Spanish and Belgian Royal Sparkle for a Special Exhibition in Brussels

This week, a very royal gathering took place in Belgium, with the King and Queen of Spain coming to town for the opening of a special new art exhibition in Brussels.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians welcomed King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain to the Royal Palace in Brussels on Tuesday ahead of a day of artistic diplomacy.

The Spanish royal couple signed the Golden Book, the special guest book signed by visitors, at the palace and had an audience with their Belgian counterparts under a delightful antique tapestry before enjoying lunch.

After lunch, the royal couples headed to Bozar for the official opening of the biennial Europalia festival, which focuses this year on the art and culture of Spain. They toured the “Light and Shadow: Goya and Spanish Realism” exhibition, which the Bozar website describes as a “unique exhibition [that] brings the groundbreaking oeuvre of Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746−1828) into dialogue with work by contemporaries and artists from later generations.”

After touring the exhibition, the Belgian and Spanish royals attended a concert at Bozar, featuring performances by the singer Rocío Márquez and the guitarist Pedro Rojas.

Both Mathilde and Letizia wore day dresses for the visit. Mathilde opted for a bright red dress with a vintage-inspired silhouette, while Letizia wore a dark blue floral dress from Giorgio Armani.

Both royal ladies wore earrings as their primary jewelry accessory. Queen Mathilde paid tribute to her Spanish royal guests by wearing the diamond and pearl drop earrings that belonged to Belgian’s Spanish-born queen consort, Fabiola Mora y Aragón.

Here’s a photograph of Queen Fabiola wearing the same earrings in the 1980s. Born in Madrid, Fabiola was the daughter of the 4th Marques of Casa Riera and the granddaughter of the 6th Marquesa of Casa Torres. Her godmother was King Felipe’s great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.

Mathilde has been the exclusive wearer of the earrings since Fabiola’s passing a decade ago. Here’s one more look at her wearing the earrings at Bozar on Tuesday. She also wore her gold wedding band on her right hand and her tanzanite and diamond ring on her left.

Queen Letizia reached for a pair of colorful earrings from her jewelry box. The long pendants, which are set with multicolored gems, come from the brand Dime Que Me Quieres.

The colors of the earrings are more vibrant in this photograph from the Goya exhibition. Letizia, as usual, completed her jewelry ensemble with her Coreterno ring, worn in its usual place on the index finger of her left hand.