Our Favorite Royal Jewels from the Queen Beatrix Abdication Party

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated her throne last night in favor of her son, but before she left the regency behind she threw one heck of a ball. We don’t know about you, but in our opinion there aren’t nearly enough opportunities to wear tiaras. So when we get to live vicariously through the royals attending this ball, rocking their headpieces/crown jewels, it’s pretty exciting. Our love for Kate & Wills is strong, but the couple’s constant attempts to keep it real just don’t get us going the same way, say, Princess Maxima’s apricot sized diamond pendant does.

We love Princess Mary’s classic crown. Spires of pearl and diamond point gracefully towards the sky, and her large pearl and diamond drop earrings beautifully compliment both tiara and the illusion boat neck of her gown.

The guest of honor wore an incredible blue fur coat, the Württemberg tiara with extra pearls and an amazing oversized brooch. To the left is the aforementioned Princess Maxima, let’s get a close up of that pendant:

We can’t even guess how many carats this parure is. We’ve seen her wear Diamond Bandeau Tiara and necklace without the enhancer, but obviously we prefer it with the pendant. It was created in the 1930’s from several massive stones that were a gift to Queen Emma in 1879. And the drop earrings with pear shaped diamonds are a perfect addition to all the round brilliants. This is just one of many of the Dutch royal family’s fabulous tiaras and crown jewels, but we think she chose the perfect one for this occasion – she’s becoming queen after all!

Princess Letizia is stunning always, but really shines in black lace with floral appliques. The gown perfectly matches her diamond tiara, which is the Mellerio Floral Tiara. Created in 1962, it was a gift to Queen Sofia for her wedding.

Princess Victoria, a royal favorite, matched her amethyst Elie Saab gown to Queen Josephine’s Amethyst crown (yep, Napoleon’s wife).

Love this 2-4-1 tiara look. On the left, Princess Mabel wears a diamond crown that could possible be the Mellerio Sapphire Tiara, diamond setting (although Maxima wore it, with sapphires, this morning so we’re not sure. Princess Laurentien wears the aquamarine tiara (and brooch and bracelet!)

Crown Princess Sarah’s fabulous tiara looks like her wedding tiara with an added jewel at the peak, but we can’t be certain. However we love the ultra traditional look of this tiara and the way it pops against her modern cobalt ensemble.

The boring royal family members of England were there (seriously, when do we get to see more of Harry in a tux at these functions?) But Camilla and her oddly proportioned dress nearly made up for our disappointment by wearing the fabulous Boucheron Honeycomb tiara.