At the invitation of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako are paying a state visit to Belgium. On Saturday, June 20, 2026, the Emperor and Empress arrived in Belgium. Upon their arrival, Crown Princess Elisabeth welcomed Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at Melsbroek Military Airport.
Before their official program begins, the Emperor and Empress will spend the weekend at the Royal Castle of Ciergnon together with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. The state visit will officially begin on Tuesday, June 23, with a ceremonial welcome at Palace Square in Brussels. The first day will conclude with a state banquet at the Castle of Laeken.
Maje Morsine Cardigan and Knit Skater Dress
She is just lovely and impressive.
ReplyDeleteShe did not need the extra height in those High heels!
DeleteThe Imperial couple are just short in stature - period. They are both somewhere between 5'4.5" and 5'5". Even if she had worn flats she still would have been taller them. People really need to get over the height thing regarding them.
DeleteSuperbe
ReplyDeleteFroufrou
Elisabeth is gracious and seems confident and sweet. She looks wonderful in these white clothes. In the second photo there’s a lady in orange with very similar shoes to Elisabeth - but not as toweringly high . These would be the shoes that I think would better complete Elisabeth’s outfit. Her enormously high shoes (in my eyes) are much too high to look good. Taller shoes does not equal more elegant shoes.
ReplyDelete"Taller shoes does not equal more elegant shoes. " No they don't, but they also do not equal less elegant shoes. The time spent in high heels also does not equal whole days/every day. Some hours on some days. They are sure not healthy, of course, but we are not on a healthy feet mission here.
DeleteAgree!
DeleteThe lady in Orange is Annelies Verlinden, minister of justice
Delete19:01 “we are not on a healthy feet mission here?”. We?! You are welcome to make statements for you and it’s fun to read them … but you can’t speak for me or others actually! Happy weekend.
DeleteI agree with 19:01
Delete@ 18:07
DeleteOn these pictures it is not very clear, but in reality Minister Annelies Verlinden is taller than CP Elisabeth. So it is normal that the heels of her shoes are maybe less high than the princess'.
I also think that these stupid comments about heels and the length of queens and princesses can stop now. Especially because it is only the queens and princesses of The Netherland and Belgium who are receiving bad comments. Next time maybe you can target on Denmark and the U.K.
@Dear 20:37, "you can’t speak for me or others" - almost true, as far as fashion opinions are concerned. But I think I can speak for at least the majority who comes here to read other people's comments - provided they are on topic. Other peoples' low heel missionary statements are absolutely tedious to read for others who hope for fashion talk and get a rant about high heels.
Delete@Anon 18:07 Agree completely. You are so right. And lower high heels would also have been more polite, given the "shortness" of the Emperor, who seems to be such a fine man.
Delete9:29 my statement is not a missionary statement. Reread. It’s a fashion statement. It’s kind, it’s considered. You have a different point of view, fine, but don’t tell me what to think or say or pretend you know what the majority of people think.
DeleteRight on point, 18:35. I´m with you on this.
DeleteElisabeth looks lovely and young, the Empress wears a beautifull combination.
ReplyDeleteThis series of state visits of the The Emperor and Empress of Japan to The Netherlands and now Belgium is a real treat if for no other reason than to see these 3 wonderful couples spending time with each other as dear and true friends. The first visit was wonderful, and I suspect that this one will be no less. K.Philippe and Q.Mathilde would not have sent their eldest child (in place of an envoy) to welcome the Emperor and Empress if they were not close and special friends.
ReplyDeleteI love Masako's mint green raw silk suit which I believe we've seen before (or one very similar), and I really like CP Elisabet's simple but stylish cream outfit. How lovely to see her undertaking this important role on her own. She seems very comfortable and at ease, and you can see the genuine warmth between her and her guests (even more evident on the video clips.)
- Anon 9:13
It is often the case that the heir to the throne welcomes the guests, without any implication about the personal bonds - just remember the Prince and Princess of Wales welcoming the Trumps not long ago. I am not sure that speculations/gossip about their personal bonds or the warmth thereof is something this blog aims to delve in.
Deleteits usually the job of the Crown princess/prince to welcome guests from the airport. They do it in Sweden, Norway n British
DeleteWell said anoniem 18:15; alas my vocabulary in English is not so good to express myself as fine as you do!
Delete@ 19:10
DeleteThere is no reason to compare with the Wales'.
There is no reason to think of speculations and gossip either. It is a fact that King Philippe and Emperor Naruhito are friends since they were both young students.
If a topic on this blog does not interest you, you are free to skip it.
