A Luxurious Laurel Wreath Tiara for the Queen of the Belgians

The spring state visit season continued this week in Europe, which means it’s time for another tiara! In Belgium, Queen Mathilde sparkled on Tuesday in a tiara that she’s loved for twenty-five years.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians hosted President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife, First Lady Jane Yumiko Ittogi, for a state visit this week. On Tuesday evening, the royal couple gave a glittering state banquet in honor of the presidential couple. The dinner was held at the Palace of Laeken, the Belgian royal family’s official residence located just outside the busy center of the city of Brussels.

For the banquet, Queen Mathilde wore an evening gown from her wardrobe archive, previously worn for the state banquet during the Belgian state visit to the Netherlands in 2016. For Tuesday’s dinner, Mathilde wore the bright purple sash and diamond star of Belgian’s highest chivalric order, the Order of Leopold, on the dress.

With the dress, Queen Mathilde wore jewelry primarily set with diamonds. In her hair, she nestled the Brabant Laurel Wreath Tiara. Mathilde received the antique jewel as a wedding present in 1999 from a group of Belgian aristocrats. The tiara was made by Hennel & Sons, an English firm, in 1912, and it can also be taken off of its tiara frame and worn as a necklace.

Mathilde echoed the diamond “berries” on the laurel tiara with her earrings, which feature a mixture of round, baguette, and pear-cut stones. The earrings are a classic midcentury fringe design, with a pear-shaped drop cascading from the end of each pendant. Mathilde has had these earrings in her collection for nearly a decade.

Mathilde also added an heirloom jewel to her ensemble. She secured her order sash with the floral diamond fringe brooch that belonged to her husband’s late aunt, Queen Fabiola. Mathilde finished off the look with a bracelet set with pink gemstones, worn on her right wrist, and a classic diamond ring on her left hand.