Dutch Diamond Bandeau

Happy Birthday to Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who turns 52 today! The vibrant Argentinian financier who became the first Dutch Queen Consort in over a century and the main wearer of the magnificent Dutch Royal Jewellery collection, Queen Máxima was worn a variety of spectacular heirloom jewels, but one of her favourites is the magnificent Dutch Diamond Bandeau!

Württemberg Ornate Pearl Tiara | Dutch Mellerio Ruby Tiara | Dutch Diamond Bandeau | Dutch Emerald Parure | Dutch Pearl and Diamond Stomacher | The Dutch Royal Tiaras | Queen Máxima’s Top JewelsDutch Royal Jewels

When Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont married the elderly King William III of The Netherland in 1879, she received some spectacular wedding gifts, including a magnificent Diamond Rivière from the Dutch People composed of thirty-four massive diamonds, along with a Diamond Stomacher. 

Queen Emma wore her massive Diamond Rivière as a corsage ornament in an Official Portrait taken with the Dutch Sapphire Tiara in 1900, and the following year, it was worn with her Diamond Tiara, for the Wedding of her only daughter, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Queen Wilhelmina wore the Diamond Rivière as a corsage ornament for the Official Portrait taken after her Inauguration as the Queen of The Netherlands in 1898, and later, wore it with Queen Emma’s Diamond Tiara for a Gala in the 1930s. 

In 1937, Queen Emma’s Diamond Rivière was transformed, with twenty-seven of the thirty-four diamonds being used to create a Diamond Bandeau Tiara for the then Crown Princess Juliana.

After the upheaval of exile during the Second World War, the Diamond Bandeau Tiara was worn by Queen Wilhelmina with the Romanov Pearl and Diamond Devant-de-Corsage for her last official portraits taken before her Abdication in 1948.

Soon afterwards, the Diamond Bandeau Tiara became a favourite of Queen Juliana, who wore it on the Dutch State Visit to Luxembourg, 1951, the Dutch State Visit to Denmark in 1953, Princess Beatrix’s 18th Birthday Gala in 1956, the British State Visit to the Netherlands in 1958, the Belgian State Visit to The Netherlands in 1959, and the Dutch State Visit to Belgium in 1960.

Queen Juliana also wore the Diamond Bandeau Tiara for her Silver Wedding Anniversary Gala in 1962, the Wedding Ball of Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands in 1966, her 30th Anniversary Gala in 1967, and the Spanish State Visit to the Netherlands in 1980, which was the last State Visit before Queen Juliana’s Abdication. 

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Diamond Bandeau Tiara was worn by Princess Margriet, notably during the Nepal State Visit to The Netherlands in 1967, and also by Princess Christina.

After a gap of a few decades, Queen Beatrix did not begin wearing the Diamond Bandeau Tiara until the early 2000s, since when it has made a handful of appearances, most recently for the Belgian State Visit to the Netherlands in 2016, after her Abdication. 

Princess Máxima began wearing the Diamond Bandeau Tiara in the mid-2000s, which soon became a favourite, being worn for the Dutch State Visit to Belgium in 2006, King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Diamond Jubilee Banquet in 2006, the Wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2011, the State Visit to Germany in 2011, the State Visit to Brunei in 2013, and Queen Beatrix’s Abdication Dinner in 2013. 

The Diamond Bandeau Tiara has remained a favourite of Queen Máxima since the Accession of King Willem-Alexander, being worn for a Swedish Banquet in 2014, Queen Margrethe’s 75th Birthday Banquet in 2015, the Argentine State Visit to The Netherlands in 2017, and Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th Birthday Gala Dinner at Christiansborg Palace in 2018. 

More recently, Queen Máxima has worn the Diamond Bandeau Tiara for the Cape Verde State Visit to The Netherlands in 2018 and for the Dutch State Visit to India in 2019. There is no doubt we will continue to see this specular Royal Heirloom worn for years to come! 

In 2023, Queen Máxima wore the Diamond Bandeau for the Wedding of Prince Ferdinand zu Schwarzenberg at the Kirche Maria Attersee in Attersee am Attersee.

 Württemberg Ornate Pearl Tiara | Dutch Mellerio Ruby Tiara | Dutch Diamond Bandeau | Dutch Emerald Parure | Dutch Pearl and Diamond Stomacher | The Dutch Royal Tiaras | Queen Máxima’s Top JewelsDutch Royal Jewels

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