Queen Máxima sparkled in one of the Dutch royal family’s most interesting tiaras this week—a piece made by repurposing not one but two royal necklaces!
On Wednesday, the King and Queen of the Netherlands put on the ritz at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, hosting the annual gala dinner for members of the Diplomatic Corps.
The annual gala is a white-tie occasion, which means lots of bling—including a tiara for Queen Máxima!
For the dinner, Máxima reached into her closet for an archive piece that dates back to at least 2016: a blue and gold outfit by Claes Iversen.
We’ve seen Máxima wear this particular ensemble on previous occasions, including a notable outing in Oslo in May 2017.
Interestingly, Mode Koningin Máxima reminds us that the piece isn’t a gown, but separates. Máxima has also worn the skirt with a long-sleeved blue blouse on multiple occasions, including Prinsjesdag in September 2016.
Queen Máxima has generally paired sapphires with the outfit, and she did so again for Wednesday’s gala dinner.
She reached into the family collection and unearthed a tiara she’s only worn on one previous occasion: the Dutch Sapphire Necklace Tiara.
The tiara takes its name from its construction. It was made in the 1980s by combining elements from two different sapphire necklaces from the royal vaults: Queen Emma’s Sapphire Necklace (worn on the left by Queen Juliana in 1937) and Queen Wilhelmina’s Sapphire Necklace (worn on the right by Queen Wilhelmina in 1901). Queen Emma’s necklace makes up the majority of the tiara, while the five elements scattered across the top of the tiara come from the chain of Queen Wilhelmina’s necklace.
Several members of the Dutch royal family have worn the tiara since its creation. Here, the then-Princess Máxima wears it for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark’s 70th birthday celebrations at Fredensborg in 2010. Máxima wore the tiara on that occasion with the Sapphire Figure-Eight Earrings (made from Queen Wilhelmina’s dismantled sapphire tiara) and the family’s round sapphire and diamond brooch (with a sapphire pendant that’s also frequently worn with both Queen Wilhelmina’s and Queen Emma’s sapphire bow brooches).
Princess Beatrix and Princess Margriet have both worn the Sapphire Necklace Tiara as well. Here, Beatrix wears the jewel for a dinner given for Prince Albert II of Monaco in Apeldoorn in June 2014. She’s also wearing a shortened version of the family’s Diamond and Sapphire Cluster and Drop Earrings (also made with stones from Queen Wilhelmina’s Sapphire Tiara), plus the round diamond and sapphire brooch and a sapphire and diamond ring.
More recently, Princess Mabel wore the Sapphire Necklace Tiara at Buckingham Palace during the Dutch state visit to the United Kingdom in October 2018. She also wore more sapphire jewels from the royal family’s collection: the Sapphire Figure-Eight Earrings, the Round Sapphire Brooch, and Queen Wilhelmina’s Sapphire Bracelets.
Anyway—back to Wednesday’s gala dinner. For her second appearance in the Sapphire Necklace Tiara, Queen Máxima chose a different set of coordinating pieces from the family’s extensive sapphire collection. She wore a modified version of the Diamond and Sapphire Cluster and Drop Earrings, substituting the long string from Queen Juliana’s Diamond Drop Earrings.
She also wore the sapphire setting of the exquisite Dutch Diamond Trellis Necklace, which was Queen Wilhelmina’s wedding present from her mother, Queen Emma, in 1901.
She finished off the look with more heirloom royal sapphire jewels: the magnificent bracelets from Queen Emma’s Sapphire Parure.
And she added one final bright blue touch with a personal jewel of her own: her diamond and tanzanite ring.
Some programming notes for the next few days: we’re approaching one of the busiest royal weeks of the year, with Trooping the Colour tomorrow, Garter Day on Monday, and Royal Ascot next week. (Plus, Tiara Alert: the Dutch royals are heading to Belgium for a state visit, too!) I’ll be sharing an article at the regular time tomorrow morning, and then putting up an article on tomorrow’s new Trooping the Colour jewels around the middle of the day. There will be a regularly-scheduled article as usual on Sunday morning, and then another new article on mid-day Monday covering Garter Day.
So stay tuned: if a new article isn’t up at the usual time on any given day, never fear—there should be a new one coming later in that day to cover a current event!
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