When Amalia attends the state banquet on April 17, she will undoubtedly have a beautiful diadem on her head. But the real masterpieces from the orange vault are still out of her reach for the time being.
Shortly after Amalia’s tiara debut in Norway, a summer photo session took place. Amalia was in the spotlight, because the journalists naturally wanted to know how she experienced the climax. The princess said with a broad smile on her face that she had thought it was ‘really cool’ and that many discussions had preceded her choice of clothing. Apparently the diadem had also been well thought out. Amalia: “My mother suggested it…”, to which Máxima added: “… yes, like: these are the possibilities. What would you like? And Amalia immediately chose my wedding tiara.”
The explanation from Máxima and Amalia shows that the Princess of Orange cannot just wear everything. Her mother made a pre-selection and she was then allowed to choose from it. This approach is not new, because Máxima did not have access to the entire Orange collection when she was a princess. The Württemberg diadem, the large sapphire diadem and the Stuart were reserved for Queen Beatrix until April 2013.
Because Máxima is not the reigning queen, I expect that more and more opportunities will arise for Amalia. For example, Crown Princess Beatrix also wore the Württemberg diadem on her wedding day.
In addition to all protocol matters, the practical element also plays a role. Because no matter how fairytale tiaras can sparkle, it can be quite a challenge to wear one. For example, in the 1970s, Queen Sonja almost fainted from the pain because her diadem cut deep into her scalp. Shortly afterwards, the heavier, Swedish diadems were wrapped with velvet and/or hair. They have also chosen this in Spain, as you can see in the photo below.
Such solutions also exist in the Netherlands. On the left you see the Württemberg diadem, on the right the diadem with the house diamonds. What a difference of approach!
In addition, the larger diadems are placed on a base that distributes the weight better.
Due to its weight, there is always a chance that a diadem will start to wander. During the state visit of the president of South Korea, Maxima had her hands full with the diamonds and rubies on her head.
The royal diadem is therefore a jewel with instructions for use. It certainly doesn’t hurt to start slowly. Because Amalia seems to prefer light blue (in terms of clothing and jewelry), I hope she chooses the aquamarine diadem. Also because Máxima also received the Spaniards with aquamarines on her head at her state banquet debut in 2001.
