Dutch Diamond Star Tiara | The Royal Watcher

Happy Birthday to Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who turns 54 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, which includes the Dutch Diamond Star Tiara!

The Dutch Royal Collection contains two sets of at least ten diamond stars, one with ten points (that are graduated in size), and the other with twelve points, which were given as Wedding Gifts to Queen Emma when she married King Willem III in 1879.

Queen Emma usually attached the ten pointed stars on top of her Diamond Tiara, which she notably wore at the Wedding of her daughter, Queen Wilhelmina, and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1901.

Queen Wilhelmina also wore Queen Emma’s Diamond Tiara with the Diamond Stars for a couple of occasions and events through the 1930s and 1940s, often with Queen Emma’s Diamond Stomacher and her Diamond Rivière, following which they seem to have been removed from the Tiara.

Queen Juliana often wore Queen Emma’s Diamond Stars in a variety of creative ways, which included putting them on her Juliet Cap for her Inauguration in 1948 and also wearing them in her hair for a variety of Gala Dinners, notably on visits to France and to the United States.

One of the most notable appearances of the Diamond Stars was in 1958, when Queen Juliana wore ten of the Diamond Stars on her Sash of the Order of the Garter for a Banquet and Ball at the Ridderzaal in The Hague, during the British State Visit.

Queen Juliana continued to wear the Diamond Stars into the latter years of her reign, making full use out of their versatility.

Queen Beatrix often mixed up the two sets of diamond stars, wearing the smaller brooches of the ten-pointed stars with the larger ones of the 12-pointed stars, and often attaching them of her sash or wearing multiple stars on both or either side of her bodice, frequently paired with Queen Emma’s Diamond Tiara and the Dutch Diamond Bandeau.

In 2002, Queen Beatrix had the Dutch Court Jeweller attach five of the ten-pointed Diamond Stars to the base of the Pearl Button Tiara created in 1965, to be worn by Máxima Zorreguieta as she married the then Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.

While she wore many other pieces from the massive Dutch Royal Collection, the Star Tiara continued to be a favourite of Princess Máxima in the early years of her marriage, worn for the Wedding of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway in 2002 and the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004.

Princess Máxima also wore the Diamond Stars at the Wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010, and attached them on her hat for the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, a suitably romantic gesture echoing her own wedding day.

In 2012, both Queen Beatrix and Princess Máxima wore the Diamond Stars on their sashes at Prinsjesdag, which was the last of Queen Beatrix’s Reign, and was one of many examples when the two coordinated their outfits through the Diamond Stars.

Echoing Queen Juliana at her Inauguration, Queen Máxima wore the Diamond Stars in her Hair for a River Pageant and Gala Dinner following the Inauguration of King Willem-Alexander in 2013, while Princess Beatrix wore a few more Diamond Stars on her lapel, again showing family unity and coordination.

The Diamond Star Tiara has also been worn by Princess Margriet for the Peter Stuyvesant Ball at the Plaza Hotel in New York City 2014.

Princess Beatrix has continued to wear the Diamond Stars since her abdication, not just on her gowns but also the Star Tiara at the Diplomatic Reception in 2015.

In recent years, Queen Máxima has worn the Star Tiara only once, when she also wore three additional diamond stars at her waist.

The Princess of Orange wore the Diamond Star Tiara and a Diamond Star for Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th Birthday Banquet at the Royal Palace of Oslo in 2022, which was her first Tiara appearance, saying:

My mother suggested it…”, to which Máxima added: “… yes, like: these are the options. What would you like? And Amalia immediately chose my wedding tiara.”

to be able to do something like this for the first time, was really cool for me. Especially with my love for tiaras. And I actually thought it was really nice that I was allowed to wear my mother’s wedding tiara. A lot goes into it. Choosing a dress and things like that, and there were a lot of conversations and discussions about that, and this and that. But in the end I’m really happy with how it turned out.”

The Princess of Orange more recently wore the Diamond Star Tiara at the State Banquet for Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa last December. There is no doubt we will continue to see these versatile and historic heirlooms worn for years to come!