Wed, June 24, 2026 at 5:15 PM UTC
Tiaras at the Belgian State Banquet for JapanPhotonews – Getty Images
(Photonews – Getty Images)
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako were in Belgium this week for a two-day state visit, marking 160 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Belgian state banquet was hosted at the Royal Castle of Laeken, the official residence of the Belgian royal family in Brussels.
The banquet also marked one of the first major diplomatic occasions for Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth, who personally greeted the Emperor and Empress at the airport upon their arrival, since completing her graduate studies at Harvard University last month. The 24-year-old crown princess earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, having previously graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and politics from Lincoln College at Oxford University in 2024.
Belgium and Japan’s alliance dates to the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation signed in 1866. According to Belgium’s diplomatic service, more than 280 Japanese companies operate in Belgium, supporting nearly 30,000 jobs across sectors including automotive, logistics, chemicals, and biotechnology. Japan ranks as Belgium’s 25th-largest export market and its fourth-largest non-European supplier.
The stop in Belgium follows a high-profile visit to the Netherlands, where the imperial couple were hosted by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. In addition to the state banquet in Amsterdam last week, the two royal couples gathered at Het Oude Loo, the Dutch royal family’s weekend palace, to watch Japan’s opening 2026 World Cup match against the Netherlands together. It was the first time the Japanese royals had watched a World Cup match with another royal family since 2002, when, then as Crown Prince and Princess, they attended a Japan-Belgium match alongside then-Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde.
Below, take a look at all of the scene-stealing tiaras worn at the state banquet for Japan:
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