Queen Maxima’s Sparkling Diamonds and Kunzites to Celebrate Liberation

This month, royals throughout Europe are remembering the triumphant moments of liberation that took place 80 years ago during World War II. On Thursday, the King and the Queen of the Netherlands joined in the celebration with a special meeting in the village of Mesch.

Eighty years ago, on September 12, 1944, the town of Mesch in Limberg on the Belgian border became the first village in the Netherlands to be liberated from years of German occupation. Today, the village is part of the Eijsden-Margraten municipality, and King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima headed there on Thursday to mark the important anniversary. The arrival of the Allies in September 1944 was just the start of a long process of liberation in the Netherlands that included heavy fighting and devastating famine. It would be nearly a year before the entire country was free, but the freedom achieved then has lasted for a remarkable eight decades.

Numerous people gathered in Mesch to celebrate eight decades of liberation, but few were quite so significant as a visitor from America: 99-year-old Kenneth Thayer, who had first arrived in the village with the 30th Infantry Division exactly 80 years earlier. Thayer, who traveled from New York to be present for the celebration, was greeted warmly by the King and Queen on his return to the Netherlands. The New York Post reported, “After Thayer and the king and queen were driven in a vintage military truck into the village along a mud track through orchards and fields, Maxima reached out and gave a hand of support to Thayer as he walked to his seat to watch the ceremony paying tribute to the American liberators.”

During the visit, Thayer paid tribute to the thousands of men with whom he served, especially those who never made it home from the war. “It wasn’t just me and there (are) hundreds and hundreds of guys who didn’t make it. They’re not here, you know,” he said. Thayer, one of the last surviving veterans from his regiment, was able to accept the thanks of a grateful nation for his part in liberating them almost a century ago.

Last week, we looked at the clothing and jewels that Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore to remember those who lost their lives in Liège before the liberation in 1944. For this celebration of liberation, Queen Máxima chose a brighter ensemble. She wore a pale pink ensemble from her wardrobe archives, made by her go-to designer, Natan. She paired the pink outfit with tawny brown and burgundy accessories, including a floral fascinator.

Máxima carried the pink theme through to her jewelry, wearing a favorite pair of statement earrings set with large pink gemstones. The earrings feature kunzite drops edged with diamonds. Each earring features a distinctive twisted design element at the top of the gemstone drop.

Here’s another look that shows the design of the earring in more detail. Máxima has had these in her collection for many years, and they’re part of a larger married suite of kunzite jewels.

Máxima usually wears a stack of bracelets, but for the visit to Mesch, she wore only one simple piece on her right wrist: a bracelet with a small evil eye charm. She completed the look with a diamond ring worn on her right hand, but that jewel remained hidden beneath her glove for much of the day’s events.