Royal State Visit of the Day: December 2

The tail end of this week's Belgian/Dutch state visit brought much to admire: Designer switcheroos! Jaunty hats! Sneaky tiaras!

Day 2: The sovereign couples with the Dutch Prime Minister
Belgian Royal Palace

Queen Mathilde's hat feels like it's not asymmetrical enough to be purposefully asymmetrical, if you know what I mean. Sort of just looks lopsided as is. Still, the Armani Privé coat is aces and an easy scene-stealer. (Queen Máxima wore her own fire engine red outfit with a big red hat yesterday, and I'm wondering how they missed that opportunity to twin it up.)

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Day 2: The evening return concert

Usually the state banquet takes the top prize as my favorite event in any given state visit, but I don't know...the ladies might have saved their bests for night two. Máxima's tutti frutti-style necklace and bracelet should be worn All.The.Time. and they look sooooo good with this repeated Valentino green dress. Mathilde both snuck in an extra tiara appearance (that's her Laurel Wreath Tiara, worn as a necklace) annnnnnnd snuck in new designer: Jan Taminiau! This is an excellent move. It's both a nice nod to her hosts (Taminiau is Dutch, and a favorite of Máxima's), and just a great dress overall. Worth alllllll those extra letters.

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Day 3

Máxima finished the visit with a feather in her cap, as she is prone to do. And Mathilde finished the visit in an Esmeralda Ammoun outfit I feel like I've seen a million times, because we've seen so many interpretations of this basic type of lace placement (see also: Kate, Letizia). I guess that qualifies it as a classic, and this might be my favorite version. This has been an A+ trip from Mathilde, hasn't it?