Royal Hat of the National Day: July 22
The Belgian royal family celebrated National Day yesterday. Among other events, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde led the way at the Brussels Te Deum with their four children. The Te Deum was followed by a military parade.
King Albert and Queen Paola stayed away from the first National Day after Albert's abdication, presumably to make sure focus remained on the new faces of the royal family. But, well...
En quittant la cathédrale #FêteNationale. pic.twitter.com/ByjOKMQgHx
— Belgian Royal Palace (@MonarchieBe) July 21, 2014
(This is a Máxima hat to be sure, and indeed she does have similar models in her closet - though I'm sure she's just as surprised as we are that she wasn't the first to own it in orange. Obviously outfits like this are a long time in planning, but I do suppose some might interpret donning the Dutch national color as a nod to a country in mourning after last week's flight tragedy. Donning it in such an exuberant fashion, however, is all Mathilde.)Photos: Mark Renders via Getty Images, RTBF video, @MonarchieBe