Princess Catharina-Amalia debuts tiara she first wore as a child while playing dress-up

Many a little girl has played dress-up by popping a tiara on her head, and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands is no exception.

The only difference – her play tiara happens to be real, and she has now worn it in public for the very first time.

The Dutch royal, whose official title is Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, is the eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife, Queen Maxima, and heir apparent to the Dutch throne.

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Now, the 21-year-old princess has worn the tiara to a state banquet.

Princess Catharina-Amalia was photographed wearing the Mellerio Ruby Parure tiara in her mother's dressing room when she was nine.

The photo was later released publicly by the Dutch royal family on its official website to mark her 18th birthday on December 2, 2021.

She wore the tiara for the first time in an official capacity for a state banquet in honour of the Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik at Amsterdam's Royal Palace on April 15.

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The tiara was reportedly made for Queen Emma in 1888 by French jewellers. It is one of a number of tiaras in the Dutch royal collection.

She has previously been photographed wearing the Dutch Star tiara, the Ruby Peacock tiara and the Dutch Sapphire Parure tiara.

Princess Catharina-Amalia was born in The Hague on December 7, 2003.

After her father became King on April 30, 2013, she was given the title Princess of Orange.

This title is only held by the heir to the throne and is used without a first name.

On her 18th birthday, she became a member of the Dutch Council of State and its Advisory Division.

She is currently studying at university in Amsterdam but sometimes accompanies her parents to receptions and visits in preparation for her future role as head of state.

The princess flew to the Spanish capital Madrid earlier this month to dedicate a new tulip garden named in her honour, located outside the royal palace in the Plaza de Oriente.

Tulips are the national flower of the Netherlands.

The princess speaks fluent Spanish as her mother grew up in Argentina and spent about a year secretly living in Spain while studying.

She previously revealed in a royal biography released three years ago to mark her 18th birthday that she wasn't ready to be queen.

"I said to my father, 'You just keep on eating healthy and exercising a lot'," she said, adding it was her wish that her mother act as regent should her father die before she was ready to take on the role of monarch.

She reportedly said in the same book, "I love tiaras. Show me a tiara, and I'll know where it came from. I can recognise all the tiaras of Europe.

"I used to put them on from my mother. Then there would be one on her make-up table and I would have it directly on my head."

Despite this, she is said to want to live a normal life and originally rejected the $AU2.5 million annual allowance she was meant to receive on turning 18.

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