Last week, the nation hosted the royal Dutch couple – King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima – over a five-day visit, to boost economic and political cooperation between the Netherlands and India. Why this proved extra exciting for our Community is because the elegant Queen Maxima donned a specially tailored, pink Gara, as she attended a banquet hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind on the eve of 14^th October, 2019, at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

A stunning combination of sophistication with beauty, Queen Maxima beautifully draped the exclusively customized, off-shoulder Parsi Gara embroidered baby pink sari, with the Gara thread work done in ivory white, blue and mauve on the gown. The chic outfit came to life with her gorgeous diamond tiara with diamond earrings and bracelet.

The main reason for the visit was for the royal couple to attend the inaugural session of the 25^th Technology Summit in New Delhi, in which The Netherlands is a partner country. India and The Netherlands have a bilateral trade turnover of USD 12.87 billion (2018- 2019). The Netherlands is the fifth largest investor in India (USD 23 billion between 2000 and 2017) and home to a 2,35,000 Indians – the largest diaspora in mainland Europe.

Apart from attending the official program in Delhi, the King and Queen also visited Mumbai and Kerala. Since his ascension to the throne in 2013, this marks King Willem-Alexander’s first Indian state visit with the queen.