Royal Hat of the National Day: July 22

Royal Hat of the National Day: July 22

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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.

#452490790 / gettyimages.com

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...

...I think Mathilde had a back up plan to grab that focus, just in case.

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.)

Click here for a video, and here for a gallery.

Photos: Mark Renders via Getty Images, RTBF video, @MonarchieBe

Royal Hat of the Day: July 17

Royal Hat of the Day: July 17

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Video: Last week, Queen Mathilde christened a new naval vessel.

Oh dear. Mathilde seems to have gotten her head stuck in a roll of masking tape. That's awkward.

Photos: Belgian Defense video

Royal Outfit of the Day: May 27

Royal Outfit of the Day: May 27

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King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima are on a two day visit to Germany.

#493912391 / gettyimages.com

We ended last week on a big hat, might as well preserve our continuity, right? It's always the simple things that get me the most, and this is hitting all my soft spots: black and white and pure elegance. (And you'd best not disagree - she's got two very dangerous hatpins at the ready to take you down.)

Video, above; Click here for a gallery.

Royal Outfit of the Day: April 28

Royal Outfit of the Day: April 28

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The Dutch royal family celebrated Koningsdag, or King's Day (formerly Queen's Day, the annual celebration of the monarch's birthday), over the weekend. Queen Máxima wore a Natan dress with a hat from Fabienne Delvigne. The three princesses wore Pili Carrera outfits.

This is a jolly little outfit for a jolly occasion, is it not? Máxima's dress is embellished with metallic pieces which pick up the sunlight, a wonderful touch for an outdoor occasion. Could have done without the donut hat (or is that more of a cronut?), but honestly - that's what makes it Máx.

For more from the day's shenanigans for the whole family, click here for a gallery.

Photos: RVD

Royal Outfit of the Day: February 17

Royal Outfit of the Day: February 17

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Video, above: Queen Máxima attended a conference and opened an exhibit last week wearing a Natan dress and Fabienne Delvigne hat.

On the one hand, this outfit is doing excellent things for her figure when seen in action (above); on the other hand, the color blocking (well, color blocking with drab colors) isn't necessarily coming off so hot in photos (click here for a gallery). On the one hand (I have a lot of hands) (and a lot of parentheses), the hat is helping tame her hair, which we all know can be unfortunate sometimes; on the other hand, the front view makes her look like an extra from Troop Beverly Hills. So what I'm saying is I don't know about this, and you should make up my mind for me.