The Queen of Spain Sparkles in Diamonds and Aquamarines in Madrid

A diplomatic summit brought world leaders to Madrid last week, and the Queen of Spain took the opportunity to wear pieces of jewelry set with aquamarines, sapphires, and diamonds.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain hosted a dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid on Wednesday as part of the Ibero-American Summit, the biennial meeting of the heads of government and state of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking nations of Europe and the Americas.

For the reception and dinner, Letizia reached into her closet for a dress that has been part of her wardrobe for almost a decade. The navy dress features an off-the-shoulder neckline and a large fabric flower detail.

Letizia has made several appearances in this Delpozo dress over the years, perhaps most memorably during the Princess of Asturias Awards in Oviedo in the autumn of 2020.

With the dress, she wore a favorite pair of earrings. These feature a chunky hoop set with diamonds and aquamarines, from which a large diamond and pear-shaped aquamarine pendant is suspended. The hoops can be worn with or without the pendants, and Letizia wears them both ways.

The earrings were a gift from King Felipe in 2005 to celebrate the birth of the couple’s first daughter, Leonor. For years, the Spanish press reported that Felipe had purchased the earrings from Bulgari, but more recent reporting says that they were made by Aldao.

The diplomatic reception this week took place just a few days after Leonor’s 21st birthday, so she may have been on Letizia’s mind when she selected her earrings for the reception. Fittingly, as they were a gift to mark Leonor’s birth, Letizia has occasionally loaned the earrings to her. Above, Leonor wears the hoops and pendants together for the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony in 2023.

For Wednesday’s palace dinner, Letizia wore a mixture of blue gemstones. On her left wrist, she placed a bracelet set with diamonds and dark blue sapphires.

The bracelet has reportedly been in Letizia’s collection since at least 2019. She memorably wore it in January 2024 for a reception for foreign ambassadors, pairing it with a suite of sapphire and pearl jewelry given to her by her mother-in-law, Queen Sofia, as a wedding present in 2004.

Here’s one more look at Letizia wearing the aquamarine earrings and the sapphire bracelet together during Wednesday’s reception. As usual, she added one more accessory: her Coreterno ring, worn in its usual place on the index finger of her left hand.