Queen Maxima Was Regal in the Sapphire Necklace Tiara During State Visit to Kenya
But did the Kenyans insult their royal visitors? How some tensions may have been simmering below the surface during this visit
Queen Maxima brought the bling, and the fashion, during her and husband King Willem-Alexander’s two-day tour of Kenya. The most dazzling display was when she busted out Sapphire Necklace Tiara for the State Banquet, though the visit itself was filled with some unexpected tensions. So here’s a bit of the history of this lovely piece and Maxima’s fashion during this strangely tense visit…
The Sapphire Necklace Tiara started off as, you guessed it, a necklace. This was rather common and in fact a lot of tiaras are capable of being turned into necklaces or started life as a necklace before being converted. The piece was a gift from King Willem III to his wife, Queen Emma in 1879 for their wedding. Emma was the much younger than her husband, whose previous wife Sophie of Württemberg had tragically passed away. Interesting to note that their daughter, future Queen Wilhelmina, was not supposed to inherit the throne as she initially had three older half-brothers. As it turned out, all of them died before their father, leaving the throne unexpectedly to the very young Wilhelmina when he died in 1890.
The necklace was originally made up of yellow gold, silver, diamonds and eleven oval Ceylon sapphires, per Dutch Royal Jewels (Instagram) and the Royal Watcher. It was meant to match the Sapphire Bow Brooch, which Queen Maxima also wore, the Queen Emma’s Sapphire Bracelets, and the magnificent large Dutch Sapphire Tiara. The necklace could also feature a large sapphire brooch.
In order to make the necklace longer, it was modified with parts of a grand wedding gift that Queen Wilhelmina received. The necklace was frequently worn by Queen Juliana, daughter of Queen Wilhelmina. After Juliana, her daughter Princess Beatrix, who was the former Queen, wore the necklace once and so did her sister, Princess Irene in the 1970s. After that point, the necklace went back into the vault before being transformed into a tiara, though it’s unclear who was behind the change. In this new set up, it was first worn by Princess Margriet in 2009, and was later worn by Queen Maxima (then Princess of Orange) the same year. Princess Beatrix has also worn this tiara, given that she struggles with some of the larger and heavier Dutch tiaras.
The most recent wearer of this particular tiara is Princess Catharina-Amalia, the Princess of Orange. This is a somewhat popular choice for the Dutch royal ladies to wear, though we don’t see it too often on Queen Maxima herself. It seems better suited for princesses than a queen. Perhaps we shall see it on Willam-Alexander and Maxima’s other daughters, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane as well? Only time will tell.
To round out her nearly all sapphire look, Maxima paired it with the Sapphire Bow Stomacher around her waist, which was made in about 1900 for Queen Wilhelmina using gemstones that originally belonging to her grandmother Queen Anna Pavlovna. She also paired it with one Emma’s Sapphire Bracelets and the earrings that were made around the same time as the Dutch Sapphire Necklace Tiara.
Maxima’s gown was a rewear from Claes Iversen and the shoes were peep toe slingbacks by Guglielmo Rotta.
But it wasn’t all tiaras and sapphires. We also have a great fashion show put on by Her Majesty as well. From her coral cape dress to a more safari inspired look, check out all of Maxima’s fashion on this tour and vote for your favorite below.
Day One:
Outfit #1 - Queen Maxima arrived to Kenya in a jacket by Kenyan designer Anna Trzebinski, which has been in her closet for over 20 years. Underneath the jacket, or vest as some are calling it, she wore a white shirt paired with red pants and platform pumps. The earrings are from Miccy's.
Outfit #2 - It is a Natan Couture piece that she initially planned to wear for King’s Day in 2023, before changing her mind last minute, per a report by Mode Koningin Maxima. She paired it with a hat by Fabienne Delvigne, shoes by Gianvito Rossi, Celine sunglasses and Luz Camino earrings.
Day 2:
Outfit #3 - She wore a skirt and blouse set by Etro, paired with a hat from 360FIVE Everyday, Rebecca de Ravenel La La Hoop Earrings, and a belt by Oscar de la Renta. The most interesting addition is perhaps the vintage Cartier jewelry with elephants circling around a bracelet and a ring. Appropriate for a trip to Africa for sure and apparently may have belonged to Queen Juliana.
Outfit #4 - For their last event of the trip, Queen Maxima debuted a Valentino Tribal Necklace Cape Gown in Brown, Gianvito Rossi sandals, Marina Raphael Baby Riviera bag, Monies Curved Gold earrings, and some as of yet unidentified gold bangle bracelets.
(IDs provided by Unidentified No More, Mode Koningin Maxima and QueenMaxima_fashion Instagram.)
So beyond the glittering diamonds and fun patterns, was this tour mired in a bit of trouble? It seems so, per some of the reports I’ve been seeing from various Dutch royal reporters.
Apparently this was quite a delicate visit, after an earlier trip was postponed due to a protest over a tax increase being violently quelled by the Kenyan government over the summer. It’s reported that 40 young people died, and the Dutch government was rather concerned about the attempts to diminish free speech.
The Dutch press release on the visit officially shared that the aims were to “work together actively towards goals relating to democracy, the rule of law and independence of the judiciary and on challenges around peace and security, climate change and food security.” Whether or not that was successful is rather unclear.
It seems that the Kenyan government wasn’t quite hospitable as it could have been. The Dutch National Anthem was pretty butchered by the Kenyan military band, and, per Dutch royal reporter Rick Evers, a Dutch citizen was given a chance to give a speech at the State Banquet, an honor usually reserved for just the Heads of States. It seems that Willem-Alexander may have even had to wait for his turn. There were some other incidents as well that just felt a bit odd to an experienced reporter.
A possible reason given is that apparently the Kenyan President could be upset if he felt like he was being lectured to by the Dutch government or the royals about how the Kenyan government dealt with the protest last summer, and had subtle ways of trying to even out the situation.
It’s a fascinating reflection of the various pitfalls of State Visits and how those even with the best of intentions, can go a little sideways when political and cultural tensions are high.
But either way, tiaras were seen and sapphires glittered, and that is always fun to see.
Love the history of the jewels. The was hit and miss for Maxima, I do have to agree with you when it comes to glittering occasions Maxima bats it out of the park. Maxima’s fashion philosophy is certainly “Go big or go home”. Interesting tense tones for a state visits. It doesn’t always go smoothly.