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| Princess Astrid of Belgium arrives to view the New Zealand Memorial Wall to the Missing during the Commemoration for the Battle of Passchendaele in Flanders, 12 October 2017 (Tim Rooke-Pool/Getty Images) |
With the royal wedding behind us, it’s time once again to spend the month focusing on the jewelry collection of one royal in particular! Our Magpie of the Month for June is an elegant continental royal: Princess Astrid of Belgium, daughter of one king and sister of another. Today, we’re looking at one of my favorite pairs of earrings from her jewelry box: her square-cut diamond drop earrings.
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| Princess Astrid of Belgium attends the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels, 26 May 2009 (Mark Renders/Getty Images) |
The striking earrings feature a trio of stones: a pear-shaped diamond stud, from which a small square stud (turned on its edge, like a diamond) and a larger square-cut drop are suspended. Astrid has been wearing the earrings consistently for at least a decade.
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| Princess Astrid of Belgium leaves the cathedral in Brussels after the Kings Day Te Deum service, 15 November 2010 (Mark Renders/Getty Images) |
It’s no surprise to me that these have been consistent favorites in Astrid’s jewelry box for such a long time. The classic style of the earrings means that they work well with lots of different outfits and for various occasions. For example, she wore them with a (very interesting) feathered hat for a service of remembrance in 2010…
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| Princess Astrid of Belgium participates in the inauguration of the new Danish church in Brussels, 23 October 2011 (ALAIN ROLLAND/AFP/Getty Images) |
…and with a more casual, neutral ensemble for the dedication of a new church a year later. I think the earrings look especially lovely with outfits like this one, which feature clothing with classic lines in soft colors.
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| During a visit to India, Princess Astrid of Belgium attends an event to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, 26 November 2013 (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images) |
In 2013, Astrid packed the earrings — or, at least, she packed one of them — for a trip to India, where she participated in a mission focused on economics and trade. For a memorial commemorating the anniversary of the deadly terror attacks in Mumbai, Astrid wore one of the earrings from this pair in her right ear. Look closely, and you’ll see that she wore a different diamond earring (with a similar length but a differently-shaped drop) in her left ear. Astrid often takes chances wish fashion, but for such an important memorial event, I doubt she was concerned with making a jewelry statement — so I think this was just an error, perhaps the result of changing her outfit too quickly between engagements.
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| Princess Astrid of Belgium visits a stroke unit at a hospital in Ghent, 2 February 2016 (BENOIT DOPPAGNE/AFP/Getty Images) |
Although you’ll sometimes hear etiquette experts suggesting that diamonds should only be worn in the evening, a good pair of classic diamond earrings can be a lovely companion to a daytime outfit. Indeed, Astrid generally wears this pair of earrings in the daytime, as she did during a visit to a hospital in 2016.
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| Princess Astrid of Belgium attends the New Zealand Commemoration for the Battle of Passchendaele in Flanders, 12 October 2017 (Chris Jackson-Pool/Getty Images) |
A recent appearance for the earrings came in October 2017, when Astrid accompanied the Duke of Cambridge to Flanders for events commemorating the contributions of soldiers from New Zealand in the Battle of Passchendaele. Though they feature large stones, the earrings don’t pull focus at a somber event like this one — making them a very important option in a princess’s jewelry box.
