A Queen Who Wears 8.99-Euro Earrings: Máxima's Weakness for Flower Earrings

Queen Máxima of the Netherlands long ago became one of the best foreign ambassadors of Spanish fashion. Although she combines haute couture with designers from all over the world, in recent years she has increasingly reached for Spanish brands - and not for casual occasions but for state visits and official events. And she has one weakness that recurs in particular: flower-shaped earrings.

Romantic, original and recognizable, she finds these earrings in brands like Zara, Mango, Luz Camino and Coolook. Interestingly, all three of her daughters, princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane, have inherited the taste and occasionally borrow their mother's pieces. In a royal wardrobe, then, the inheritance is sometimes measured in earrings.

From 8.99 euros to artisan silver

She debuted the enameled flowers from Zara on 23 April 2021, and then wore them in the historic photographs for her 50th birthday. They've been coming back regularly ever since, most recently during the official visit to India. That's exactly the point: a queen can put on earrings from a mass-market brand just as she would a one-of-a-kind artisan piece, and no one will hold it against her.

For the state visit to Kenya in 2023, however, she chose raffia earrings in the shape of a large daisy, designed in Barcelona for Mango, which were then on sale for 8.99 euros. A trifle by price, but it's precisely such details that make her fashion accessible rather than unattainable.

For the more formal moments come Luz Camino and Coolook, Spanish brands offering contemporary artisan silver and glass. From the red fritillaria flower to the cascading hibiscus, these pieces appear in Washington, South Africa, Kenya and in the family summer photos in The Hague. Some of them she hasn't taken off for years, but instead we've seen them on her daughters. An earring that passes from mother to daughter says more than any statement: style here isn't bought every season, it's handed down.