Weekly Royal Fashion Awards: Catching Up

Oh my. It's been...uh...some time since we talked regular royal fashion, what with all those royals going casual at the Olympics and then retreating for their summer holidays. We got the Paralympic outfits out of the way yesterday, let's have a massive round up from the rest of our leading ladies since whenever it was we last chatted, shall we? (Note: this is not every outfit.)

Most Family-Oriented Return

Princess Mathilde

Left to Right: A family photocall with the extended Belgian royal family; the first day of school.

Mathilde has returned to her royal engagement business, but first she had some family business to take care of: a massive family photocall, where pink seemed to be the name of the game, and taking the kids to school. Looking pretty mommy chic on the Mathilde scale, I'd say.

Strictest Return to Form

Princess Letizia

At the opening of a conference; visiting a business school

 One simple sheath dress, one pantsuit. That's Letizia, in a nutshell.

Best Return to Princess Form

Crown Princess Mary

The inaguration of Campus Roskilde; the awarding of the Skt.Loye Prize; Visiting a kindergarten; at Circus Danneborg; A wreath-laying ceremony; Visiting two towns

Two hatted, gloved appearances: Mary's back in action, kids. Lovely mauve hat aside, though...my heart belongs to the orange Marc Jacobs. It's swishy! Jumpy claps. Mary gets bonus points for being a sporty royal too - and not a spectator sporty sort, à la the Olympics, but an actual sporty one: first, she swam in the channels of Copenhagen, wetsuit and all (she's patron of the Danish Swimming Federation), and then she played basketball. In heels and a hat, as you do. And it was adorable. Click here to see.

Best Use of Sporting Gear

Princess Máxima

At a conference; celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Maastricht School of Management; celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Pet'je af Foundation; swimming for ALS

Mary wasn't the only one wetsuit-ing up this week! Máxima was at it too, swimming in Amsterdam Canal for charity. But in Máxima's case, I think it might just be the highlight of her sartorial week, as the rest is meh. Colorful meh, but meh nevertheless.

Biggest Hodgepodge of a Week

Crown Princess Mette-Marit

At the confirmation of her son Marius; visiting Oslo Renovation for an introduction to municipal waste management; at the Fretex charity shop

Have you ever seen such a mix of royal outfits in one spot? Traditional in national dress, dressed up in saucy Prada heels...and a blazer over a Harvard t-shirt. I have no idea what one ought to wear to tour a municipal waste facility, but this strikes me as odd. Perhaps she should have investigated the wetsuit option.

Most Colorful Princess

Crown Princess Victoria

Opening Stockholm Fashion Week; the Polar Music Awards; awarding the Junior Water Prize; at the Export Hermes Awards; at an event for the Swedish Brain Foundation

Look at all that blissful color! It's enough to make you forgive a dodgy batch of shoe choices. (Clunky on multiple occasions and too much green at once. Dodgy.) Naturally, my favorite is the saucy yellow number - she always goes a little bit funky for this event - and the hair down. Down! Variety: it's the spice of life.

What's your favorite princess outfit for this week (or weeks, whatever)?

Photos: Getty Images/Scanpix/Bekia/dutchphotopress/tv2/Svenskdam/Purepeople/Abaca

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 1-7 July

1. Attending a concert of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, 4 July. OH NO. One of my least favorite Máxima outfits of ALL TIME has RETURNED. NOOOOOOO. MORE CAPS LOCK.
2. At a museum exhibition opening, 5 July.
3. a and b) Annual family photo shoot, 7 July. But then! Seriously, I think this is the best Máx has looked (without an evening gown and tiara on) in for-e-ver. The trousers are so flattering, and look! A good hair day! Well done.

Photos: PPE/DutchPhotoPress/RVD

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 24-30 June

1. Attending TEDx Binnenhof, 25 June.
2. Opening an exhibit at the Royal Palace, 28 June.
3. At the final concert of the Holland Festival, 28 June. Máxima also wore this white cape-y thing when she was in Mexico earlier in the month for a G20 conference on inclusive finance. Though I think Greece would clearly have been a more appropriate locale for this particular toga.
4. Attending a performance of "How Much was the Sugar?" Stéphanie de Lannoy wore this Natan dress in red when announcing her engagement to Prince Guillaume. Who wore it best?

