Working members of the British royal family welcomed overseas coronation guests with a reception at Buckingham Palace on Friday evening, and there were lots of colorful gemstones on display—including emeralds set in a hidden tiara!
King Charles III and other members of the royal family, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, hobnobbed with foreign royals and other guests ahead of the coronation on Friday evening at a special Buckingham Palace reception.
Princess Catherine wore a bright royal blue dress with crystal buttons on the shoulders and cuffs as she greeted guests, including a couple quite familiar to her, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
She accessorized with a pair of heirloom earrings. These diamond and sapphire fringe earrings belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Kate has worn them often in recent years.
The Princess Royal wore diamonds and pearls, including her De Beers Diamond Brooch. She’s also wearing pearl and diamond earrings, plus the three-row pearl necklace that many hope is the signature 1952 pearl necklace that belonged to her mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Could the earrings also be the pearl button earrings, heirlooms from Queen Mary, that were so beloved by the late Queen? I’d love to have palace confirmation on either score.
This is the best “blurry in the background” image that I was able to find of Princess Anne during the reception. It shows that the clasp of the necklace is horizontal and set with diamonds, just like the clasp of the 1952 pearl necklace. A clearer image would be needed to fully confirm that it’s the same necklace, but if you ask me, it’s looking more and more likely.
The Duchess of Edinburgh was also in attendance, wearing the same jewels that she wore for this week’s garden party.
The Danish crown prince and crown princess were just two of the numerous royals, both reigning and non-reigning, who were in attendance at Friday’s palace reception. We’ll go through roughly alphabetically by nation. First up, then, is King Philippe of the Belgians, who attended with his elder daughter and heir, the Duchess of Brabant.
Princess Elisabeth borrowed a pair of her mother’s diamond fringe earrings for the reception. (Queen Mathilde is in London and will be attending tomorrow’s coronation.)
The King and Queen of Bhutan were next on the guest list. Like her husband, the gorgeous Queen Jetsun Pema wore colorful traditional Bhutanese clothing for the event.
She also wore earrings and a coordinating jeweled headband set with lovely green gemstones.
The Sultan of Brunei attended the reception without Queen Saleha.
Tsar Simeon, the last monarch of Bulgaria, attended with his Spanish-born wife, Tsaritsa Margarita. Simeon was a child king, reigning from 1943 until 1946, in the heat of World War II, from the ages of six to nine. He later served as Bulgaria’s prime minister in the early 2000s.
Margarita wore silver-toned jewelry, including earrings with interesting frosted heart pendants.
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark arrived with Crown Princess Mary, who chose the same dress she wore for Princess Isabella’s confirmation last May.
Mary wore major diamond earrings with the dress this time around.
Three members of the former royal family of Greece (and current royal family of Denmark) were also in attendance: Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Pavlos, and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal. The Greek royals are cousins of King Charles III through his father, the late Prince Philip. King Charles is also Crown Prince Pavlos’s godfather.
With her green dress, Queen Anne-Marie wore modern diamond and emerald earrings, with a double strand of pearls. She also added an important diamond and pearl brooch. It’s part of the parure that goes with the Antique Corsage Tiara, Anne-Marie’s 18th-birthday gift tiara. The set was made by repurposing a diamond and pearl corsage ornament that her mother, Queen Ingrid, inherited from Queen Victoria of Sweden.
Anne-Marie’s daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal, wore pavé-set earrings and a sautoir-length pearl necklace.
Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan represented his brother, Emperor Naruhito, at the reception.
With her blue lace dress, Kiko wore a strand of pearls and elegant diamond and pearl earrings.
King Abdullah II of Jordan (whose mother, Princess Muna, comes from Suffolk) arrived at the reception with Queen Rania.
She wore gleaming gold earrings with her chocolate-colored dress.
Next up were Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein, representing his father, Prince Hans-Adam II.
Sophie wore an ensemble with a bright hydrangea print, accessorized with gorgeous diamond and pearl drop earrings and a four-row pearl bracelet.
