Princess Margriet is the aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, so is a member of the Dutch Royal House. Today she will be officially representing the Dutch Royal Family at the Invictus Games which will be opened by Prince Harry. The King will instead be at the closing ceremony on April 22.
Margriet’s son, Prince Pieter-Christiaan, will also be attending today.
Princess Margriet is the Honorary Chair of the Dutch Invictus Games and has attended several events over the past couple of years.
The royal always looks splendid whenever she makes official appearances.
What is her most divisive tiara?
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Margriet’s Dutch Ears of Wheat tiara has made many appearances over the years, the first being in 1964 when the Princess was 21.
She attended the opening of the Holland Festival in Scheveningen in a strapless evening gown with sparkling detail on the bodice.
For jewellery, she chose the Dutch Ears of Wheat Tiara.
The tiara is made of a series of antique diamond wheat-ear brooches that were mounted on a frame in the 1950s.
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The ‘ears’ as they are known, were originally a set of eight diamond and silver brooches owned by the Romanovs.
They were brought to the Netherlands by Queen Sophie, who was the daughter of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia.
The tiara can be worn with four, six, or eight of the brooches set on the frame.
For the festival opening, Margriet wore the smallest setting of the tiara, with four ears of wheat.
The traditional symbolism of wheat is fertility, which is why multiple brides from the Dutch Royal Family have worn the family’s Ears of Wheat Tiara on their wedding days.
After Queen Sophie died in 1877, the brooches were passed on to her step-daughter Princess Wilhelmina.
Wilhelmina wore the diamond ornaments attached to a headdress, but the brooches were not mounted on a tiara frame until the 1950s.
Princess Irene was the first to wear the tiara, but it quickly became a favoured piece of Princess Margriet, who will be at the Invictus Games today.
All four of her daughters-in-law wore the tiara for their weddings: Princess Marilène in 1998, Princess Annette in 2000, and Princesses Anita and Aimée in 2005.
Royal fans are divided over Princess Margriet’s famous Dutch tiara.
Instagram user @ThatEileenGirl said: “It looks like a set of horns.”
Similarly, royal fan @JamesB added: “I have always felt quite sorry for Margriet’s daughters in law being given this to wear when the Dutch vaults have so many other stunners!”
Another royal watcher, @Aquamarine was slightly more positive, saying: “Wheat sheaths hold a lovely bridal sentiment”
Also, Instagram account @subtleshimmer admitted: “I’d never seen it extreme closeup before, it improves at that level.”
