On Wednesday, we were treated to even more delightful Dutch royal gala sparkle when the Queen and the Princess of Orange joined the King for a Council of State dinner in The Hague–including a gorgeous diamond moment for Princess Amalia!
On the day after Prinsjesdag, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima hosted a gala dinner at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the working residence of the Dutch monarch, for members of the Council of State. Above, the King delivers remarks during the black-tie dinner. The Council of State, which was established in 1531, is one of the oldest government advisory bodies in the world. Members of the council have a wide range of experience in political, commercial, military, and diplomatic institutions. The King is the President of the council, and Queen Maxima and Princess Amalia are also members.
For the dinner, Queen Máxima opted for a light blue ensemble for the second day running, pairing a strapless lace evening gown with diamond and aquamarine jewels.
The diamonds and aquamarines belonged to the King’s grandmother, Queen Juliana, who collected them into a married parure over the course of her life. For the dinner, Queen Máxima wore the briolette-cut aquamarine drop earrings from the set. Juliana received the earrings as a wedding present from her mother-in-law in 1937. The gorgeous aquamarine and diamond necklace that Máxima wore has an even longer family history. Juliana received it as an eighteenth-birthday gift from her grandmother, Queen Emma, in 1927. Máxima also wore diamond and aquamarine bracelets, including one that belonged to Juliana, as well as her own diamond and aquamarine ring.
It was the second day in a row that Máxima had worn Juliana’s aquamarines for a formal event. On Tuesday, for Prinsjesdag, she wore the briolette-cut earrings with one of Juliana’s aquamarine bracelets and the rectangular brooch from the set.
The dress that Máxima wore for Wednesday’s Council of State dinner has been in her wardrobe for more than a decade. She memorably wore it, again with Juliana’s aquamarines, for the reception following the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Monaco in the summer of 2011.
Princess Amalia was glamorous in a royal blue evening gown for Wednesday’s Council of State dinner, paired with diamond jewels from the royal family’s collection.
Amalia paired gorgeous diamond drop earrings from Queen Juliana’s collection with a spectacular diamond trellis necklace that has been worn by five generations of Dutch royal women.
The necklace was a wedding gift to Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands from her mother, Queen Emma, in 1901. Wilhelmina wore the jewel throughout her long reign, often stacking it with a pearl necklace. The large diamonds in the middle section of the trellis necklace can also be removed and replaced with other stones, including sapphires and pearls. In this portrait, taken in the 1920s, Wilhelmina wears the necklace with additional special pieces from the Dutch royal collection, including the diamond ears of wheat ornaments and the diamond and pearl devant de corsage.
Here’s a glimpse of Queen Juliana wearing the all-diamond version of the necklace at a gala dinner at the Austrian embassy in 1951.
And here’s Princess Beatrix wearing the diamond and sapphire setting of the necklace at a concert by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 1968.
Queen Máxima has worn both the all-diamond and sapphire and diamond settings of the necklace as well. Here, she wears the all-diamond version–plus another appearance of Juliana’s aquamarines!–on Prinsjesdag in September 2017.
Several other members of the family have also worn the necklace, including Princess Margriet and Princess Mabel. Last October, Princess Amalia wore the sapphire and diamond setting for Crown Prince Christian of Denmark’s birthday gala in Copenhagen.
Here’s one more look at Amalia wearing the all-diamond setting of the trellis necklace on Wednesday in The Hague. She’s such a promising young royal jewelry wearer–I can’t wait to see all of the gala looks she’ll bring us in the years to come!
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