Today I received a reader question about tomorrow, Prince’s Day. Can we expect new dresses or will we see previously worn outfits?
To answer this question, we go back to 2012, the year before the inauguration. Máxima’s burgundy dress with a boat neck and high slit may have looked new, but it had already been used the year before during the state visit to Qatar.
In 2020, she also opted for a previously worn dress. To mute the color a bit, the garment was immersed in a dye bath well in advance.
So it could very well be that Máxima, Amalia, Alexia and/or Laurentien choose a well-known dress. Of course I hope not, but if it is, then this one is high on my wish list:
On to reader question 2: what happens to the dresses after Prinsjesdag? Of course, those of the queen and her daughters are cleaned and stored in the walk-in closets at Paleis Huis ten Bosch. In the years that follow, they will probably be used during a state banquet. For example, Máxima’s dress from Prinsjesdag 2013 turned up during the state visit to Japan (2014) and Italy (2022).
The dress from Prinsjesdag 2014 was also used during the state visit to Canada in 2015.
The dress from Prinsjesdag 2015 can be seen in the official portraits and was also used during a royal birthday party in Norway in 2017.
The skirt from Prinsjesdag 2016 also turned out to be combinable with a top of the same fabric. Máxima did that in 2017, 2022 and 2023.
The dress from Prinsjesdag 2017 was used two years later during the Japanese enthronement.
In 2018, Máxima chose a dress by Luisa Beccaria, which was used again during the state visit to India (2022).
The 2019 dress was again in service at a dinner with representatives of international organizations based in the Netherlands.
The dress of Prinsjesdag 2020 can be seen at the beginning of this blog and we have not seen any other dresses/ensembles since the debut on Prinsjesdag. Who knows, maybe that will happen on Wednesday, when the royal couple (together with Amalia!) dines with the Council of State?
