The Stuart Tiara is perhaps the Dutch royal family’s showstopper. Its central diamond is almost a whopping 40 carats.
The central diamond is called The Stuart Diamond, and its first recorded owner was Queen Mary II of England, who reigned jointly with her husband, King William III, also Prince of Orange. Mary purchased the diamond after their wedding, and it was first set into a brooch. After Mary’s death, William inherited the diamond. Following his death a few years later, the diamond returned to the Netherlands as part of his Dutch property. Many years later, William V, Prince of Orange, fled to England, and while in exile, his wife reset the diamond into a pendant on a necklace. When their son became King in 1815, the diamond became part of the royal collection. The diamond briefly returned to England as it was on display in the Great Exhibition of 1851.1
The Stuart Diamond was finally placed in a tiara in 1897 when Queen Emma ordered a tiara for her daughter’s inauguration. Queen Wilhelmina indeed wore the tiara, including the Stuart Diamond, for her inauguration. She wore the tiara again, albeit without the top row of diamonds and the central Stuart diamond, for her wedding in 1901.
(public domain)
It was a favourite of Queen Wilhelmina’s daughter Juliana, but Juliana’s daughter Beatrix was never seen in the tiara at all. Queen Maxima has worn the tiara in several settings now.
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