Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima are continuing their tour of Southeast Asia with a two-day visit to Singapore. For their arrival and official welcome, Beatrix wore a round, flat-topped cornflower blue hat (in her classic cake shape) with a high, upturned double brim. The brim, trimmed with a stripe of purple, was unique and the colour was so lovely on her. The hat and dress was a sort of Dutch Delft classic with an Asian twist (and a few sapphires for sparkling good measure!) and I loved it. This was my favourite look for Beatrix so far on this tour.
Máxima arrived in Singapore wearing the same outfit and hat she wore last June in Florence for the wedding of Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon Parma. The hat, a modern flower made of ecru coloured sinmay, was interesting without being weird or over the top. With her polished side chignon and diamonds, and she looked just beautiful.
For meetings later in the day, Beatrix changed into a plain, brimless (and slightly boring) round black hat to match her black and white dress suit. I thought it was a bit of a letdown in comparison to her hat in the morning.
Photos from Zimbio and Dutch Photo Press
I like that blue hat but I don’t think the purple stripe matches the dress. I’d like it much better without the purple stripe. And who is looking at Maxima’s hat when she’s wearing that awful skirt!