Fashion Flashback: Mathilde's Veils

On her wedding day in 1999 Mathilde d'Udekem got to wear Queen Paola's magnificent antique veil.

This family piece was custom made in Brussels in the second half of the 19th century for Paola's Belgian ancestor, Laura Mosselman du Chenoy who married Italian Duke Fulco Ruffo di Calabria in 1877.

The beautiful lace heritage piece was worn by Paola Ruffo di Calabria on her wedding day in 1959. Paola later lent the veil to her daughter Astrid in 1984, to her daughters-in-law Mathilde in 1999 and Claire in 2003, and to her granddaughter Laura in 2022 on their wedding day.

Later Mathilde invested in two veils of her own.

She wore this black veil to the funeral of her father, Count Patrick d'Udekem, in 2008. Later she's repeated it to other funerals and to the inauguration mass of a new pope.

This second one, a white veil was used for an audience at the Vatican. Because Mathilde is a catholic queen, she can use the privilège du blanc. 

Borrowed Jewellery: Art Deco Tiara

In 1925 King Albert I & Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. On this occasion, King Albert gave his wife an art deco design tiara, (probably) ordered from Cartier. 

In 1930, Queen Elisabeth wore the tiara for the first time, at the visit of Japanese Prince Takamatsu and his wife to Brussels.

Also in 1930.

Four years later, she passed the tiara on to her daughter-in-law, Queen Astrid, at the birth of grandson Albert. The baby was named after Elisabeth’s husband who had died earlier the same year. 

After Queen Astrid’s death, barely one year later, the art deco tiara was worn with great creativity by King Leopold III’s second wife, Princess Lilian. On one occasion she added stones to top of tiara for the visit of American President Hoover. These were probably the solitaires from the tiara of the nine provinces.

When Leopold & Astrid’s youngest son, Prince Albert married, the tiara was given to his bride, Princess Paola who wore it often and in many different positions.

The only time Queen Mathilde has worn this tiara was on her wedding day, 4 December 1999, as her personal "laurel wreath" tiara, a gift from the Belgian nobility wasn't ready to be used yet.

 

15 years later it was worn by another bride: Lili Rosboch von Wolkenstein, who married Prince Amedeo of Belgium in Rome in July 2014.

Its last appearance was in 2016, when Princess Astrid wore the tiara to a banquet in honour of German President Joachim Gauck.

This tiara is it the only piece of Belgian royal jewellery that has survived to be worn by 5 generations of the Royal Family. Will we ever see it on Queen Mathilde again, or on her daughters, Crown Princess Elisabeth and Princess Eléonore?

We can only hope Queen Paola does not regard this important piece of jewellery as a personal possession and that instead, she will leave it to the use of the wider Royal Family. 

Jewels: Wedding Earrings

As a gift from her future husband Crown Prince Philippe, Mathilde received these beautiful gold, diamond and pearl earrings in the shape of a knot. She wore them for the first time in public when they actually tied the knot, on 4 December 1999.

Some of the other occasions where Mathilde wore these earrings:

Private: Mathilde's Bakers

Among the royal warrant holders are two bakeries who provide the royal family with bread and patisserie.

Every day at 6:45 AM Fabrice Debroux stops at the castle of Laeken to deliver buns, baguettes and pastries. His bakery, Biasetto in Strombeek-Bever supplies the bread and cakes for Mathilde, Philippe and their children. Around 2014, a palace employee was sent to several bakeries to buy all sorts of breads and cakes. Biasetto was selected by the royal family as their favorite.

Wittamer is where the royal family orders fine patisserie for special (private and official) occasions.

Wittamer made Philippe & Mathilde's wedding cake in 1999: a two tier cake for 150 guests. The couple had requested a favorite taste from their childhood: a chocolate cake that tasted like a brownie with hints of citrus and crème anglaise. They wanted a crispy white cover on the wedding cake. After 21 trials the famous Brussels bakery nailed it.

For Mathilde's 42nd birthday in January 2015, Wittamer made this vanilla and chocolate iced cake.

The family sometimes passes by to eat something on the terrace, accompanied by bodyguards.

https://wittamer.com/

Wedding Day: Flower Arrangements

Florist Daniel Ost decorated the cathedral for Philippe & Mathilde's wedding in December 1999.

Originally Queen Paola had chosen a non professional florist to do the job, but the Union of Florists didn't agree and suggested Ost should do the job. This meant Daniel Ost & his team only had 18 days to start from scratch ... And while Mathilde was friendly, the contact with Paola was unpleasant. According to Ost, Queen Paola wasn't very cooperative and in a bad mood. Because the task was so prestigious, the florist from Sint-Niklaas felt he couldn't refuse but he describes it as "one of the worst experiences" of his life.

While Mathilde d'Udekem wanted red flowers, Queen Paola insisted on the colour white. Because the ladies coudn't come to an agreement, Ost put red flowers on the altar and white ones all over the cathedral.

Ost says to be particularly embarrassed about the big bouquet Mathilde carried: it wasn't his work, but the court's own gardener's. The huge bouquet weighed 3,5 kilos and nearly caused the bride to topple.

Mathilde donated her wedding bouquet to the basilica of Halle where the black Madonna is sometimes invoqued against childlessness. The bouquet was dried and is still on display.

Daniel & his daughter, Nele Ost still work for the royal family. Their firm is now an official royal warrent holder.