Fresh off the wedding of their daughter, Princess Alexandra, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg were also present at the reception.
Maria Teresa brought us one of the jewelry highlights of the event: a tiara! She wore the Emerald Peacock Tiara in its necklace setting, along with a favorite pair of diamond and emerald earrings. (She wore the same earrings with her mother-of-the-bride ensemble last Saturday.)
The Prince and Princess of Monaco made a glamorous arrival at the reception, with Charlene wearing an eye-catching light blue ensemble with a one-shoulder neckline and crystal detailing.
Charlene accessorized with sparkling diamond earrings. I’ve seen some speculation that these might be the top section of Princess Grace’s Van Cleef & Arpels earrings, but I don’t think they’re a match.
Representing her brother, the King of Morocco, Princess Lalla Meryem arrived wearing a gorgeous green embroidered kaftan.
She also wore a sparkling choker necklace and earrings set with diamonds and emeralds.
The King and Queen of the Netherlands will be attending tomorrow’s coronation, but tonight, the Dutch royal family was represented at the reception by Princess Beatrix and Princess Amalia. (Willem-Alexander and Máxima are currently attending the annual Liberation Day celebrations back home.) I thought Princess Beatrix looked really pleased and proud to be introducing her granddaughter to her royal family members and friends!
Beatrix wore pieces of sapphire and diamond jewelry from her personal collection for the reception.
Amalia wore the family’s diamond and kunzite pendant on a thin chain for the occasion.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were on hand to represent the royal family of Norway. She wore an outfit in shades of red and white, two of Norway’s national colors. (Haakon added the third, blue, with his suit.)
Mette-Marit wore her gold and diamond star hoop earrings, plus a pearl necklace with a gold heart pendant featuring the letter “H” (for Haakon, of course). She’s worn the pendant before on other necklaces of varying lengths.
Here’s the Emir of Qatar arriving for the reception. (He was one of the last foreign monarchs who was able to meet with the late Queen Elizabeth II.)
His royal consort, Sheikha Jawaher, is pictured here arriving beside the Crown Prince of Bahrain. The Al Thanis are regular customers of all the best couture houses, and Jawaher is usually dressed to the nines in cutting-edge fashion.
They’ve also got some astonishing jewels. Jawaher wore diamond and sapphire drop earrings, plus a large sapphire ring on her right hand, for this reception.
As the eldest daughter of the late King Michael of Romania, Margareta currently holds the title of “Custodian of the Crown of Romania.” Wearing a sea-green dress, she attended the reception with her husband, Prince Radu. Margareta is a close childhood friend of the British royals, especially Prince Charles and Princess Anne. They’re also cousins in various ways, but notably through Prince Philip and the former Greek royals.
Margareta wore pearls for the reception, plus a dazzling diamond daisy brooch. (The French word for “daisy” is marguerite.)
Crown Prince Alexander, son of the last King of Yugoslavia, arrived with Crown Princess Katherine. He was born in Britain during World War II and also has close ties to the British royals. The late Queen Elizabeth II was his godmother, and Princess Anne is the godmother of his eldest son, Peter. Alexander is also related to King Charles through the Greek royal family.
With her ivory dress, Katherine wore diamond earrings with a woven pattern and a diamond bracelet.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain were on hand for the reception as well. She wore a chartreuse green gown with dark blue accessories.
Letizia wore major diamond and sapphire earrings and a diamond and sapphire bracelet, plus a diamond bow brooch previously worn by her mother-in-law, Queen Sofia.
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden arrived with his daughter and heir, Crown Princess Victoria, for the reception. She wore a pink dress with pink shoes and a red handbag.
She kept the red theme going with her jewels, including a diamond necklace with a diamond and ruby pendant. The necklace comes from the collection of her mother, Queen Silvia. Victoria also added a pair of her own pavé-set diamond pendant earrings.
And finally, here are the King and Queen of Thailand arriving for the reception. Queen Suthida fairly dripped in diamonds for the occasion, including a really impressive diamond necklace.
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