Grand Duchess Stephanie’s Dazzling Inauguration Diamonds in Luxembourg

Today in Luxembourg, Grand Duchess Stéphanie celebrates her 42nd birthday. It’s her first birthday since the accession of her husband, Grand Duke Guillaume V, to the throne last October. In her honor, today we’re taking a look back at one of her ensembles from his inauguration day, as well as the jewels she wore throughout the day and evening events.

On October 3, after the abdication of her father-in-law, Grand Duke Henri, and the swearing-in ceremony for her husband, Grand Duke Guillaume, the new Grand Duchess Stéphanie headed out with the rest of the family to Place Guillaume II, where they greeted members of the public before walking to the Cercle Cité for a government reception.

For the walk through the city and the reception that followed, Stéphanie changed out of her lilac-colored Elie Saab gown and into a white day dress. The dress, which has an off-the-shoulder neckline and a cape, is from that favorited Benelux couture house, Natan. Stéphanie paired it with a metallic clutch bag and taupe suede heels.

With the dress, Stéphanie wore the same diamond earrings and bracelets that she’d paired earlier in the day with the Elie Saab gown.

The earrings, which have a classic Art Deco-inspired design, are thought to be from the collection of Stéphanie’s family, the Lannoys. Stéphanie has worn these for various occasions over the years, including a dinner on the eve of the Dutch royal inauguration in 2014 and the christening of her elder son, Prince Charles, in 2020.

Stéphanie’s sisters have worn the earrings for various gala events as well. Her elder sister, Countess Isabelle, memorably wore them for the dinner held on the night before Guillaume and Stéphanie’s wedding in 2012.

Stéphanie’s other major jewelry accessories on Guillaume’s accession day were a pair of diamond bracelets, worn stacked together on her right wrist. These come from the grand ducal vaults. One of the bracelets (the one closest to Stéphanie’s hand in this image) includes a diamond-framed watch face. Both feature interesting scroll design elements.

The bracelets were worn for decades by Guillaume’s great-grandmother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, who reigned in Luxembourg from 1919 to 1964. She sometimes wore one bracelet on each wrist and sometimes stacked them together on one arm. They were later worn by subsequent Grand Duchesses, including Guillaume’s grandmother, Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte.

As I mentioned above, Stéphanie wore the same diamond bracelets and earrings with each of her ensembles on the first day of her husband’s reign. For the abdication and inauguration ceremonies, she wore them with her lilac Elie Saab gown…

…and afterward, she wore them again with the same gown for a gala banquet at the Grand Ducal Palace. For the evening event, she also added a tiara: the Belgian Scroll Tiara, an heirloom that first belonged to Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte. This was Stéphanie’s first public appearance in the tiara, though we saw an image of her wearing it the day before, when pictures of the royal couple’s first official portraits were released ahead of the inauguration.

And don’t forget! On Wednesdays, the free mid-week edition of my Substack newsletter, Hidden Gems, drops in subscribers’ inboxes. This week we’re talking about jewels perfect for Chinese New Year celebrations, as well as a couple of new book recommendations from my library. See you there!