Lovely in lavender! Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands stunned at a state banquet for His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on Tuesday. For the occasion, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander's 21-year-old daughter wore a Safiyaa cape gown, which she teamed with the Mellerio Ruby Tiara.
While April 15 was the first time that Amalia has worn the tiara to a state banquet, it was not the first time that she's been seen wearing the dazzling headpiece. A photo of a young Amalia sporting the tiara was included in Claudia de Breij’s 2021 book, Amalia. Per Royal Central, the picture was taken in 2012 while the Princess' mother, Queen Maxima, was getting her makeup done.
In the book Amalia, which was written for the Dutch Princess' 18th birthday, the future Queen spoke about her love for tiaras. “I love tiaras,” she said (via Dutch magazine Beau Monde ). “Show me a tiara, and I know where it comes from. I can recognize all the tiaras in Europe.”
“I used to put them on, from my mother. Then there was one on her dressing table and then I had it directly on my head,” Amalia added.
The Princess of Orange also revealed in the book that she's always loved wearing her mother's jewelry. She shared, “Ever since I was very little, she would be preparing for an important dinner and she would shout through the house: ‘Amalia, where’s that ring?’”
Amalia, who is first in line to the Dutch throne, made her official tiara debut in 2022 wearing her mother's wedding day tiara to Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway’s 18th birthday gala dinner. The Princess made her state banquet debut last April, wearing the Ruby Peacock tiara, during King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain's state visit to the Netherlands.
The week before her latest tiara appearance, the Princess of Orange was in Madrid, where she unveiled a plaque at the tulip garden she gifted the city and its inhabitants. According to the Dutch Royal House, the garden is a thank you from the Princess of Orange to everyone who made her stay in Madrid possible "during a period under special circumstances." It was revealed last year that Amalia secretly lived in Spain for over a year to escape threats made against her. At the unveiling on April 7, the Princess said, "Madrid is like a second home to me, especially in a time that was difficult in the Netherlands. In this very Dutch way I want to thank everyone who took care of my safety and well-being in Madrid."