I had a feeling the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s tour of Europe this month was going to bring out some major jewelry, and I’m happy to report that I was right: we were treated to seven (!) imperial and royal tiaras at tonight’s state banquet in Amsterdam, including a tiara debut!
The day began with the traditional welcome ceremony in Dam Square. The King and Queen of the Netherlands and the Emperor and Empress of Japan have a long-established close friendship, so this was more than a typical meeting of heads of state. Indeed, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have been in the Netherlands since Saturday, and the two couples even watched Sunday’s World Cup game between Japan and the Netherlands together. (It was, diplomatically, a 2-2 draw.)
For the official welcome ceremony, Empress Masako wore a light blue skirt suit with a matching hat, plus the usual pearl button earrings and pearl necklace. As usual, Queen Máxima’s ensemble was bolder. She wore a lettuce green dress with a white cardigan sweater, headpiece, bag, and shoes. (Josine Droogendijk reports that the dress is a collaboration between Natan and the Argentine artist Pablo Piatti.) Her accessories included her pearl and peridot earrings, her diamond wedding bracelet and her diamond family initial bracelet, and her peridot ring from Steltman.
And then, the family emptied out the Dutch vaults. In the evening, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima hosted a state banquet for their guests, with a large contingent of the royal family there as well. The two royal couples were joined by the King’s mother, Princess Beatrix; the couple’s eldest and youngest daughters, Princess Amalia and Princess Ariane; the King’s sister-in-law, Princess Laurentien; and the King’s aunt and uncle, Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven.
The royals wore chivalric orders from each other’s nations as a sign of friendship. The Emperor and Empress wore the insignia of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, while King Willem-Alexander, Princess Beatrix, and Princess Amalia all wore Japan’s Order of the Chrysanthemum. (Willem-Alexander is also wearing the sash of the Willems-Orde.) Queen Máxima wore the insignia of the Order of the Precious Crown, as did Princess Ariane, Princess Margriet, and Princess Laurentien. Pieter van Vollenhoven wore the Order of the Sacred Treasure.
Empress Masako coordinated her gown with her order sash for the evening, wearing a royal blue dress with a gold floral lace overlay. Her jewels were all diamonds: the diamond honeysuckle tiara that originally belonged to Princess Chichibu, diamond earrings, a pair of diamond rivière necklaces, and a diamond brooch.
Queen Máxima went bold again in the evening on Wednesday, wearing a laser-cut evening gown from the Dutch designer Iris van Herpen. She dipped into the royal vaults for diamond jewels linked to Queen Wilhelmina, wearing the full setting of the Stuart Tiara (complete with the 39.75-carat Stuart Diamond!) with Wilhelmina’s diamond earrings and diamond floral scroll brooch, which she pinned at her waist. She finished off the look with the Diamond Trellis Bracelet on her left wrist and one of the Diamond East Indies Bracelets on her right.
Queen Beatrix opted for an all-diamond jewelry look for the banquet as well. With her dark red sequin and lace evening gown (which has been in her wardrobe for the better part of two decades), she wore the Dutch Diamond Bandeau, a tiara made by converting a necklace given to her great-grandmother, Queen Emma, as a wedding present in 1879. She also wore a diamond necklace, diamond star earrings, and diamond rings and bracelets, including the other Dutch East Indies Bracelet and her own diamond engagement ring.
Princess Amalia was lovely in red, wearing a reimagined version of the dress she wore for the big royal wedding in Jordan a few years ago. Last time, she wore the dress with the Ruby Peacock Tiara; this time, she opted for the Mellerio Ruby Tiara and the matching earrings, necklace, bracelet, and ring from the parure, which dates to 1888.
One of the most exciting moments of the banquet was the gala debut of the King and Queen’s youngest daughter, Princess Ariane. She wore a coral-red evening gown with her first tiara: a classic diamond sparkler that belonged to her great-great-great-grandmother, Queen Emma. Her diamond earrings also belonged to Queen Emma. They were originally part of a large diamond devant de corsage from her collection. Ariane finished off the look with diamond bracelets on both wrists.
Princess Laurentien reached for a favorite pink lace evening gown for the banquet, previously worn for Prinsjesdag back in 2019. She added the same brooch she wore on that previous occasion, a jewel set with diamonds and kunzites, to the dress. Her other accessories were diamonds: the Dutch Laurel Wreath Tiara and diamond earrings that belonged to Queen Juliana.
And last but not least, even more heirloom diamonds sparkled on Princess Margriet, who wore a red floral lace evening gown for the banquet. She chose the family’s Mellerio Diamond Tiara, which was famously worn as a bridal diadem by Princess Mabel in 2004. With the tiara, she wore a diamond rivière necklace, a gorgeous diamond ribbon brooch with a large pendant, and diamond figure-eight earrings made in the 1960s from stones that were once part of Queen Wilhelmina’s Wedding Gift Tiara.
Whew! And believe it or not, there’s more to come. I’ll be back here with a report on the jewels worn for Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot tomorrow. See you then!