Queen Mathilde’s Beautiful State Banquet Tiara

On Monday, the first evening of this week’s state visit, President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania and his wife, Diana Nausediene, hosted a state dinner for King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians in Vilnius. The event was held at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, built in the fifteenth century for the rulers of Lithuania (who later also reigned as Kings of Poland). Interestingly, Queen Mathilde herself has Lithuanian aristocratic heritage through her Polish ancestors.

For the state dinner, Queen Mathilde wore a dramatic gown that fits beautifully with the fifteenth-century surroundings of the palace. There’s something pleasantly medieval about the cape-like design of this gown, and the very modern floral pattern provides a fascinating contrast.

With the red and blue gown, Queen Mathilde wore diamonds and aquamarines. She chose the tiara setting of the Wolfers Tiara, a lovely diamond jewel that was given to Queen Fabiola of Belgium as a wedding present in 1960. It’s an exquisite piece, set with more than 200 diamonds, that can also be worn as a necklace. She paired the tiara with a pair of major diamond and aquamarine earrings from her jewelry box. She’s worn the earrings on previous occasions, including Princess Elisabeth’s 18th birthday celebrations in 2019.

Here’s another view of the tiara and earrings, shown as Queen Mathilde signed a guest book at the palace. The tiara is draped across Mathilde’s head on this occasion—I think she’s worn it without a frame.

She also wore a diamond and aquamarine bracelet on her right wrist, plus her wedding band on her right hand and her diamond and blue gemstone ring (which you can see here) on her left.

I also thought you’d be interested in seeing the statement necklace worn by Diana Nausediene for Monday night’s dinner. I believe this is set with amber, which is so important in the country that it’s sometimes known as “Lithuanian gold.”