Happy Birthday to the Princess of Orange, who is turning 20 today! The eldest of the Dutch Royal ‘A-Team’ who is set to be the fourth Queen Regnant of the Netherlands, the Dutch Heiress has expressed an interest in royal jewels (If you are reading this YRH, we have some suggestions), and has already worn quite a few splendid jewels from the massive family collection, including the Dutch Sapphire Necklace Tiara!
Ruby Peacock Tiara | Sapphire Necklace Tiara | Dutch Diamond Stars | Dutch Diamond Trellis Necklace | Dutch Emerald Parure | Mellerio Ruby Tiara | Dutch Royal Jewels
In 1879, Queen Emma of the Netherlands received a magnificent Sapphire and Diamond Necklace set in yellow gold and silver with eleven oval Kashmir Sapphires in trefoil and fleurs de lils elements, to join an earlier Sapphire Bow Brooch and completed with a magnificent Sapphire Tiara and Bracelets two years later.
Queen Emma wore her Sapphire Necklace and the assembled Parure for numerous Portraits throughout the 1880s and 1890s, most notably for the Inauguration of her daughter, Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands, in 1898, which marked the end of her regency.
After Queen Emma’s passing in 1934, the Sapphire Tiara was among the jewels inherited by her only granddaughter, the then Crown Princess Juliana, who wore the Tiara and Necklace, which had been extended with a single row of diamonds, for a series of portraits taken around the time of her Wedding to Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1937 before they were worn for the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in London in 1937.
Queen Juliana often wore the Sapphire Necklace with the Sapphire Tiara, like for the Wedding Ball of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece in 1962 or during the Dutch State Visit to Britain in 1972, but it was also worn with the Dutch Diamond Bandeau or the Diamond Trellis Bandeau.
While the Sapphire Tiara was a favourite of Queen Beatrix, she seems to have only worn the necklace once, in the early 1970s, with one of its final appearances coming in 1972, when it was worn by Princess Irene with the Bourbon-Parma Tiara for the Dutch State Banquet at the Palace of Versailles.
After several decades in the vault, around 2009, Steltmann used the Sapphire Necklace to create a new Tiara for the Dutch Royal Family, which was topped with six elements taken from Queen Wilhelmina’s dismantled Sapphire Parure, which had been been broken up by Queen Juliana to create several new jewels to be distributed between her four daughters.
The new Sapphire Necklace Tiara first appeared on Princess Margriet, who wore it with her Sapphire Earrings, also created from Queen Wilhelmina’s Sapphire Parure, at a State Banquet for the President of Chile in 2009.
The following year, the Sapphire Necklace Tiara was worn by the then Princess Máxima for the Gala Dinner held by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark to celebrate her 70th Birthday at Fredensborg Palace.
Princess Margriet again wore the Sapphire Necklace Tiara with her Sapphire Earrings for the annual Peter Stuyvesant Ball in New York City in 2011.
Princess Beatrix notably wore the Sapphire Necklace Tiara at a Gala Dinner during a visit by Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2014.
A few years later, the Sapphire Necklace Tiara was worn by Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau as she joined King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima for a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace during the Dutch State Visit to Britain in 2018.
In 2023, the Sapphire Necklace Tiara was worn by Queen Máxima with the Diamond Trellis Necklace for the annual Diplomatic Gala at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.
Most recently, the Princess of Orange wore the Sapphire Necklace Tiara with the Dutch Diamond Trellis Necklace for Prince Christian of Denmark’s 18th Birthday Gala Dinner at Christiansborg Palace last year. There is no doubt this lovely heirloom will be worn for many years to come!
Ruby Peacock Tiara | Sapphire Necklace Tiara | Dutch Diamond Stars | Dutch Diamond Trellis Necklace | Dutch Emerald Parure | Mellerio Ruby Tiara | Dutch Royal Jewels
Dutch Royal Jewels | Mode Koningin Maxima
