Mathilde from Belgium, exactly 25 years after her wedding, can leaf through the wedding album without risking not recognizing each other. For the dress in which she married the one who at the time was still heir to the throne she called Edouard Vermeulena couturier who is still one of his most trusted collaborators today. Furthermore, the outfit had its simple royalty, characteristics among the most appreciated of the royal. Finally, in that long day there were no style incidents (at least apparently as we will see later): the queen has never been in the habit of making missteps when it comes to clothing.
However, Mathilde from Belgium and her stylist feared the “Diana effect”. Looking at the photographs taken on 4 December 1999, you notice that that dress imagined together, now consigned to history, never seemed wrinkled. The two can say to each other “mission accomplished”, breathing a sigh of relief, now as then.
The choice of couturier
Crown Prince Philippe, born in 1960, had always said that he would get married by the age of 40 even if there was no sign of girlfriends. In September 1999 it was surprisingly announced that the future King of the Belgians would marry the twenty-six-year-old aristocrat Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz.
It seems that the two had been dating for three years but that no one knew anything about it until they were caught on holiday together in Cuba in the summer of that same year. The date of the wedding, civil and religious, was set for December 4, 1999. The one between Mathilde and Philippe would be the last royal wedding of the 20th century and, if we want to be precise, also of the millennium.
Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz and the then Prince Philippe on their wedding day.
DENIS CHARLET/Getty ImagesFor the chosen fashion house there would have been many problems to face. There was a long-awaited future queen to dress, one needed to be studied put adequate for the biting cold of Brussels in December and, last but not leastthe times were rather tight.
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At Mathilde’s side there was Queen Paola. The sovereign of Italian origins was devoted to Giorgio Armani but could not ignore, precisely by virtue of her role, having the addresses of the best tailors in Belgium in her address book. Among these was the maison Natana rather renowned fashion house led by Edouard Vermeulen which had its headquarters in the capital.

Mathilde of Belgium and Philippe on their wedding day.
Pool BENAINOUS/DEVILLE/DUCLOS/REY/Getty ImagesNatan was not the only atelier probed. Various requests came from the palace but the couturieras Vermeulen likes to be called, convinced with his proposal. He realized this when the young woman, accompanied by her mother and the sovereign, uttered the words that determined her career: «Ok, let’s take the measurements».
The wedding dress
From unknown to future sovereign in the space of just three months. Difficult for a couturier get an idea of ​​the personality of the bride who would wear your creation. However, Vermeulen knew that she would have to combine femininity with royalty and modernity with a dimension to crystallize over time. Let’s say she was already looking at that famous photo album, which is why she didn’t want to follow any trend that would one day make the dress obsolete.
There were two examples he wanted to avoid, one arch-famous on a global scale, the other famous in Belgium, both a little too Dynasty (famous drama of the 80s, ed) to your tastes. We are talking about Lady Diana Spencer’s “meringue” dated 1981 and the very fluffy sleeves of her wedding dress. Astrid of BelgiumPhilippe’s sister, married to Archduke Lorenz of the House of Austria-Este in 1984.

Mathilde from Belgium’s royal wedding outfit.
Pool BENAINOUS/DEVILLE/DUCLOS/REY/Getty ImagesA good one couturier but he had to listen to his client’s wishes first and foremost. To the question posed by Vermeulen, Mathilde responded with two adjectives: she wanted her dress to be “simple” and “soft”. The reason? The bride and groom would first go to the Town Hall for the civil ceremony and then to the Cathedral of San Michele and Santa Gudula for the religious wedding, subsequently moving on to the lunch and reception.
A frenetic program that included constant getting up and down from the car as well as greetings and smiles galore. The dress was supposed to be a solution and not a problem. The images of theDiana’s wrinkled dress they were for Mathilde and Edouard Vermeulen a warning and at the same time the visual representation of their greatest nightmare.
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They therefore started from the fabric, opting for silk. From there a reasoning began that did not only concern the design but also the season. How to reconcile the December climate in Brussels with silk? The solution was a regal ivory-colored cloak over a sheath dress of the same shade. What characterized the put so it was this coat with a flowing silhouette with a five-metre train that started from the waist to prevent the too fluid fabric from adhering to the legs. Although simple, the outfit had to have that touch of majesty that undoubtedly manifests itself when walking along the nave of the cathedral. We have no photographic evidence of this but, according to what is reported, for the lunch and the reception the princess was made a shorter and therefore much less bulky coat.

