Who was the first royal to bring back state visit tiaras to Europe in 2021? You already know the answer: it was Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, of course! She brought us two dazzling state visit dinner ensembles this year, both featuring remarkable royal jewels from the Dutch vaults.
In July, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands made a state visit to Germany. The visit program included a state dinner at Schloss Bellevue in Berlin. For the occasion, Maxima wore one of her most elaborate evening gowns, a purple Jan Taminiau dress that features incredible embroidery and applique work inspired by the wallpaper in the Japanese Room at Huis ten Bosch.
The dress is a work of art in its own right, but Maxima amped up the glamour even more with a whole lot of heirloom diamonds. She surprised us all by wearing a third setting of the Stuart Tiara. This one is the most modest version we’ve seen of the incredible diamond tiara. (She’s previously worn the complete tiara, as well as a sort of in-between version.)
She continued the diamond theme by wearing enormous earrings made using clusters removed from the full setting of the tiara, plus a classic diamond rivière necklace that belonged to Queen Sophie of the Netherlands.
She also wore diamond rings and bracelets, including her diamond wedding bracelet (on her left wrist) and both of the Dutch East Indies Bracelets stacked on her right wrist.
In November, the Dutch royals hit the road again. This time, their destination was Oslo, where they met the Norwegian royal family for a special royal-royal state visit. For a state banquet at the Royal Palace, Queen Maxima once again brought out a special suite of Dutch royal jewels.
With the same gown she’d worn for the British state visit a few years ago, Maxima wore selections from the family’s range of sapphire and diamond jewels. The star of the show was the complete setting of Queen Emma’s Sapphire Tiara, a cathedral-like jewel that sits beautifully on Maxima’s head.
With the tiara, she wore several additional sapphire jewels, including the family’s Sapphire Figure Eight Earrings and Queen Emma’s Sapphire Bracelets. She secured her order sash with a diamond ribbon bow from the collection and used one of her diamond and tanzanite pieces as a pendant. I believe she’s also wearing her tanzanite statement ring on her right hand.
Because this was a rare royal-royal state visit, we got to see tiaras on everyone! Here are a couple of bonus jewels from the dinner. Queen Sonja wore the most important suite of jewels in the Norwegian family’s collection, the Norwegian Emerald Tiara and pieces from its accompanying parure.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore her Diamond Daisy Bandeau with daisy earrings featuring pearl drops. She also borrowed the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert Bracelet from her daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra. And Princess Martha Louise sparkled in the Norwegian Amethyst Tiara, pairing it with modern amethyst and aquamarine jewels borrowed from Queen Sonja.
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