Queen Maxima altered wedding tiara – not everyone could pull it off

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Maxima Zorreguieta, who was born in Argentina, married then Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in February 2002. The pair had a fairytale wedding ceremony, but Maxima kept her gown simple.

Maxima’s dress was ivory-coloured dress with French sleeves and a round neckline.

It had two elegant lace appliqués on the sides of her wide skirt, which culminated in a five-metre-long train, followed by her floral tulle veil.

The dress’ designer was nobody other than Valentino Garavani, who spent three months making the gown.

Maxima completed her wedding outfit with a stunning tiara – the same one that Willem-Alexander’s mother, Queen Beatrix, wore for her wedding to Prince Nicholas back in 1966.

However, Maxima made some subtle changes to the tiara to add a little more sparkle to her understated bridal look.

The base was composed of rows of diamonds and flowers with pearl centres and diamond petals.

But, Maxima replaced the pearl flowers with star brooches. These five diamond stars belonged to Queen Emma.

Emma had been given two sets of diamond star brooches when she married King Willem III in 1879. One set has stars with ten points, the other has stars with twelve points.

Maxima chose the ten-pointed stars for her wedding tiara. But has worn the twelve-pointed stars in the past, mostly as pins on order sashes.

Only two members of the Dutch royal family have worn the star version of the tiara – Maxima, of course, and King Willem-Alexander’s aunt, Princess Margriet.

According to Lauren Kiehna of the Court Jeweller, this may be because “it’s not a tiara that every Princess could pull off”.

“You need an element of pizzazz about you to make the stars work,” she said. “But it’s practically perfect for Maxima, who absolutely oozes joie de vivre.”

After becoming Queen, Maxima wore many grand dresses that were a little more elaborate than her wedding dress.

During the investiture of King Willem-Alexander on 30 April 2013, she wore a blue dress with a veiled bodice in chiffon and embroidered with rhinestones and crystals.

It also featured a sheer long-sleeved design and a skirt with embroidery at the hem to match the cuffs and neckline.

She complemented this design, which was by designer Jan Taminiau, with the historic sapphire tiara – a 19th century gift from King Willem III to his wife, Emma.

During her and her husband’s visit to the UK in October 2018, Maxima donned a flowing, green dress.

She wore this again in Norway in November last year. The garment featured a sheer, long-sleeved bodice and a flowing skirt.

As her main jewel back in 2018, Maxima opted for the so-called Stuart Tiara, a piece that had not been seen since the reign of Juliana of the Netherlands, specifically since 1972.

It is a luxurious tiara, adorned with diamonds, and Maxima wore earrings that matched it.

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