Belgium’s glamorous Queen Mathilde made a show-stopping sartorial display for her country’s National Day celebrations today.

The 46-year-old, an aristocrat who wed King Philippe in 1999, led the celebrations in Brussels alongside her husband and their four children Crown Princess Elisabeth, Princess Eléonore, Prince Gabriël and Prince Emmanuel. The National Day festivities take place around the country, marking the anniversary of the Belgium’s independent state under a constitutional monarchy and parliament dating back to 1831.

Arriving at the Sainte-Gudule cathedral, Mathilde – a royal style icon in her own right – arrived in an all-rust ensemble in the form of a bateau necked lace midi dress and structured hat and clutch. Her 17-year-old daughter Elisabeth, next in line to the throne, assumed a more public role alongside her parents; but they are aiming to create as normal a life as possible for her.

She currently studies at the Atlantic College in Wales, where she has a better chance at a more private upbringing before eventually ascending the throne later in her life.

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“It is an adaptation for everyone in our family. But I think it is above all an enrichment for her. She studies with peers from all over the world,” Mathilde said during a visit to Mozambique earlier this year. “She can enjoy a normal life there (in Wales), which I find really important. A private life. Let her enjoy that. She is still young.”

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