The future queen of the Netherlands seemingly made her tiara dreams come true on Tuesday evening when she finally, officially wore the Mellerio Ruby Parure for the first time.
Princess Catharina-Amalia joined her parents, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, for a State Banquet for the Sultan of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.
While Queen Máxima sported one of the most splashy tiaras in the Dutch jewel vault—the Württemberg Ornate Pearl—the future queen covered herself in rubies and flashed back to a now-iconic photograph of her younger self posing with the Mellerio Ruby tiara atop her head.
For her 18th birthday in December 2021, Princess Amalia participated in the writing of an official biography detailing her early years. One of the photos accompanying the book was of a nine-year-old Amalia trying on the Mellerio tiara as her mother prepared for Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie’s wedding in October 2012.
She told biographer Claudia de Breij: “I love tiaras. Show me a tiara, and I’ll know where it came from. I can recognize all the tiaras of Europe. I used to put them on from my mother. Then there would be one on her make-up table and I would have it directly on my head.”
The Mellerio Ruby parure was commissioned by King Willem III as a 30th birthday present to his wife Queen Emma in 1889. The jewellery house Mellerio created a six-piece parure to the king’s specifications, which included tiara, necklace, bracelet, brooch, stomacher and a fan. Queen Juliana would later add a ring to the collection.
From the collection, Princess Amalia sported the bracelet, earrings and brooch, which anchored her newest honour: the Order of the Renaissance, gifted to her from Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. The Order is the third highest in Oman’s honour system and comes with a sash of white bordered by green and maroon stripes.
