It's been a while. There is a distinct lack of sparkle during the royal summer as the State Visit quota drops and the tiaras are dusted down and stored away safely through most of August and September. But fear not, glitter season has returned. As October gets under way, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands are on a State Visit to Portugal and that means one thing. A State Banquet and a dose of diamonds to cheer us all up. Here's the tiara chosen by Maxima to get the autumn glitter going.
Maxima was the queen of green at the banquet offered in honour of the royal visitors by the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the Ajuda National Palace on the evening of October 10th 2017. The Dutch consort chose a green lace off the shoulder gown and added the some of the family's famous emerald jewels, including a rather striking tiara, to complete the look.
These stones could quite happily call themselves the Wilhelmina Emeralds and get away with it. The stones in this tiara arrived in the Netherlands in the 18th century via Wilhelmina of Prussia who married William V of Orange and ended up all but ruling for him. At the end of the 19th century they were turned into the tiara we know today for the new and very young Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. They've been a staple of the Dutch royal collection ever since.
This tiara is a bit of a Maxima go to - when a queen suits green this well, it would be wrong not to let the emeralds do the talking from time to time. Add to that the other parts of this rather stunning parure, including that necklace with that central emerald, and everything about this says regal. We might have missed the sparkle over the summer but Maxima has ensured that the State Visit glitter business has got under way again in style.
Photo credit: President of Portugal press video still.
Photo credit: President of Portugal press video still.
