Brigitte Macron’s Jaw Dropped When She Saw Queen Máxima of the Netherlands’ Gown at an Exhibition in Paris Last Night

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 29 November 2023

When in Paris—Queen Máxima of the Netherlands joined France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron for an exhibition at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs wearing a gown that looked like a piece of artwork itself.

The two women attended the “Iris van Herpen Sculpting the Senses” exhibition last night, with Máxima stealing the show in a stunning shimmering gown by Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, the woman of the hour. The floor-length dress featured a high neck and cape, dazzling embroidery, and a shimmering full skirt.

Both Máxima and Macron attended the event in the French capital without their respective partners, King Willem-Alexander and Emmanuel Macron. As Máxima stepped out of her car to greet Macron, “Brigitte seemed to gesture towards Máxima’s jaw-dropping gown in acknowledgement of her style prowess,” The Daily Mail reports. (Join the club.)

Earlier in the day, Máxima was in Rotterdam, Netherlands for a royal engagement, where she braved off the chill in a camel-colored wool Max Mara coat she has worn on a number of occasions. Underneath her outerwear was a red dress, and she kept the color consistent with a matching hat and pumps in the same shade.

Undoubtedly one of the most glamorous royals globally, Máxima is an Argentinian by birth and had a career in marketing when she met Willem-Alexander in 1999 (she thought he was joking when he told her he was then heir to the Dutch throne). They married three years later, are parents of three daughters, and ascended to the throne when Máxima’s mother-in-law, Queen Beatrix, abdicated the throne in 2013.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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