Luminaries from around the globe have converged on Paris, where the 2024 Summer Olympic Games kicked off on Friday with a sparkling opening ceremony on the Seine. On the eve of that celebration, many familiar royal faces were in attendance at a glittering gala at the Louvre Museum.
The gala dinner was held under I.M. Pei’s iconic glass pyramid at the Louvre on Thursday evening. The event was jointly hosted by the International Olympic Committee and the French Presidency, and both IOC President Thomas Bach and French President Emmanuel Macron delivered remarks during the dinner.
The arrivals at the dinner included a slate of royal guests. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, fresh off their country’s National Day celebrations and the graduation of the Duchess of Brabant from Oxford, were greeted by Thomas Bach and his wife, Claudia, on the red carpet.
With a white jumpsuit from Natan, Mathilde wore the classic diamond and pearl drop earrings that she inherited from her husband’s late aunt, Queen Fabiola. We also saw her wear these for the Te Deum mass on National Day recently.
King Felipe VI of Spain–who was a member of the Spanish sailing team during the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona–arrived on the red carpet with his wife, Queen Letizia, who offered a little nod to the host country by wearing Christian Dior.
She paired interesting earrings with starburst detailing with the ensemble, which she also wore earlier in the day for a reception at the Spanish Embassy.
The newest European monarch, honorary IOC member King Frederik X of Denmark, was also on hand for the dinner, accompanied by Queen Mary. She wore a patriotic red jumpsuit for the evening. (UFO No More tells us that it comes from Max Mara.) The Olympics are particularly meaningful to these two, because they met while Frederik was visiting Australia in 2000 during the Summer Games in Sydney.
Mary also wore the jumpsuit, plus an ivory blazer, for a visit to Denmark House earlier the same day. We got a better look at her jewelry on that occasion, which included a pair of pearl drop earrings from her personal collection.
Mary really decided to go for the gold with her accessories, stacking gold and diamond bracelets on both wrists. She also wore her diamond and ruby engagement ring with a diamond eternity band.
Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, who has been a member of the IOC since 1998, was present with Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. She wore a flowing summer dress in a rich shade of chocolate brown, accessorized by dramatic, long earrings with light green pendant drops.
Inside the dinner space, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa posed for a photograph with his cousin, King Philippe of the Belgians, as well as Queen Mathilde and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal.
There were also two more royal Olympians in attendance at the dinner. Prince Albert II of Monaco, who competed with the principality’s bobsleigh team in 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2002, arrived with Princess Charlene, who swam for South Africa at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. The couple made their first public appearance together at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. Albert has been a member of the IOC since 1985.
For the dinner, Princess Charlene wore elegant separates from Alexander McQueen. She added some dazzle to her ensemble with a pair of spectacular diamond chandelier-style earrings from one of her favorite jewelry firms, Graff. UFO No More tracked down a 2021 Christie’s auction in which a pair of the same style of earrings was sold for $40,000 USD.
King Willem – Alexander appeared too early. He had to wait 10min before Thomas Bach welcomed him outside of the Louvre.
„I am too Dutch.“ 😄
🎥 Diario AS pic.twitter.com/LHvusF0k9z
— ChristinZ (@ChristinsQueens) July 25, 2024
One more Olympic-connected royal, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, was also present for the dinner. (Like King Frederik, he’s an honorary IOC member.) Sadly, he wasn’t accompanied by Queen Maxima, but he did provide a little levity when he accidentally arrived ten minutes ahead of time for the dinner. “I am too Dutch,” he muttered jokingly under his breath when he realized that he’d shown up early.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.