
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands held the annual diplomatic corps dinner at the Royal Palace on the evening of Wednesday, 22 June.
Their Majesties welcomed around 250 guests in the Dining Hall of the Royal Palace for the first time in three years. Each year, the dinner has a different theme – for 2022, the Royal Palace chose “politics and governance.”
King Willem-Alexander also offered a speech to all the guests present, which included ambassadors from about 150 countries and international organisations, as well as members of state and local government bodies.
His Majesty highlighted the importance of face-to-face contact in creating bridges between different positions and ideas. He said: “It can’t have been easy to do your job as diplomats when you were confined to digital screens with people the size of stamps. During the pandemic, it became clear that both your work and mine should be considered ‘contact-based professions’… .”
He also had words of praise for the people of Ukraine, who have been fighting for freedom, which “has a price and demands sacrifice.” But “this is not the only matter of concern for the international community,” said the King.
He thanked all diplomats that were welcomed to the Netherlands under his reign for their insights into the issues faced by many communities around the world: violence, hunger, climate change, and poverty.
He concluded his speech by praising the work of the entire diplomatic network in creating bridges: “That is another reason the world needs diplomats. People who try to find common ground. Even with those whose perspectives are very different from their own.”
The dinner’s dress code was “white tie,” which means that Queen Máxima got to pick another tiara to wear in the span of the same week.
For this diplomatic dinner, she chose one of her ruby tiaras; created by Mellerio for Queen Emma around 1888, it comes with an entire parure of matching pieces. It has been put in the family vaults, meaning that many generations of queens to come will be able to use this piece.
Princess Beatrix was also present, wearing the star setting of the Pearl Button Tiara, the same diadem that Princess Catharina-Amalia chose for her tiara debut at Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday gala.
It was also scheduled that Princess Margriet and her husband would be part of the royal party, but they pulled out. The Royal Information Service has not offered any comments on the issue.