seems. The By Ti Mo model (which she owns in another color/print too) must be on her list of personal favorites for 2014.

#459991348 / gettyimages.com

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit attended the 75th Anniversary of the Norwegian People's Aid on Friday.

Queen Letizia brought back the oops-I-ran-out-of-fabric dress from National Day.

#459928016 / gettyimages.com

The Spanish Royal Family attended the National Sports Awards on Thursday.

"Listen, dear, I don't want to alarm you, but there's a different dress on the back of your dress." Felipe, clearly concerned.

#459927996 / gettyimages.com

And she's still making this the year of earrings, I see. (Which I am all for, though long time readers know overly matchy accessories make me twitchy and this plus the shoes it a bit much.)

Máxima stood outside in a shiny turban. As one does.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima attended a ceremony to award the Military Order of William on Thursday.

It's not so bad with the coat closed. It ties the whole thing together more than it does when the coat is open. She looks cozy, I'll give her that. If you want to see it the other way, you can click here for a gallery. Or you can leave it at this and I wouldn't blame you.

And finally, in Denmark, Mary hosted a Christmas reception for her foundation.

On 4 December, Crown Princess Mary held the annual Mary Fonden Christmas Reception at Amalienborg. pic.twitter.com/C2O7MlqLNk
— Scandinavian Royals. (@crownprincely) December 8, 2014

It's a new Dolce & Gabbana number (per StyleofMary) and I'm all over this. A simple red dress? Perfect. We'll end it on a high note.

Photos: As indicated and NOS Video, My Theresa

Royal Wedding Anniversary of the Day: December 5

#173830424 / gettyimages.com

Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz married the Duke of Brabant on December 4, 1999.

These two royal lovebirds celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary yesterday!

More video: Part 2, Part 3

We refreshed our look at Mathilde's Natan wedding gown last year, before Philippe took the throne. So today, in addition to some video, we have a sampling of some of the guests at this wedding.

#115117172 / gettyimages.com

The cozy December affair brought a number of classy winter wedding ensembles from the royal guests - not about the flash, but about rich materials and hats. With brims and everything. Kind of a nice change every now and then from the more, uh, inventive stuff we see these days.

#52113222 / gettyimages.com

Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, the King and Queen of the Belgians

Like Queen Paola, for example. That's a queen's outfit, right there. Not a particularly fun color, but elegant to the end. And showing off the true advantage of a wide brim hat, allowing those that missed the hat trend to hide behind (yes, that's the rather hat-allergic Queen Sofia back there).

#115117156 / gettyimages.com

Princess Astrid of Belgium and husband Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este

The abundance of fabulous materials has me saying something I usually don't get to say: I think Princess Astrid, sister of the groom, might be my best dressed guest. I'm all about that fur draped over that suit and the jaunty contrasting angle on the hat. All about it.

#115117153 / gettyimages.com

The then-Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

Maria Teresa got the memo. She looks cozy and chic.

#115117146 / gettyimages.com

Queen Silvia of Sweden

Silvia's hat is veering a little close to summer material, I'd say, but she pulls it off.

#115117148 / gettyimages.com

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Queen Fabiola of Belgium

Joséphine-Charlotte makes neutrals into a little something extra with her choice of fabric, and Fabiola makes hats into a little something extra with her addition of a baby blue Big Bird right on top. Fabiola knows we need someone to bring the feathery goodness, otherwise it just wouldn't be a royal wedding. (Update: Hours after this was posted, it was announced that Fabiola passed away today at the age of 86.)

You know who also would never let us down on the feather front?

#115117145 / gettyimages.com

The Queen of Denmark

Ah, Daisy. It takes a proper queen to pull off the smushed up raven headdress. Gotta love her!

Photos: Via Getty Images, as indicated

Royal Outfit of the Day: December 4

I think we need to have a word about this outfit.

Deze middag was de uitreiking van de Cultuurfondsprijs aan Johan Simons @theateramsterdam. Was een prachtig programma pic.twitter.com/VkaQa8Cf63
— Cultuurfonds (@Cultuurfonds) December 1, 2014

Queen Máxima presented the Prince Bernhard Culture Prize on Monday.

And that word is NO, amirite?

The jumpsuit from Zara, per ModekoninginMaxima

I mean....my tolerance for jumpsuits is low to start with, and I could come up with a list of the ways this one isn't working, but I think NO (don't forget the caps and the bold and the italic) sums it up pretty well.

Palette cleanser for you?

#459822062 / gettyimages.com

Máxima received the Dutch Sustainable Growth Report earlier this week.

Better.

Photos: @Cultuurfonds, Zara, Michel Porro via Getty Images

Royal Gathering of the Day: September 2

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands this weekend, the Dutch King and Queen were joined by the King and Queen of the Belgians, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, and the President of Germany and his partner.

#454371340 / gettyimages.com

What percentage of crossover is there between these three royal closets, do you think? I mean, they share a favorite designer (Natan, worn here certainly by Máxima and Mathilde, and probably by Maria Teresa too) and a favorite milliner (Fabienne Delvigne, again worn by Máx and Mathilde, though it appears MT has branched out for this occasion). Their names even share the same first letter (not relevant, but I'm just saying).

