King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands are in Norway for a three day state visit that was postponed from 2020 due to the global health crisis. They arrived on the morning of Tuesday, 9 November and after several engagements during the day attended a state banquet.
Máxima is often known for wearing incredible jewellery and tiaras; the Dutch Royal Family has an incredible vault to choose from. And she went with statement pieces for this state banquet.
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The Queen wore Queen Emma’s Sapphire Parure (also known as the Dutch Sapphire Parure). King Willem III commissioned the tiara for his wife, Queen Emma, in 1881 from the Dutch firm Maison van der Stichel. The frame was altered in 1928, and again in 2013, to allow the central element to be lowered.
The married parure-style tiara has over 600 diamonds, in addition to 33 sapphires. The main sapphire alone is roughly 44 carats.
The tiara can also be worn in several separate pieces; Máxima tends to wear it as the complete tiara. However, at her husband’s inauguration in 2013, she did not wear the full tiara but rather the smaller setting with an additional diamond for a kokoshnik-style look.
She also wore sapphire earrings, the Sapphire Figure Eight Earrings. The pair of earrings was made from Queen Wilhemina’s Sapphire Tiara, and Máxima has worn them several times. Máxima has paired the earrings with one of her diamond swirl brooches (of unknown provenance), worn with a tanzanite pendant, and Queen Wilhemina’s Sapphire Bracelets.
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The Dutch Queen is also wearing the Order of St Olav, a Norwegian honour. King Oscar I established The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav in 1847; the order is named for King Olav II, known as Saint Olav. Since the mid-1980s, only Norwegian citizens have been named to the order, but exceptions are made for foreign royals and heads-of-state.