@Anon 19:10 There is no speculation on my part as to the close relationship between the JIF and the Belgian royal family. IYKYK. If you don't, you're sadly ill informed.
DeleteAnd as for what this blog aims for besides fashion, the pages are full of egregious comments about reasons of weight gain, reasons of weight loss, looks of happiness, sad faces, possible pregnancies or the lack of them, to name just a few. Ever looked at any post about Meghan to see the type of comments posted there? I don't see you wearing your tight policeman pants on those posts. Take care of yourself.
@Anon 19:47 Thank you for your kind comment. Your vocab is fine.
- Anon 9:13
Wow very nice outfit for Elisabeth and the shoes are perfect, adds elegance. The empress suits this geeen colour. I notice the empress right foot is quite swollen.
ReplyDeleteThe Empress always exudes such warmth and kindness. She had such a trying time, so to see her today proudly representing her country by her husband side,is lovely to see.
ReplyDeleteHIM - Beautiful shade of green, in a beautiful tailored skirt suit.
CP Elisabeth looks lovely in Maje dress and top.
Lowri.
So elegant, sublime!
ReplyDeletePrincess Elisabeth, is delightful, highly impressive, she has such grace and natural elegance, she has had a good teacher, her beautiful and dignified mother, the Queen. Her outfit looks appropriate for this arrival greeting. Her smile is radiant.
ReplyDeleteThe Empress looks stunning in this mint light green silk suit, beautiful fit, cut and design. She is wearing a beautiful gold and pearl brooch, and wonderful sized pearl earrings.
Princess Elisabeth is doing her first offficial job after she graduated from Harvard. Love her dress and jacket by Maje. I also love her new shoes.The empress looks already more relax and her light green (sorry, to me it doesn't look like mint green) 2 pieces is lovely. They drove right from the Melsbroek Military Airport to the Castle of Ciergnon in the Ardennes where they will pass the weekend in the company of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. The official State Visit starts on Tuesday.
ReplyDeletePS On the video of the daily news one can see that Princess Elisabeth did not entered in the same car as the imperial couple. So I think she will not stay in Ciergnon with her parents during the weekend.
Pour la couleur je dirais du vert tilleul. :-)
DeletePaloma.
Just perfect. Nice to see her Welcome the Imperial couple to Belgium. The curtsy is wonderful. Great looking dress. So nice to see Empress Masako relax and great smile. Nice light green suit. Waiting for the State visit to begin on Tuesday.
ReplyDeletecss
皇后陛下の服の色は日本では「もえぎ色」と呼びます。
ReplyDelete波のようなひだを取った襟のデザインが特徴的ですね。
エリザベート王女と愛子様は同い年です。
日本では以下のように報道されています。
「愛子さまも、ご一家そろってオランダで静養した４歳のころ、ベルギー王室の方々との楽しいひとときを過ごした。皇室と王室の付き合いは家族ぐるみで続いてきた」。
もしかしたら、９枚目の写真で皇后陛下は、４歳の時の背の高さを手で表しているのかもしれません。
天皇皇后両陛下は親戚のような優しい眼差しで、成長した女王を見つめていますね。
Thank you for your comments. It's nice to hear what was being reported in Japan. Not everyone knows the history between the two royal families including myself.
DeleteThat's what makes this state visit so special with all the Belgian royal members turning up for the upcoming state banquet. They want to show deep appreciation towards the Imperial couple. Can't wait to see the fashion and glittering jewels from 6 royal ladies!
Thank you for explaining so well what many of us know, and for the many who don't.
Delete- Anon 9:13
>もしかしたら、9枚目の写真で皇后陛下は4歳の時の背の高さを手で表しているのかもしれません。
Delete02:28さん、素晴らしい洞察力です！言われてみれば、本当にそのように見えますね。
The cream dress/jacket is just wonderful. The distant photos do not do it justice, it's the closeups where we can appreciate the artistry. Love the ornate insets and decorative stitching embellishing what would otherwise be a very minimalist knit ensemble. They add so much texture and interest. I am very tempted to pop into my city's upmarket department store and see this beauty up close for myself. Lyra
ReplyDelete@ Lyra
DeleteI do not know what size you have, but in my city there is a boutique of Maje clothes in the Shopping Centre near Brussels where I live. The sizes one can see there are for children and for ladies it starts with the French size 36 which is very small. I never see sizes higher than 40-42. The French sizes are really small compared to German sizes f.ex. Although the clothes by Maje are very lovely and attractive, I am too old anyway to wear this brand.
