The Colour Blue

Blue is the colour for the most senior royal women of Europe at the moment.  Two major royal events in January 6th 2013 saw a queen regnant and two queens in waiting turn out in royal blue as royal duties got underway again after the Christmas break.  In Copenhagen, Queen Margethe II of Denmark led the royals in the reception for the diplomatic corps in a deep blue satin dress.  The event, at the Christiansborg Palace, involved dozens of dignitaries who met a queen at her most majestic.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Crown Princess Mary in royal blue for one of the most important official receptions of the royal year on January 6th 2013

Her daughter in law, and future queen consort, also chose royal blue for this important royal engagement.  Crown Princess Mary's outfit was more fitted and quite severe by her standards but added to the very regal air of the whole event.

Crown Princess Mary with her husband, Frederik, at the Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on January 6th 2014

In Spain, the annual Pascua Militar in Madrid saw Princess Letizia choose royal blue for her first major outfit of 2014.  But the princess was only adding a dash of colour with her blue jacket as her full length dress was black velvet. Queen Sofia chose black and white in a sombre start to the Spanish royal year.  

Princess Letizia of Spain in royal blue and black at the annual Pascua Militar on January 6th 2013.  The royal family is seen here attending the reception after the event at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid

The trend for royal blue at these most important of royal occasions began last year when Queen Maxima of the Netherlands chose an outfit in that colour for the accession ceremony of her husband, Willem-Alexander, on April 30th 2013.  The new heiress to the Dutch throne, Catharina-Amalia, and her sisters as well as the outgoing monarch, Beatrix, were also in this regal colour.

Blue for the girls - the queen consort, the former queen and the future queen of the Netherlands all in royal blue on the day the country got its first king in over 100 years

And just months later, another new queen consort chose royal blue for the official portraits marking the beginning of her reign.  When Philippe became king of the Belgians, his wife was photographed in blue as the royal house announced them as monarchs.  Mathilde of the Belgians chose cream for accession day but the first portraits of her as a queen are in blue.

Queen Mathilde of the Belgians in her official portrait marking the accession of her husband to the country's throne.  This is the photograph that will go into the history books as the first of the first Belgian born woman to become queen of the country.

It seems that in all corners of Europe, the colour blue reigns when it comes to looking regal.