The raised collar of the coat worn by Mathilde on her wedding day.
Tim Graham/Getty ImagesOnce the lower part was arranged, there was the upper part to design. Mathilde turned her gaze towards the art, suggesting a cut inspired by women portrayed in old paintings. So here it is the raised collar that framed her face perfectlya motif, also found on the sleeves, which recalled the opening of a flower. Besides the collar, the other most eye-catching detail is the bodice highlighted by the stitching and the row of buttons that closed the coat.
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Browsing through the news of the time, one notices the great enthusiasm for the crown prince’s bride. The young woman had a great merit, that of being the first queen consort born in Belgium who spoke fluently the three national languages, French, Flemish and German. The regal simplicity of the dress and the reference to an imagery of the past were noticed and appreciated. There is that he said it looked like the princess from a fairy talewho instead was even more punctual, highlighting that that type of bodice seemed “stolen” from Snow White’s wardrobe.

The Snow White bodice of Mathilde of Belgium’s dress.
DENIS CHARLET/Getty ImagesThe veil of the Ruffos of Calabria
Mathilde did not break with tradition, her fate was sealed. The future sovereign consort (Philippe took office in 2013 after the abdication of his father Albert II) she would not have given up either the tiara or the veil.

The bride seen from behind: Mathilde wears the Ruffo di Calabria veil.
Pool BENAINOUS/DEVILLE/DUCLOS/REY/Getty ImagesQueen Paola’s family heirloom gave a touch of romance to theensemble. It was the Brussels lace veil that belonged to the groom’s mother’s grandmotherthe Belgian Laura Mosselman du Chenoy who got married to Fulco Beniamino Ruffo of Calabria on 14 July 1877.
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The sovereign emeritus wore a simple dress accompanied only by a precious Brussels lace veil that belonged to the Ruffo family of Calabria. And on her head neither pearls nor diamonds: just a crown of orange flowers

The women of the Ruffo family of Calabria handed down the veil which, through Paola of Belgium, became an indispensable element also for the brides of the dynasty Saxe-Coburg-Gothathe Belgian royal house. When the Italian princess married in 1959 she was not expected to become queen unlike Mathilde. Thanks to that wedding celebrated in 1999, the sumptuous lace consecrated its royal status.
The tiara
Queen Paola worked hard behind the scenes for this royal wedding. She recommended the Maison Natan, made her veil available and lent her daughter-in-law one of her favorite tiaras, the diamond band tiara that originally belonged to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. The Art Deco bandeau it is a piece dating back to the early 20th century that Albert I’s wife did not particularly like. And to think that the rows of diamonds that are intertwined with precious laurel leaves create the E, the initial of his name.

Mathilde of Belgium with the tiara that belonged to Queen Elisabeth.
Tim Graham/Getty ImagesThe personalized motif was not an obstacle for subsequent owners of the tiara who, unlike Elisabeth, greatly appreciated it. Elisabeth gave it to her son Leopoldo’s wife, La Princess Astrid who unfortunately died prematurely in an accident. The diadem passed to Leopold’s second wife, La Princess Lilianwho exploited its versatility by also wearing it as chocker. On the occasion of marriage with Prince Albert, The bandeau it was given to Paola who made it one of her favorite tiaras both in her period as princess of Liège and as queen upon Baldwin’s death.
Mathilde willingly accepted the loan from her mother-in-law, but perhaps in the frenzy of preparations she forgot to speak to the bride’s hairdresser, giving essential suggestions on the use of the tiara. Despite the widely dispensed smiles, it is whispered that Mathilde was tortured by too many pins used to hold the tiara and veil in place. But not only that, it is also said that the bouquet weighed too muchsomething like eight kilograms.

Mathilde of Belgium marries and those particularly painful shoes.
MOSSAY/Getty ImagesFinally, the future queen gave a great show of endurance because the day, without causing any drama, was marred by another trouble: shoes too tight. The press didn’t know this immediately because perhaps, before inconveniencing Snow White because of the bodice, they would have used another fairytale princess, Cinderella. Those glass slippers weren’t supposed to be the most comfortable. Perhaps almost the graceful one slingback by Mathilde.
Source: Vanity Fair

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