Hi Anon 1 21/6 12:03: to be honest, these days I am not wearing any top, dress or jacket with sleeves as short as this jacket -- I prefer more coverage of my arms. While I am a size 38, most trendy international fashion houses make designs which are too revealing for my style of dressing. But it is still a pleasure for me to view and touch quality fabrics and construction in person. Lyra
DeleteElisabeth looks poised and appropriately respectful. I like her summery white outfit with the pretty stitching. The light green color of the Empress’s suit is lovely. She and the Emperor always have such kind, friendly smiles.
ReplyDelete-Royal Watcher
Dear 23:47, These pages are full of negative comments on subjects other than fashion????? If this blog were only full of sartorial admiration, it would be terribly boring, and linking fashion to other issues like health, post pregnancy, personal grief etc. is a normal human reaction and makes this blog interesting. Of course there are readers who bash and are unfair but the majority of FAITHFULL bloggers give balanced opinions, and I suspect you know this.
ReplyDelete🌞 Virginia
Dear Anon 09:47 Virginia You've obviously completely misunderstood my comment. I was responding to Anon 19:10 who thought speculation should be left out of comments. I wasn't speculating about anything. The closeness of the two families is a well known fact. I was pointing out to 19:10 that there are lots of crazy, ill driven inappropriate comments on this blog that deserve his/her/their critical attention more than mine, yet I don't see them saying anything about those.
DeleteWhile I disagree about prying into people's negative personal business for the sake of avoiding boredom, or keeping a blog interesting as you seem to think, kindly redirect your comment and feelings to the appropriate offender. They don't belong to me.
- Anon 9:13
P Elisabeths outfit is very pretty. Such intricate patterns and inlays. A real summer dress. Love the pale green silk suit worn by the Empress. I would love to get a closer look at her broach. The three of them look so warm and friendly.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed for the past year now that the Empresses feet are often swollen. It can´t be easy with these long flights even if she can put her feet up.
@ Ladyofthemanor
DeleteThe flight between Amsterdam and Brussels is not long. I think her swollen feet are due to the hot weather we have here since last week and it will not stop yet. This week will be very hot with t° until 37° Celsius and in France 40° Celsius. I have the same problem of swollen feet when it is so hot. There are pills one can take to have less swollen feet (on doctors order). But it goes only away when the weather is cooler again.
My gosh, the fury that is unleashed when disagreements occur over the wearing of high heels by very tall people who are spending time with very short people! I’m middle-height so I don’t have personal experience with this, but I would imagine that it is more comfortable to chat with someone if you don’t have to look way up, or bend your head way down, to make eye contact with the other person. So it does surprise me when emphasizing their own height, with the result that they tower over the Emperor and Empress especially dramatically, is the choice made by royal ladies. And I’m sure there are many Karens out there who will be happy to scold me :-).
ReplyDeleteJust adding my personal experience…I lived in Japan and wore 3” heels everyday at work, which made me 5’9”. I asked several Japanese men and women if this was offensive in business or social situations and they all said it was completely acceptable. You can’t please everyone, but as a general rule it wasn’t interpreted as rude.
DeleteMasako a adopté cette couleur pistache pour cet ensemble élégant déjà porté
ReplyDeleteBelle couleur vert pistache de Masako qu’elle a adoptée en asssociant une longue tunique avec une jupe ; toujours très chic, son époux est à son unisson avec sa cravate rayée ramenée dans ses bagages - Elisabeth est ravissante dans ce haut sur une robe ample facilitant
ReplyDeletePardon ...facilitant la révérence !
ReplyDeleteIf some people think that CP Elisabeth belongs to the tall people, I can assure you she is the shortest now in her family. She has been a long time the big sister, literally, but her 2 brothers and her sister as well as her parents are all taller than she is now. There is no reason why she cannot wear high heels.
ReplyDeleteAll these discussions with the high heels of royal ladies started in fact when Queen Letizia couldn't wear them anymore because of the feet problems she had.
If a royal has problems with his/her eyes and has to wear sunglasses even inside because he/she cannot see very well with all the flashes of the photographers shining on him/her, should all the other royals start to wear sunglasses too even inside a building ? The "he" or "his" is Prince Laurent of Belgium. He has this problem and sometimes when there are a lot of flashlights he has to wear sunglasses outside and inside.
CP Elisabeth is wearing a gorgeous 2 piece outfit…so clean and well fitted. I have never understood the desire for women to wear stilettos…they do elongate the foot and look very stylish but practical- they are not!
ReplyDeleteThe empress looks fantastic…I love the colour and sheen of her suit…looks like shantung silk perhaps?
So lovely to read the emperor and empress will spend some time with their friends before the official program. The duchess looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteT
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