Tonight the state banquet for the South Korean president will take place in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. I will be there and will tell you all about Máxima’s fashion and jewelry.
At the invitation of King Willem-Alexander, the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, will pay a state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 December 2023. He is accompanied by his wife Kim Keon Hee.
It is the first time that a president of the Republic of Korea has made a state visit since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1961. In 2014, the Royal Couple paid a state visit to the Republic of Korea. In November 2022, Prime Minister Rutte and President Yoon concluded a Strategic Partnership Agreement.
Fashion
Máxima’s dress with velvet and lace comes from the Greek label Costarellos. The garment probably looks familiar to you, because it also hangs – in teal – in Queen Mathilde’s wardrobe.
In the photo below you see Queen Mathilde with the green-blue version and on the right Máxima with the burgundy red one in Greece (2022).
Jewellery
The diadem that Máxima has on her locks belongs to the ruby Mellerio parure. King William III ordered the set in 1888 from the French jeweler Mellerio dits Meller. The tiara contains 385 gemstones, the necklace 425 and the bracelet 151. In the book ‘The jewels of the House of Orange -Nassau’ by René Brus it can be read that the parure were first made in silver for a fitting. “The necklace was probably too imposing for Emma’s taste -or not very comfortable-, because one side piece was intended for a loose brooch, while the large center piece was turned into a devant de corsage brooch. It was also decided to add earrings to the parure. When Mellerio delivered the jewels with the bill of 160,000 guilders to Het Loo Palace on October 28, 1888, a fan set with pearls, diamonds and rubies had been brought from Paris.”
In a row
Long story short: the set consists of the following jewelry:
1: a diadem
2: a necklace
3: earrings
4: a bracelet
5: a brooch
6: a devant de corsage (the pendant of the devant de corsage is also mounted as a pendant on the brooch (no. 5), see photo below.
7: a fan
We have not yet seen the queen with the complete devant de corsage (6). Tonight she also wears a simplified (reduced) version.
