Princess Beatrix Gleams in the Antique Pearl Tiara

Adolf Schärf, the President of Austria, made a state visit to the Netherlands in May 1961. On the second evening of the visit, the Dutch royals joined him for a gala dinner at the Austrian embassy. Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard were joined by Princess Beatrix and Princess Irene for the event.

All three of the royal ladies in attendance wore jewels from the royal collection. Queen Juliana wore diamond stars scattered in her hair, as well as the family’s Diamond Trellis Necklace and its matching bracelet. She finished off the look with the Dutch Diamond and Pearl Devant de Corsage.

Both Princess Beatrix and Princess Irene wore evening gowns with column skirts. Beatrix’s strapless dress featured a bold floral pattern, while Irene’s had a dramatic one-shoulder Grecian neckline. Like their mother, both princesses wore the signature red-and-white sash of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.

With her floral gown, Princess Beatrix wore diamonds and pearls. She chose the Antique Pearl Tiara for the occasion, pairing it with pearl drop earrings. The tiara was designed in 1900 and incorporates a set of heirloom pearls from the collection of Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, a seventeenth-century Dutch princess.

Beatrix also added a few more diamond and pearl jewels to her ensemble. She secured her order sash with a classic pearl and diamond cluster brooch with a pearl drop. On her right wrist, she wore a bracelet made of five rows of pearls secured by a diamond clasp. She also wore a second diamond and pearl bracelet on her left wrist.

Meanwhile, Princess Irene sparkled in the tiara, earrings, and pendant necklace from Queen Juliana’s collection of aquamarine jewels. Coincidentally, these two tiaras—the Antique Pearl and the Aquamarine—were the first two tiaras worn by Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in the months before her royal wedding.