Cathérine Bergeyck said:
New gown from Natan for the Dutch state visit to Belgium, May 2006
(gamma, UK press, Seeger)
As usual I loved Mathilde's gown (she rarely disappoints). She looked as elegant as always. Compared to Mathelide's gown, Maxima's gown looked rather tacky IMO. The top of Maxima's gown was TOO MUCH. Then I rarely like any of Maxima's gowns or her clothes in general. IMO Maxima personality certainly shines and is a huge asset, but Mathilde's "born to the manor" sense of style and the aura she possesses, outshines Maxima or any of the other CP's.
BTW, I noticed in an enlarged picture in Royalty of Majesty magazines (my only way to see pictures of royalty other than this forum) that in the group picture taken at Carl Gustav's birthday of the princesses and princes that Mathilde's gown has a small tear at the bottom. You can only see it when she is seated and the pictured is enlarged. In the copy of that picture on this thread, the tear is not visible because the bottom is cut off. In the second picture that Catherine Bergeyck posted, you can see the gray showing where the tear is if you look closely (bottom left). I'm sure Mathilde felt as badly as anyone of us would if something like that happened to our gown. Of course, I wear gowns like that all the time. Ha, ha, ha. Seriously though, if I were going to become a CP, I would chose Mathilde to be my mentor.
BTW, does Mathilde have only the one tiara? The tiara is certainly very regal. Personally, I would like to see her in one sometime that is softer and, perhaps, younger looking. Does the BRF not have as many tiara's as some of the other royal families?
Just want to add a thanks to all those who take the time to post pictures for those of us who have no other way of seeing pictures of royalty. Most of the time I feel like a voyeur because I can't contribute any myself. So, thanks for the pleasure you give me--take a bow. You deserve one IMO.