Queen Máxima traveled today, and day after her birthday, to Vatican City for the Inauguration of Pope Leo XIV. For a moment many people pulled up their eyebrows when they saw them for the festive day black bore instead of white. But that had a good reason.
Why Queen Máxima Zwart wore during the inauguration of the pope
Where many expected a royal appearance in white, appeared Máxima dressed in classic black. Elegant, stylish – and according to some … remarkably unusual.
But it is very logical: a woman from a Protestant prince does not have the so -called Privilège du Blanc. Something Queen Mathilde, Queen Letizia and Princess Charlène have, who were dressed in white today.
Privilège du Blanc
Explained: in the Catholic Church A special privilege applies: only a handful of Catholic queens and princesses are allowed to wear white white during an audience. This rare honor is known as it Privilège du Blanc – The ‘privilege of the white’. Think of the queen of Spain, the grand prince of Luxembourg or Princess Charlène of Monaco.
Queen Máximaborn in Argentina – a predominantly Catholic country – is himself a Catholic. But the Dutch royal family is officially Protestant. And that difference matters. Because although her personal background might take her closer to the Vatican than some other European royals, her role as a queen is inextricably linked to the Oranje-Nassau house-and that house has been Protestant since the Reformation.
Catholic vs Protestant
By wearing black, acknowledged Queen Máxima So the Protestant roots of the Dutch royal family, while at the same time she shows respect to the Catholic tradition.
Moreover, black is in the context of the Vatican No color of mourning, but of respect. Women who do not belong to the ‘white privilege’, traditionally black – often with a mantilla (a lace veil) – wear their respect for the papal ceremony.
View the Photos of Queen Máxima at the inauguration:
