Belgian-Dutch State Visit: State Banquet

State banquet at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam (Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

The first day of the Belgian state visit to the Netherlands ended with a glittering state banquet at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. The best thing about an all-royal state visit? So many tiaras!

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Queen Mathilde wore the full version of the grand tiara of Belgium’s queens: the Nine Provinces Tiara. She also wore jewels that belonged to the late Queen Fabiola: her diamond and pearl earrings, as well as her diamond waterfall brooch. We also got a glimpse at a diamond bracelet on her left wrist.

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Queen Maxima greeted her guests in the tiara, earrings, necklace, and bracelet from the Mellerio Ruby Parure, a set that has been with the Dutch royal family for more than a century. On her left wrist, she also appears to be wearing Queen Juliana’s diamond watch.

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Princess Beatrix chose a tiara we’ve recently discussed here: the Dutch Diamond Bandeau. She paired it with diamond and pearl earrings, a diamond riviere, and three of the family’s diamond stars. We also get glimpses of a pair of bracelets and a pair of rings.

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

The king’s sister-in-law, Princess Laurentien, wore Queen Emma’s Diamond Tiara, which Maxima recently wore in New Zealand. She accessorized further with diamond earrings and another of the family’s diamond stars.

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

And the king’s aunt, Princess Margriet, wore her wedding tiara: the Pearl Button Tiara. She also added pearl earrings and the family’s three-stranded pearl necklace with the large pearl and diamond clasp.

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

And here’s another look at the entire group. All are wearing the colorful sashes of orders of chivalry. Queen Mathilde and King Philippe are both wearing the highest order of chivalry in the Netherlands: the Order of the Netherlands Lion. (If I’m not mistaken, this is a newly-bestowed honor.) King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, and Princess Beatrix all wear the distinctive purple sash of the Order of Leopold, Belgium’s highest chivalric order. (I believe Willem-Alexander and Maxima have just received this one.) Pieter van Vollenhoven, Princess Margriet, Prince Constantijn, and Princess Laurentien are all wearing the dark red sash of Belgium’s Order of the Crown. (Laurentien seems to have just received this order.)