Citrines, amethysts, and rubies—oh, my! The King and Queen of the Netherlands made a state visit to South Africa this week, and Queen Maxima packed plenty of bright, colorful gemstones in her luggage for the trip.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima landed in Pretoria on Wednesday to begin a three-day visit to South Africa. Instead of heading directly to an official welcome ceremony with President Ramaphosa, they participated in a day of engagements first, visiting a local wetland reserve and the Apartheid Museum.
Queen Maxima wore navy and orange for her arrival in South Africa, paired with bold citrine drop earrings and her Steltman diamond and citrine bracelet.
Later in the day, Maxima had a wardrobe change before posing for a gorgeous photograph among Pretoria’s beautiful purple jacaranda trees.
For the portrait session and additional engagements, including a meeting with Dutch citizens living in South Africa, Maxima wore a dark orange and white outfit accessorized with diamonds and pearls. She chose modern earrings featuring a pearl stud and a pearl drop, but it was her brooch that was the real stunner: the diamond and pearl strawberry leaf brooch that belonged to Queen Sophie of the Netherlands (1818-1877).
On Thursday, the royal couple was received by President Cyril Ramaphosa in an official welcome ceremony in Pretoria. Ramaphosa hosted a luncheon for King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the presidential residence. Afterward, they visited Freedom Park to lay a wreath.
Queen Maxima was at her Maxima maximum at the Thursday luncheon, wearing a bold blue-purple dress and matching hat. (UFO No More tells us that—no surprise—the outfit was made by Natan.) She added some sparkle via her diamond and amethyst trefoil earrings, which have been attributed to JAR, as well as her diamond and sapphire tennis bracelet.
On Thursday evening, the Dutch royals hosted a concert at the State Theatre in Pretoria as a gesture of appreciation to their hosts.
With spangled Natan separates, Queen Maxima wore another pair of statement earrings from JAR. These feature a bronze-hued leaf design.
On Friday, the state visit wrapped up with a visit to Cape Town, where they were greeted by Alan Winde, Premier of the Western Cape, and his wife, Tracy. They also met with the Mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis. In Cape Town, the royal couple visited a museum that tells the stories of enslaved people (and interacted with demonstrators outside) and visited a community center to discuss the problem of gender-based violence.
With a floral dress from her archives and red accessories, Queen Maxima wore her pearl and ruby tassel earrings and sparkling bracelets, including her diamond wedding bracelet and her ruby and diamond tennis bracelet.
At the end of the visit, the royal couple spoke with reporters, addressing various topics from the visit, including the important emotions expressed by the demonstrators in Cape Town. For the interview, Queen Maxima wore a pink floral dress accessorized with diamonds, including her diamond moth brooch.
A programming note: to allow me to devote a little more time to another upcoming project—and to have time to shoulder some childcare responsibilities!—I’ll be sharing just one post on weekends for the forseeable future. Today’s post is the Saturday/Sunday article for this week. We’ll have even more royal sparkle coming your way as usual on Monday! Thanks, everyone!
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