When you start thinking about it, it almost becomes impressive that they managed to rustle up three different looks for this one event. Would have been some kind of epic if they'd done the Natan triplet act properly, though...
 

Photos: Pool via Getty Images, and NOS screencap

Royal Event of the Day: August 27

The Swedish royal family attended the Polar Music Prize festivities last night.

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled wardrobe theft game for refreshing change of pace (in these summer days, at least): an actual event! Half of the royal ladies were only present for part of the event (Queen Silvia and Princess Madeleine joined in later, Silvia was typical Silvia and Madeleine was...not her best in an Ida Sjöstedt dress), but still, the Swedish royal family is trying their best for us. We do appreciate the effort.

#454211184 / gettyimages.com

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, above. Click here for a gallery of arrivals, including the King, Chris O'Neill, and a glimpse of Princess Christina and husband Tord Magnuson.

Is this the official Dress of 2014? Victoria's sure trying to make it so. This year has already brought us an outing for Victoria in the dark version and one previous outing in this light version, plus an appearance for Mette-Marit in the dark version. And that's just since June! It's a great dress, and a perfect choice for this event. But I think the question is: too much of a good thing, or never enough?

The dress is from the H&M Conscious Collection.

(By the way, Victoria will have her day in the closet theft sun later on.)

Photos: Anna Lu Lundholm via Getty Images, and H&M

Royal Garden Party of the Day: June 11

At Buckingham Palace yesterday, the Queen hosted a garden party with several members of the royal family in attendance.

And who was the best dressed royal at the garden party, you ask?

The birthday boy, of course! The Duke of Edinburgh turned 93 yesterday, and he's still one of the most debonair royals around. Look at this coordinating tie/boutonnière/top hat game! And on a gray morning suit no less, a very sophisticated color palette. Yes, he takes the bite-sized garden party-appropriate cake here.

The Queen was my second best dressed pick, but that's what my other blog is for, so click here.

And after those two kids comes, well, everybody else. Line up, ladies!

#450385370 / gettyimages.com

Thank you, very helpful, let's work from left to right: We've got the Duchess of Gloucester, very understated but elegant by default. The Princess Royal seems to be wearing a hat purchased in the last decade for a change, always a delightful surprise, and she's got lovely aquamarine accessories (including a brooch that used to be the central part of her Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara). The Duchess of Cambridge is repeating an outfit I loved the first time around, but she removed the ribbon belt and changed up the hat and accessories. As much as I appreciate trying to shake it up for a repeat...I, uh, really miss the original belt and hat. Oh well. On the bright side, Princess Eugenie's got some shoe interest happening, and that will always cheer me up right quick. Well done.

For more: here's a gallery, plus photos at the Daily Mail (including the day's earlier engagement for Kate).

Photos: British Monarchy instagram and WPA Pool/Getty Images

Royal Outfit of the Day: April 4

Crown Princess Victoria wore a custom Elie Saab gown in beige silk with embroidered and beaded details on the bust and sleeves to the Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony in 2010. She also wore the Cut Steel Tiara.

Bit of a dismal run from Victoria in the current events department lately. Dismal bordering on disastrous, occasionally. And I've had a few requests to pull something, anything, out of the archives to remind us of the full force of her sartorial power. So here we go, one of the all-time bests.

Video: Victoria at the Nobel dinner

It's the best outing of the Cut Steel Tiara I can think of, and it gives me an opportunity to once again post an enlightening video - you might not guess that a tiara with no diamonds or other gemstones could possess such sparkle. I can only imagine that the gown was made specifically to accompany the Cut Steel Tiara, because it is a perfect modern interpretation of the type of dress that was the fashion in the Napoleonic era, when the tiara was crafted. Victoria has worn this dress again, but this appearance remains the gold standard.

Photos: Getty Images/All Over Press/Kungahuset

Royal Outfit of the Day: March 26

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima hosted a dinner for participants of the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit, which was held this week in The Hague. Máxima wore a Natan beige dress with pearl and diamond jewelry.

It's a busy week in the Netherlands, so we're doubling up on our Máxima dosage. This may have been one of her more understated outfit selections, but it was one of the more important events for the couple - more than 50 world leaders present for the summit makes for an enormous international stage, and I think she played this just right. It's appropriately not a big attention-grabber; it's dressed up but not too dressed up, considering the guests were in regular suits and such; there's jewelry in the form of the always classy diamond and pearl combo, but she didn't pile it on. Well played, Queen Máx. (Also worth noting: this is basically the same dress as the infamous aqua one with sleeves that can walk on their own. What a stellar advertisement for chopping those sleeves right off...pleeeeeze...) For a video from this evening, click here.

Photos: Pool/NOS

Week in Review: Princess Mathilde, 26 February-3 March

1. a) At a UNICEF Children's Fund conference, 27 February, in b) Emporio Armani.
2. a and b) Visiting an educational center, 28 February. I really want to like this explosion of pattern, but I can't help thinking that she wrapped herself in a 1970s rug before she left the house. At least it's not shag, I guess.

