How and when does Maxima choose her outfits? Does she have everything ready weeks in advance or does she occasionally grab something from her chair? We recently received this reader question, so here’s the answer.
No single appointment is the same. A state visit cannot be compared to an informal business visit in many ways, not even in terms of fashion. For major events such as Budget Day, the King’s Day, weddings, christenings and state visits, Máxima chooses her outfits in advance. In the case of (semi) new haute couture, this can take months, but for outfits already hanging in the royal wardrobe, a few days or weeks are enough.
If an event is held outdoors, a backup plan is often chosen. On King’s Day 2023, Máxima was supposed to wear an embroidered dress, but in the end the weather wasn’t so bad and she wore a shirt and skirt outside. Rotterdam color: green.
On official visits, suitcases full of clothes are brought. A special hotel room is also rented and vacated to accommodate all the outfits and accessories. You understand: it helps that Máxima has made and issued fashion decisions in advance (read: no later than 2.3 weeks in advance).
Since there are long hours during a state visit, during which anything can happen, there is always a B costume nearby. When Willem-Alexander and Máxima visited the museum in Antwerp during a Belgian state visit, it was raining heavily when they arrived. The king’s valet and the queen’s maid then entered the museum through the side entrance with their clothes on, in case they needed to change. This ultimately turned out not to be necessary, but the incident proves that there is always a backup plan at such times.
During the regional visit to the Wadden Islands, the maid also hopped from island to island, ahead of the royal couple. A bag of clothes marked “spare” slung over her shoulder. Although it had been raining almost all day, and Maxima’s trousers were slightly wet at the legs, no change of clothes had been provided.
Fashion is less important during informal visits. Of course, the Queen must also look clean and tidy, but a visit to a youth club is different from a visit at the highest diplomatic level. In such cases, the maid is still ready to help Maxima with her appearance, but despite being messy and sloppy, Her Majesty more than once simply picks up a dress or trouser suit from her chair.
So no, not all clothes are planned. Some clothes are bought for a specific purpose. Dress X for budget day, dress Y for king day. Casual clothes are simply pulled out of the closet when Maxima feels like it. And often that decision is only made in the morning. They are just people, aren’t they, back there in that palace 😉