A Brilliant Bandeau Tiara for Luxembourg’s New Year Gala Celebration

The royal year in Luxembourg officially began last week with the New Year gala at the Grand Ducal Palace, and Grand Duchess Stéphanie gleamed in an heirloom citrine and pearl tiara for the occasion.

For the first time in his reign, Grand Duke Guillaume V and Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg hosted the annual new year gala at the Grand Ducal Palace on Wednesday. The event, which is attended by dignitaries from throughout Luxembourg, was once part of the National Day celebrations in June, but it was moved to January in recent years to add a little breathing room to the June program.

Grand Duke Guillaume was in uniform for the gala, while Grand Duchess Stéphanie wore an evening gown in a vibrant shade of magenta for the occasion. Both wore the sash and star of the nation’s highest decoration, the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, and Guillaume also wore the star of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau.

For her first new year gala as Grand Duchess, Stéphanie reached for a suite of jewels from the family collection that has become a favorite over the years: the citrine and pearl parure that belonged to Guillaume’s grandmother, Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte. The set is thought to have arrived in Joséphine-Charlotte’s jewelry box in the late 1970s. It’s been worn by several members of the family, including Stéphanie’s mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, and her sister-in-law, Princess Alexandra.

The set consists of a bandeau-style tiara, a necklace with five pendants, a pair of earrings, and a bracelet. For the new year gala, Stéphanie wore the complete set, including all of the pendants on the necklace.

Stéphanie has been wearing the citrines for more than a decade. An early prominent appearance in the set came in June 2013, when she wore the tiara, earrings, and necklace for the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O’Neill in Stockholm. For that event, she chose to wear just three of the necklace’s pendants.

Stéphanie also memorably wore the set for a state banquet in honor of the King and Queen of the Belgians in October 2019. The occasion was a special one, as Stéphanie was born and raised in a family of Belgian aristocrats, the Counts of Lannoy. This outing, which was particularly successful, saw her pair the tiara, earrings, and bracelet with a caftan-style evening gown.

Here’s one more look at Stéphanie wearing the complete parure for Wednesday’s new year gala at the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg. I like the way that the citrines echo the goldenrod color of the order sash, a decoration which Stéphanie received in October when her husband became Luxembourg’s reigning Grand Duke.