State Visit from The Netherlands, State Banquet

The Queen and members of the Royal Family hosted a state banquet at Buckingham Palace for The King and Queen of The Netherlands during their State Visit to the United Kingdom.

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We've done a deep dive on the Dutch state banquet at the other blog already; here, as we do, we'll take a specific look at the things that emerged from The Queen's jewel vault. Her Maj returned to her favorite tiara, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, for the second time this year; Queen Mary's Cluster Earrings also made their second appearance of the year.

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Another second 2018 showing? The massive Cullinan III and IV Brooch. That's a brooch chosen to honor the Dutch connection; the Cullinan Diamond was cut by Asscher in Amsterdam.

Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
Queen Mary's Cluster Earrings 
George VI Festoon Necklace
Cullinan III and IV Brooch
White and Gray Pearl Bracelet (Not yet covered here)
Evening Watch
Order of The Netherlands Lion (Riband and Star)
Royal Family Orders of King George V and King George VI

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It's difficult to be out-blinged when one is wearing 158 carats of "Granny's Chips", but one should never underestimate the carat capacity of Queen Máxima. She wore the Stuart Tiara in all its glory.

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The Duchess of Cornwall still favors the same white dress strategy as her mother-in-law; we've seen this one a few times in the past. She did manage to break up her diamonds and pearls with my favorite pink topaz.

Greville Tiara
Everyday Pearl Pendant Earrings
Five Strand Pearl Choker with Pink Topaz Clasp
Brooch, at her shoulder
Diamond Bracelet
Royal Victorian Order (Riband and Star)
Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II

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The most exciting jewel news - on the British side of things - came from The Duchess of Cambridge. This is the first we've seen Queen Alexandra's Wedding Necklace since Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother wore it (it was one of her favorites). We also now know that The Duchess of Cambridge has been given Her Maj's royal family order. The gift, which is private and only known when the recipient wears the brooch, was first worn for the 2017 Diplomatic Reception (we just didn't get to see it in the car shots). Because these orders have been made with ivory in the past, it was also clarified that Kate's has been made using glass. (The Duke of Cambridge, as you may know, is very publicly against ivory.)

Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara (Queen Mary's)
Collingwood Pearl and Diamond Earrings (from the collection of Diana, Princess of Wales)
Queen Alexandra's Wedding Necklace
Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II
Diamond Bracelet

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The Countess of Wessex wore the Five Aquamarine Tiara on loan from The Queen. Her earrings are very large and very sparkly (with a shape similar to The Queen's Emerald or Diamond Pendants), but I don't know if they are also loans at this time.

Again, you can see more from this banquet at Order of Splendor.

State Opening of Parliament

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, traveled in State to the Palace of Westminster today to open the Session of Parliament.

State Opening of Parliament: the only time it's acceptable to heckle the Queen's peeps. She compensates with maximum day bling, as well she should.

One requires two separate head ornaments, naturally. One for doing the thing itself (the Imperial State Crown, above left and center), and one for the ride to and from (the George IV State Diadem, above right).

And then one needs enough diamonds and etc. to clang around just in case the crown's not enough of a LOOK AT ME signal. There's the diamond earrings and a lovely trinket of a necklace from one's father (above left), one of Queen Mary's bracelets and a diamond evening watch (above center), plus the Collar and Great George of the Order of the Garter, just for a touch of medieval flair (above right).

George IV State Diadem
Imperial State Crown
Diamond Pendant Earrings
George VI Festoon Necklace
Queen Mary's Chain-Link Bracelet
Diamond Evening Watch
Collar and Great George of the Order of the Garter

Photos:Getty Images/PA

The George VI Festoon Necklace

The George VI Festoon Necklace

In 1950, King George VI had a diamond necklace created for his daughter Princess Elizabeth using 105 loose collets that were among the Crown heirlooms he inherited. (These, according to Hugh Roberts, had been used by Queen Mary to change the lengths of her multiple diamond collet necklaces, hence their loose status in the collection.) The end result is this take on a triple strand necklace: three strands of graduated collets suspended between two diamond triangles, with a single collet strand at the back. This is also called simply the Queen’s Festoon Necklace, though I’ll use George VI’s name to be a little more specific.

Even though her collection of diamond necklaces has vastly increased since 1950, this is still a favorite with the Queen and she wears it on a fairly regular basis.

Appearances:
23 October 2018: State Visit from The Netherlands, State Banquet 
9 May 2012: State Opening of Parliament
1986: State Visit from Spain
1983: State Visit to Sweden  
1978: State Visit to Germany
1972: State Visit from the Netherlands
1967: Visit to Malta 
1965: State Visit to Germany   
1960: State Visit from France  
1958: State Visit from Germany
1958: State Visit to the Netherlands 
Various Years: State Opening of Parliament 

Photos: Leslie Field/Corbis