Photos: DutchPhotoPress

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 10-16 June

1. Visiting the Children Making Music project, 12 June.
2. Opening a new portion of the Jewish museum Sjoel Elburg, 13 June. Sparkle in the skirt – Máx is fancy.
3. Princess Carolina of Bourbon-Parma’s wedding, 16 June.

Photos: Purepeople/Abaca/PPE/vd Werf/Zimbio/Getty Images

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 27 May-9 June

1. Double engagements for the day, 29 May. Fairly well put together on the Máxima scale, no?
2. At a seminar at the University of Amsterdam, 30 May.
3. a) Visiting a music project, 30 May, in b) a Pucci jacket. Only on Máxima, I tell ya.
4. Attending the International Insurance Europe conference, 1 June.

5. Attending the Access to Health Insurance conference, 5 June.
6. With the whole family at a children's concert, 6 June.
7. Visiting the ZID Theater, 7 June.
8. a) Opening a mother-child center at Bronovo Hospital, 8 June, in b) Tory Burch. The worst hair of the week by far - but also the biggest smile. This is the hospital where Máxima gave birth to her three girls.

Photos: Dutch Photo Press/Svenskdam/Harmonie Orkest Vleuten/Pucci/Parool/Tory Burch

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 20-26 May

1. Attending a concert of the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in London, 20 May, accompanied by Princess Mabel in her first public engagement since Prince Friso's accident.
2. At a lecture at the International Institute of Social Studies, 21 May. I think this is lovely, but I would also say that if it were worn by, say, Queen Elizabeth. So...
3. The christening of Princess Estelle, 22 May.
4. Opening the Appel arts center's new location, 23 May.
5. Opening the Moneycounter initiative, 23 May. Déjà vu! She picks the worst outfit of the week to repeat, of course she does. While I'm sure many of you will take issue with the placement of the bright orange stripe, my beef is with the seams on the top which manage to end in exactly the place you don't want them to end. Oh, Máx.

Photos: Daylife/ISS/Bekia

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 13-19 May

1. Attending the annual awarding of the Appeltjes van Oranje Awards, 15 May. This is one of the outfits she wore the previous week in Brazil.
   Opening the CliniClowns College which puts on performances for ill and disabled children, 16 May. She also attended the parade of the armed forces and the lunch afterwards on Saturday for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee in London. She repeated the outfit we saw for Queen's Day.

Photos: Dutch Photo Press/Daylife

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 6-12 May

1. - 4. Máxima visited Brazil as part of her work in microfinance, 7-10 May, in her usual Máxima wardrobe, I guess.

Photos: Muhler/Reuters/Daylife/Terra/G1

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 29 April-5 May

1. Koninginnedag, 30 April. Still find it curiously adorable, bow and all.
2. Remembrance Day, 4 May.

Photos: PPE/Nieboer/Daylife

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 15-21 April

1. Receiving the first copy of an insect cookbook - yeah, if I'm understanding this right, it's a cookbook for cooking insects - at her home, 17 April. Beetle soup for dinner, kids!
2. a and b) Day 1 of the Turkish state visit, 17 April. I'm always in favor of a full skirt, but I can't give a thumbs up to a crinkled Kleenex box cover for a hat.
3. State dinner, 17 April, wearing the Rose Cut Diamond Bandeau and a dress seen previously (click here).

4. Day 2, 18 April. Yes, I'm going to have to declare this whole state visit a millinery fail.
5. Concert on day 2, 18 April. Better than the last time we saw this, I'd say. I like the white shirt.
6. a and b) At a conference in Paris, 19 April. Oh, the shoes.

