French State Visit Sparkle for Queen Maxima in the Netherlands

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, arrived in Amsterdam for the start of the state visit on Tuesday. They were greeted by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima during an official welcome ceremony outside the Royal Palace on Dam Square.

Máxima wore an ensemble by Natan in tones of mustard and teal for the welcome ceremony, with a matching fabric turban and coordinating shoes and lace gloves. We’ve seen her wear the outfit previously, including an outing on King’s Day in 2021. Mme. Macron wore a blue Louis Vuitton creation, accessorized with a very interesting ring on her left hand.

Máxima accessorized with diamond and aquamarine jewelry, including pieces from Queen Juliana’s collection of aquamarine jewels. She suspended Juliana’s aquamarine briolette pendants from modern diamond earrings. She also wore an aquamarine ring on her right hand. And if I’m correct, she’s hidden Juliana’s aquamarine pendant underneath her jacket. The visible chain matches the sautoir-length chain often worn by Juliana with the pear-shaped pendant attached.

Here’s Queen Juliana wearing the pendant on the chain on Prinsjesdag in 1977.

Máxima also wore a miniature version of France’s National Order of Merit, which she received in 2014, pinned to the lapel of her coat. Later in the day, she received an even higher French order, the Legion d’Honneur.

Queen Máxima wore the insignia of her new order at the state banquet on Tuesday evening at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

The order’s sash coordinated perfectly with her new bright red evening gown, which was made by the designer Claes Iversen.

The dress features a short train and dramatic, voluminous sleeves.

With the gown, Máxima wore diamonds and pearls from the royal family’s collection. She selected the Antique Pearl Tiara in its full setting with the pear-shaped pearl toppers for the banquet. The tiara dates to the turn of the 20th century, during Queen Wilhelmina’s reign. Its shape deliberately echoes an older tiara worn by Queen Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865), the Russian-born wife of King Willem II. The pearl toppers are even older, dating to the seventeenth-century collection of Princess Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675), who was Princess of Orange from 1625 to 1647.

The necklace worn by Máxima for the banquet also dates to the seventeenth century. Over at Mode Koningin Máxima, Edwin Fellner writes that the necklace was a wedding gift in 1646 from Amsterdam’s burgermeesters to Princess Louise Henriette of Orange (1627-1667), daughter of Princess Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, on her marriage to Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg (1620-1688). The necklace made its way into the current Dutch royal collection through Queen Sophie of the Netherlands (1818-1877), who received it as a gift from one of her earlier suitors, Duke Wilhelm of Brunswick (1806-1884).

Máxima also wore several more pieces of diamond and pearl jewelry for the banquet, including diamond and pearl drop earrings, a pearl ring, and bracelets on both wrists. On her left wrist, she wore the smaller of the two Dutch East Indies Bracelets. On her right wrist, she wore a bracelet that includes an enormous pearl and diamond cluster, also from the collection of Queen Sophie of the Netherlands.

At her waist, Máxima pinned one more diamond and pearl element: a large brooch.

Here’s a closer look at the brooch, which features a diamond ribbon from which a pear-shaped pearl is suspended in a double frame of diamonds. Máxima wears the brooch often, sometimes with other pendants (including a large citrine) in place of the pearl.

At least one other tiara-wearing Dutch royal lady was in attendance at the banquet as well. Princess Laurentien wore diamonds for the dinner, including the Dutch Laurel Wreath Tiara. (If I can secure the license to a better photo at some point, I’ll replace this blurry one.)

Brigitte Macron was elegant in a navy blue gown with sequin accents, in a sort of abstract, modern take on a plaid pattern, for the dinner.

With the dress, Mme. Macron wore a pair of glittering earrings with light yellow drops.

The second day of the state visit program for the Queen and Madame Macron began on Wednesday with visits to the Anne Frank House and MindUS, an organization that focuses on mental health initiatives for young people.

Queen Máxima wore red for the second consecutive appearance, selecting archive pieces from her collection that included a bright red coat and a dress with a scattered pattern of elongated embroidered red dots, both by Natan. She’s worn the ensemble on several previous occasion, including outings on King’s Day in 2018 and during an official visit to Germany the same year.

For Wednesday’s appearance, Máxima accessorized with a pair of tassel earrings from her jewelry box.

The earrings are made of gold, diamonds, rubies, and seed pearls.

The miniature ribbon of Máxima’s new French order, the Legion d’Honneur, was pinned to the lapel of her coat. She finished off the look with rings on both hands. She wore her unique orange diamond engagement ring and wedding ring on her left hand, and a diamond and ruby ring on her right.

Here’s a closer look at the ruby ring. The jewel was a gift from King Willem-Alexander in December 2003 to celebrate the birth of their first child, Princess Amalia.

The state visit wrapped up on Wednesday with a visit to the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The royal and presidential couples were joined by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the engagement.

Queen Máxima was elegant in black for the exhibition tour, wearing a black top with sparkling black wide-leg trousers. The miniature version of the Legion d’Honneur was again pinned at her shoulder.

Máxima added even more sparkle to her ensemble with some major diamond pieces. She wore a pair of the family’s grand diamond figure eight earrings, which date to the 1960s. She also pinned Queen Emma’s Diamond Aigrette, which can be worn in various ways as a brooch or a hair ornament, to her top. She’s worn the aigrette on multiple occasions, including a recent appearance in Athens.

She also wore diamond bracelets on both wrists, including the smaller of the Dutch East Indies Bracelets on her right wrist.