She is known for her love of designer clothing and rarely looks anything less than immaculate.
But Queen Máxima of the Netherlands caused a stir during a state visit to Germany yesterday when she wore a coat with beading detail that some onlookers compared to a swastika.
Maxima, 44, and her husband King Willem-Alexander, 48, were visiting Nuremburg’s Medical Valley Center on Thursday and the royal looked smart in her grey coat with flared sleeves by Danish designer Claes Iversen.
The Dutch Queen decided to wear this wonderful little ensemble during her visit to Germany. Seriously. pic.twitter.com/h4MZV4ekHw
— Ancilla (@ncilla) April 14, 2016
As photographs emerged of the trip, Joep O’ Leo took to Twitter to write: ‘Which idiot is responsible for choosing Maxima’s clothes?’ suggesting that they resembled military clothing.
Commentator Ancilla wrote: ‘The Dutch Queen decided to wear this wonderful little ensemble during her visit to Germany. Seriously.’Barry van Someren remarked: ‘It’s as if common sense no longer applies when you’re royalty…’ while one bystander tweeted: ‘Is it satire, or just bad taste?’
According to German tabloid Bild, the outfit caused a ‘brouhaha,’ while the Rheinische Post pointed out that the cross-shaped pattern was in fact closer to the Buddhist symbol for eternity than the Nazi symbol.
Twitter user Liliana Moreva also sprang to Maxima’s defence, insisting that the pattern was actually ‘an ancient pagan Slavic symbol.’ Others stressed that no one had protested when Maxima previously wore the coat in March 2015 during a tour of Denmark.