Photos: Svenskdam/Daylife/Getty Images/Belga

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 18-24 December

Here's what Letizia wore from 18-24 December:

1. Audiences at Zarzuela Palace, 20 December.
2. Attending a Cirque du Soleil performance, 23 December. Purple all around! Banner week by default.

Photos: Zimbio/Hola

Week in Review: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, 11-17 December

Here's what Maria Teresa wore from 11-17 December:

1. The King's dinner for the Nobel laureates in Sweden, 11 December.
2. Attending a requiem mass for the late Princess Elisabeth, 15 December.

Photos: Bunte/Tom Wagner/Cour gr ducale

Week in Review: Princess Mathilde, 11-17 December

Here's what Mathilde wore from 11-17 December:

 

1. Visiting Gedinne, 13 December.
2. At the University Hospital in Liege to visit victims of the gun and grenade attacks, 14 December.

Photos: APA Picture Desk/Reuters

Week in Review: Princess Charlene, 11-17 December

Here's what Charlene wore from 11-17 December:

1. At the Arbre de Noel for Monaco's children, 14 December. See, appearances like this are what get me. Elegant silhouette, great classy hair...beige beige beige.
2. a and b) Spreading more Christmas joy, 15 December. Much better with just even a little pop of blue!
3. Visiting College Charles III (a school), 16 December. If it isn't beige, it's black! This one has a little off-duty nun flair to it.
4. Receiving an award and attending a charity gala in Berlin, 17 December. Color! A whole outfit of it! A shade of red I'll call "almost brown". I think she looks fab, in what I'm guessing is Akris (of course).

Photos: Daylife/GettyImages/Frederic Nebinger/WireImage/Purepeople/Junior/BestImage

Week in Review: Princess Letizia, 4-10 December

Here's what Princess Letizia wore from 4-10 December:

1. Watching the changing of the guard at the palace in Madrid, 7 December, rockin' the shades.

Photo: Purepeople/Best Image

Week in Review: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 4-10 December

Here's what Mette-Marit wore from 4-10 December:

1. Attending the Save the Children party for the Nobel Peace Prize and then receiving the Peace Prize recipients at the palace, 10 December. Oh man, I love that coat. She also wore it when arriving at the ceremony.
2. a) At the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony, 10 December, in a b) Valentino dress. She added length to the dress, we'll all be happy to note.
3. a) Arriving for the Nobel Banquet, 10 December, in a c) Valentino dress that was, yes, (b) a little bit see-through. Any time we fail to take into account the things that flash photography will do is a fail indeed, I'm sorry to say. Now, as I said, the look had already been done, by Marie-Chantal at Princess Máxima's 40th birthday concert:

And so we must put it to a vote: who wore it best?

UPDATE: The poll is now closed, and Mette-Marit wins it with 63% of your 515 votes!

Photos: Daylife/Style.com/Reuters/Mimote

Week in Review: Princess Charlene, 4-10 December

Here's what Charlene wore from 4-10 December:

1. Opening a Christmas market, 5 December. That's a great coat.
2. Visiting her first swimming pool, 7 December. This is not a great skirt, though it may make a great burlap sack.
3. At the Climate Action Networking Reception in South Africa, 7 December. This one just does nothing for her, I'm afraid. Points for killer shoes, anyway.
4. a) At the Polaris Project Presentation and b) meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 8 December. Much better! She always seems happiest when home in South Africa, and particularly with Archbishop Tutu, which is wonderful to see. And this powder blue dress is a great neckline for her.

Photos: Purepeople/Abaca/Profimedia/Zimbio/GettyImages/Oryx

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 27 November - 3 December

Here's what Máxima wore from 27 November - 3 December:

1. At the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund Awards, 28 November. Va-va-voom! This is a great dress. Me likey.
2. a and b) Opening a new care home, 29 November. Meh.
3. a) Attending a gala dinner during an official visit from Mali, 29 November, in b) a repeated dress and shrug made of...used tinfoil from Máx's last highlight?

Photos: Getty Images/Zimbio/PPE/Buys/112 Nederland/Nieboer

Week in Review: Princess Charlene, 27 November - 3 December

Here's what Charlene wore from 27 November - 3 December:

1. Visiting Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, 29 November. You want to know what this reminds me of? Queen Fabiola. Seriously. The large wrap, monochrome right down to the shoes. If she'd done it in white, she'd need to step off.
2. At the Humanitarian Associations Night, 30 November.
3. At the Fight AIDS Gala, 1 December. I adore both of these last outfits, with one exception you can probably guess on your own.

Photos: Monaco Matin/Purepeople/BestImage

Week in Review: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, 20-26 November

Here's what Maria Teresa wore from 20-26 November:

1. Visiting a school, 21 November.
2. Attending a conference, 24 November.
3. Presenting the Edward Steichen Award, 24 November.
4. Awarding the Grand Duke Adolphe Prize and attending the International Bazaar, 26 November. Yeah, I got nothing. I suppose it's too much to ask for every week to be fun.

Photos: Daniel Clarins/Luxemburger Wort/Cour gr ducale/Wort/Nico Muller/Serge Waldbillig