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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

In Memoriam: Princess Christina of the Netherlands

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Michel Porro/Getty Images
We learned sad news from the Dutch court yesterday: Princess Christina — aunt of King Willem-Alexander, sister of Princess Beatrix, and daughter of Queen Juliana — passed away after a long struggle with bone cancer. Today, to honor her memory, we have a bejeweled look at her royal life.

Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing pearls as a bridesmaid to her eldest sister, Princess Beatrix, and her new brother-in-law, Prince Claus, March 1966
Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Dancing in costume (including glitter tights!) during a masked ball aboard the Oranje Nassau in Amsterdam, December 1966
Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing the family’s laurel wreath tiara (beside her new brother-in-law, Pieter van Vollenhoven, and her father, Prince Bernhard) during a state banquet for the King and Queen of Nepal, April 1967
Eric Koch/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing the family’s ears of wheat tiara beside Princess Margriet (in the family’s aquamarines) and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg (in the grand Empire Tiara) during the Luxembourgish state visit to the Netherlands, September 1967
Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Gleaming in pearls on the balcony between Pieter van Vollenhoven and her elder sister, Princess Margriet, on Prinsjesdag, September 1967
Ron Kroon/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
A vivid yellow ensemble and button-style statement earrings for Prinsjesdag, September 1968
Rob Mieremet/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing her mother’s turquoise heart necklace and pendant for the announcement of her engagement to Jorge Guillermo, February 1975
Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Windswept in fringe earrings with Jorge as they arrive for a dinner given by the government at Loevestein Castle ahead of their wedding, June 1975
Hans Peters/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing a lace veil and cap (but no tiara) for her wedding to Jorge in Utrecht, June 1975
Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing dangling earrings and stacked bracelets during the Swedish state visit, October 1976
Hans Peters/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing groovy sunglasses and button earrings (and expecting her first child, Bernardo) at Soestdijk Palace on Koninginnedag, April 1977
Bert Verhoeff/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
With Jorge and baby Bernardo at Soestdijk Palace, May 1978
Koen Suyk/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing a long necklace (and expecting her second child, Nicolas) with her sister, Princess Irene, and brother-in-law, Pieter van Vollenhoven, at the Amsterdam premiere of a documentary about Queen Juliana, April 1979
Rob Croes/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing pearl button earrings on the grounds of Soestdijk Palace, May 1980
Hans van Dijk/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Wearing pearl button earrings and a sparkling bracelet and ring (and expecting her third child, Juliana) at the opening of Christie’s in Amsterdam, September 1981
Rob Croes/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Pearl button earrings and bracelets for the official opening of the Paleis Het Loo Museum in Apeldoorn, June 1984
Rob Bogaerts/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Pearls and layered jewels to watch the Prinsjesdag celebrations in The Hague with her mother, Queen Juliana, September 1987
Rob Bogaerts/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons
Flower earrings and a charming bird brooch to watch the Prinsjesdag celebrations with Queen Juliana, September 1988
Michel Porro/Getty Images
Pearls to attend the wedding of Prince Friso and Princess Mabel with her sisters, Princess Margriet and Princess Irene, April 2004
Steve Finn/Getty Images
Golden jewels, including floral earrings, for the christening of Princess Amalia, June 2004
Michel Porro/Getty Images
Wearing pearls (with her daughter, Juliana) for the wedding of her nephew, Prince Pieter Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, in Noordwijk, August 2005
Michel Porro/Getty Images
Pairing the family’s laurel wreath tiara with pearls for a gala dinner held the night before the inauguration of her nephew, King Willem-Alexander, April 2013
MARTIJN BEEKMAN/AFP/Getty Images
Favorite pearl button earrings and a pearl necklace for the royal inauguration, April 2013
Michel Porro/Getty Images
Wearing golden jewels (with her elder son, Bernardo) at the wedding of her nephew, Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma, October 2013
Jeroen van der Meyde/RVD/Wikimedia Commons
A final formal-but-casual royal portrait in turquoise and gold, 2015

Queen Wilhelmina’s Diamond Haircomb

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Patrick van Katwijk/DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy

The Dutch royal tiara collection is full of enormous sparkling diadems, but the royal vaults also include more petite pieces. Today’s tiara is a small (but mighty!) diamond haircomb that belonged to Queen Wilhelmina.

Grand Ladies Site

Wilhelmina was, appropriately, the first recorded wearer of the comb; the photographic portrait above shows her wearing the piece around 1903. The piece is a delicate, petite diamond hair ornament featuring a dotted diamond base topped by small diamond clovers. At some point, it was placed in the family’s jewelry foundation.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Wilhelmina wore the piece for several decades, after which it was relegated to the depths of the family vaults. But in June 2010, then then-Princess Maxima surprised everyone during a pre-wedding gala for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

For the gala, Maxima placed the comb at the back of her head, nestling it into a curly ‘do. She paired the comb with a major pair of diamond statement earrings.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Another view from the gala shows the petite comb sparkling away.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

And one more angle from the pre-wedding dinner allows a clearer view of the comb’s placement.

Patrick van Katwijk/DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy

Three years later, Maxima brought out the comb again, this time during a state visit to Singapore. In January 2013, she wore the comb as a small tiara for a state banquet at Istana Palace. She paired the comb with the same diamond earrings from their previous outing, as well as a bracelet from her tutti frutti suite and another diamond bracelet from the family vaults.