Dutch State Visit to France: March 10-11, 2016


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Look at that guard presenting his sword for Her Majesty's hats...

:lol:


I know it is a private arrival, but good heavens... she knows there are officials and media nevertheless, a bit of decorum qua hairstyle, is that too much asked?

:eek:
 
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I know it is a private arrival, but good heavens... she knows there are officials and media nevertheless, a bit of decorum qua hairstyle, is that too much asked?

what is wrong with her hair? it's just loose (ie. not pulled back in a ponytail or else), but there is nothing wrong with it. i see nothing that is non decorous about maxima's arrival outfit/hairdo. perfectly professional, austere outfit for an arrival.

the couple made their way to the louvre to see 2 new rembrandts bought by the museum:

Au Louvre, la garde alternée de deux Rembrandt
 
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The two Rembrandts have been bought by the Louvre in Paris ánd the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The paintings will be travelling back and forth between the two museums. The previous owners were the Rotschild family.
 
what is wrong with her hair? it's just loose (ie. not pulled back in a ponytail or else), but there is nothing wrong with it. i see nothing that is non decorous about maxima's arrival outfit/hairdo. perfectly professional, austere outfit for an arrival.

I'm affraid that, for some people, a Dutch Queen in 2016 has to look like the Queen mother circa 1958 in all circumstances.
I agree that she looked totally fine for this private arrival, and was spectacular for the official one.
On a side note, the two Rembrandts were conjointly bought by the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum : a nice symbol for this visit.
 
what is wrong with her hair? it's just loose (ie. not pulled back in a ponytail or else), but there is nothing wrong with it. i see nothing that is non decorous about maxima's arrival outfit/hairdo. perfectly professional, austere outfit for an arrival.

Glad someone else agreed with me. I kept looking at the photos wondering what I was missing. I thought she looked appropriate for the moment.:flowers:
 

True, but since Máxima is our girl, she used some beautiful diamonds in her hair! I'm sure she would have liked to wear a tiara :ROFLMAO: but she couldn't sadly enough. But Máx is Máx so still some nice bling bling jewels!
 
The pic is a bit too small to be 100% sure, but I think that the Queen wears parts from the Borneo tiara. The hair-brooch was the central ornament and the earrings used to be at the sides. That's the art of wearing a tiara when you don't wear a tiara.:D
 
The pic is a bit too small to be 100% sure, but I think that the Queen wears parts from the Borneo tiara. The hair-brooch was the central ornament and the earrings used to be at the sides. That's the art of wearing a tiara when you don't wear a tiara.:D

From the shpae it looks like it. I had hoped she would wear a beautiful diamond broosh in her hair and an eye-catching necklace like she did last year in China. Or a big brooch like the bow-brooch from the Stuart Parure in it's smaller setting. Or one o the big sapphire-brooches.
 
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Not crazy about this dress but very happy to see the Borneo diamond earrings, brooch in hair and bracelet.
 
Max sure never disappoints with the jewels does she :flowers: The earrings and the hair ornament were just the perfect amount of bling for the look. The dress was already quite shiny and busy (not my favorite), glad she didn't add a necklace or broach to the look.

As much as I love some of her big bling necklaces or broaches, IMO they would have pushed the boundaries of the dress code. I think she went the right direction, with the bling she wore.
 
Max sure never disappoints with the jewels does she :flowers: The earrings and the hair ornament were just the perfect amount of bling for the look. The dress was already quite shiny and busy (not my favorite), glad she didn't add a necklace or broach to the look.

As much as I love some of her big bling necklaces or broaches, IMO they would have pushed the boundaries of the dress code. I think she went the right direction, with the bling she wore.

Love the outfit & jewelry.Within the limits of the dresscode she always takes the possibilities to the max as she does here.Doesn't mean I do not miss a tiara or a full parure here and there,but voila...c'est Paris ,c'est 2016 and republics dictate what to wear...except when auntie Lillibeth comes...how strange is that when you come to think of it....Anyway,the dinner and business opportunities are of more importance in this day and age,and,as far as I am concerned...CUT OFF business between Air France the money slobbering monster,and our precious KLM,the money making machine for the WHOLE AF-KLM misfit.But I'm sure that issue won't be mentioned with petit Francois..:whistling:
 
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I thought Maxima looked great and even though it was a business dress code, Maxima still managed to keep in with the code but glam it up.

Can't wait for todays events.
 
I am positively surprised that the King's speech was done in French and not in English. A nice gesture I would say, though HM is obviously not very familiar with the language. I do wish they would hire some coaches to practice speeching with him as it always sounds terribly dry and the intonation is usually odd. Of course not everybody can be a great speecher but there must be ways to make it easier.

Toast lors du dîner d’Etat en l’honneur du Roi et de la Reine des Pays-Bas - vidéo Dailymotion
 
Despite the strong accent, the intonation is correct and he pronounces quite well. Well done W-A!


Envoyé de mon iPad à l'aide de The Royals Community
 
it's true that WA's speech needs some more practicing perhaps with a native french speaker, but he sounds confident and his intonation is good. i think the french appreciated that he spoke in french only!

i am hoping we will get to hear maxima speaking in french a bit on this visit...

nice to see them visiting the carillon. it is appropriate.

nice coat by maxima today - it's very joyous and very maxima!
 
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I didn't mean the language skills themselves, of which I can not say a lot as I am sure he speaks it much better than I do. But I meant speech delivery, regardless of the language. It seems he is reading a bed time story to his children. But as I said, not everybody can be a great public speaker.

Quite appropriate that they went to café le Carillon, the attacks were an enormous shock, also in The Netherlands.

***
An AFP video of yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQZzp4t3z94

***

And since the president referred to the last state visit, in 1991 (far too long ago indeed), here a clip from youtube. What a difference, esp. the arrival and the state dinner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfxzOHWzIPU

Somebody commented on the contra-event on the second day that it seemed that the monarch of France was meeting the president of The Netherlands.

I believe that at the dinner president Mitterand teased HM that French cheeses were much superior to the Dutch ones. To which Queen Beatrix replied: 'but we sell our cheeses, Mr president'.
 
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I for one much prefer the receptions hosted by President Mitterand over the business style of President Hollande.
 
And since the president referred to the last state visit, in 1991 (far too long ago indeed), here a clip from youtube. What a difference, esp. the arrival and the state dinner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfxzOHWzIPU

Somebody commented on the contra-event on the second day that it seemed that the monarch of France was meeting the president of The Netherlands.

I believe that at the dinner president Mitterand teased HM that French cheeses were much superior to the Dutch ones. To which Queen Beatrix replied: 'but we sell our cheeses, Mr president'.


The 1991 visit was the last gala at the Opera for a State Visit. The next year, the visit of QEII was one of the last banquet at the quai d'Orsay.

It's not a question of style of Presidency (if only) but very much a question of PR and the insane scrutiny of the medias about the taxpayer money spent during austerity and troubled times. Let's face it, the French love to hate their heads of states, and a bit of decorum is always synonymous of a presidential monarchy (highly criticizedby the press). So a socialist President (and even if Mitterrand was one) just can't be seen in 2016 surrounded by diamonds and evening gowns.
At the same time, Hollande will be also critized to look, let's face it, so cheap when entertaining Royals.
So it's a no win situation for everyone.
C'est la vie.
 
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