Photos: Purepeople/Abaca/Daylife/OECD

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 8-14 April

1. At a conference on micro-insurance, 11 April.
2. Visiting the Piezo Foundation, 12 April.

Photos: ANP

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 25 March-7 April

1. & 2. A few glimpses of her trip to Malaysia and Indonesia as part of her role as a UN representative for inclusive finance, 2-5 April, in rerun sparkly Natan and a wrinkly mess of Valentino.

Photos: Jakarta Post/Hola/Style.com

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 18-24 March

1. Attending the 55th anniversary of the Foundation for the National Tree Day after attending a funeral for the victims of the Belgian bus crash, 21 March.
2. Attending a second funeral for the victims, 22 March.

Photos: Purepeople

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 11-17 March

1. Pitching in for National Volunteer Day, 16 March.
2. a - d) Visiting Paris for a concert by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, 17 March. I must say, this seems to have been a strange engagement. Willem-Alexander was supposed to come along, but decided to go to London to visit Friso at the last moment. And then the crowd booed as Máx entered! Apparently a very unpopular French minister entered at the same time. Poor dear. On the bright side, she was debuting a new necklace and earrings - diamonds in a very modern design. I hope she was able to take solace in her diamonds...

Photos: PPE/Zimbio/Getty Images

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 4-10 March

1. At a seminar on microfinance, 6 March.
2. Attending a national coaching day promoting entrepreneurship, 7 March.
3. a) At a gala dinner for the Conservation Foundation, 7 March, with b) some killer purple earrings and her tutti frutti style bracelet.
4. Attending TOP talent for women breakfast, 8 March.

Photos: Dutch Photo Press/PPE

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 12-18 February

1. Visiting Turkey for 2 days in her capacity as a U.N. adviser for inclusive finance.

Máxima and her family are now in Austria. For those that have not heard, Prince Johan Friso - Queen Beatrix's middle son, Máxima's brother-in-law - was buried by an avalanche last Friday while in Lech for the family's traditional ski holiday. Friso's condition, as of this writing, is still reported as critical but stable; reports are saying no concrete information will be known about his prognosis until later this week.

UPDATE: Prince Friso was without oxygen for a long time, and has suffered serious brain damage. The medical team has said that it is not known when, or if, Friso will regain consciousness.

Photo: ANP

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 5-11 February

1. Opening a professional fair, 7 February.
2. Accepting the Machiavelli Prize for her outstanding communication in her 10 years as princess, 8 February. Purple and a neat hairdo? She loves me, she really loves me.
3. Visiting the VMBO school De Kluiverboom, 9 February. I like this coat. It's Natan...and I like it. Well, this is a surprising week on several levels.
4. Attending a lecture in Utrecht, 10 February. Perhaps a wee full skirt trend is in the air? Let me cross my fingers and urge it on.

Photos: Dutch Photo Press/Purepeople/Abaca

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 29 January-4 February

1. Double engagements, 31 January.

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 22-28 January

1. A jubilee gala at the American Chamber of Commerce, 23 January. So refreshing when she gets all dressed up, isn't it?
2. a) Attending a special meeting of the council of state, 25 January, in b) Oscar de la Renta. Well, it's more Oscar - per my request - so that's good, though I expect the man that got all huffy at Michelle Obama for wearing a cardi to Buckingham Palace would not approve. And as for the hat, well, that looks like something Princess Elizabeth or Princess Margaret would have worn in the 1940s.
3. At the Green Fashion competition, 27 January with (a) and without (b) the coat. What a difference a comb and a part switch can make, no?

Photos: Purepeople/Abaca/PPE/Nieboer

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 15-21 January

1. Visiting a music project and attending a New Year's reception, 17 January, in an old Oscar de la Renta coat. Let me tell you what we need more of in the royal sartorial sphere: Oscar de la Renta. Apart from devotee Queen Sofia...barely a scrap!
2. New Year's reception, 18 January.
3. a and b) Two different events, 19 January.
4. At Jumping Amsterdam with the family, 21 January. It's a caped family affair! Máxima has her Zara cape on, and a lovely little Sound of Music affair on Alexia there.

Photos: ANP/Belga/Lehtikuva