While I was across the pond last week, Queen Máxima swapped places with me, heading to the United States for an official visit. Here’s a look at the jewels she wore for stops in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Miami.
The King and Queen of the Netherlands arrived in Pennsylvania on April 12 ahead of their three-day working visit to the United States, which was timed to celebrate the diplomatic relationship between the two countries ahead of America’s 250th birthday commemorations. For the couple’s arrival at the airport in Philadelphia, Queen Máxima wore a bright green ensemble with sequin embellishments from Jan Taminiau. (Go Eagles?)
She accessorized with a major pair of diamond stud earrings from the royal vault. These are the top section of a larger pair of diamond earrings presented to Queen Wilhelmina by her father, King Willem III, as a ninth (!) birthday present in the summer of 1889. Wilhelmina never wore the earrings herself, but they’ve been well-used by the ladies of subsequent royal generations.
The official visit really began on April 13, when King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima toured Independence Hall, participated in a round table discussion with business leaders, and, yes, toured the training facility of the Philadelphia Eagles. (Curaçao, one of the Dutch Caribbean islands, is scheduled to play a World Cup match against Côte d’Ivoire at the home of the Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field, in June.)
For the day’s engagements in Philly, Máxima wore an olive green Claes Iversen dress with jewelry set with diamonds and silvery black pearls. She wore the family’s black pearl and diamond cluster brooch (without its pendant) and its matching bangle bracelet, plus a black pearl ring and earrings.
Later that evening, the royal couple traveled to Washington, D.C., where they stayed overnight at the White House. For her arrival there, Queen Máxima wore another Claes Iversen dress, this time in a bright shade of burnt orange.
She matched her jewels to the color of the dress, wearing the earrings and brooch from the family’s diamond and fire opal suite. The set was acquired by Princess Beatrix in the 1960s. The bright orange opals are a perfect fit for the ladies of the House of Orange, and Máxima has worn them often over the years.
On April 14, the royal couple continued their trip in Miami. Argentine-born Máxima surely felt right at home in the city, where more than 40% of households speak Spanish regularly at home. Both Willem-Alexander and Máxima were dressed for warm weather, with the King in a light-colored suit and the Queen wearing a vibrant red ensemble from Natan.
Máxima happily joined in a game of dominoes in Little Havana, giving us a good view of her jewels: her ruby and pearl tassel earrings, worn with her ruby and diamond tennis bracelet, her diamond wedding bracelet, and the ruby and diamond ring that Willem-Alexander gave her to celebrate the birth of their eldest daughter, Princess Amalia, in 2003. (Scroll down here for a close-up of the ring and the tennis bracelet.)
Earlier in the day, Queen Máxima wore an electric lime green ensemble (also Natan) for a visit to a local school, where they viewed a mural painted by students and artists from the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean islands.
The occasion gave Máxima the opportunity to wear pieces from her personal collection of peridot jewels. She wore pearl and peridot earrings from Scully & Scully, along with a peridot ring from Steltman. She also wore her emerald and diamond tennis bracelet and her diamond wedding bracelet.
Queen Máxima wore Natan again on the final day of the visit, which included stops at the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute and an accessible marina. The ensemble included a crisp white shirt and an embroidered silk shantung skirt.
For these final engagements in Miami, Máxima wore jewels set with diamonds and pale pink kunzites. She paired her Steltman kunzite earrings with a pair of diamond bangles with kunzite floral design accents, a kunzite and diamond cocktail ring, and her wedding bracelet.
A note and a personal request: first, we’ll be covering last night’s tiara appearance here soon, so stay tuned. And second, please, as always, restrict your commentary on this article to jewelry/fashion and not politics. This place has been a respite for many (including me) in recent years, and I hope you’ll help me keep it that way. Thank you in advance, everyone. (It’s good practice for next week, too.)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.