Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
Which of Crown Princess Mary’s tiaras do you like best?— Ella Kay (@courtjeweller) April 7, 2016
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| Crown Princess Mary wears the Midnight Tiara at the Swedish royal wedding, June 2013 (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) |
While the Danish royal jewel collection includes a number of antique heirloom tiaras, the women of the family also have a few contemporary diadems at their disposal. This modern sparkler, the Midnight Tiara, is worn exclusively by the nation’s future queen.
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| Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
Crown Princess Mary wears four tiaras: today’s sparkler, her wedding tiara (in both all-diamond and diamond-and-pearl configurations), her Edwardian necklace/tiara, and the historic Danish Ruby Parure Tiara. Of the four, the Midnight is the only one that she doesn’t personally own. It was created in 2009 by Charlotte Lynggaard and craftsmen and women of the Ole Lynggaard workshop. The piece features diamond and moonstone “berries” nestled among leaves of rose gold, white gold, and oxidized silver. It was originally displayed alongside historic Danish royal diadems as a part of a tiara exhibition at the Amalienborg Palace Museum.
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| Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
The tiara, which also has a coordinating brooch and pair of earrings, was designed with the crown princess’s Australian heritage in mind: the leaves and berries are said to have been made to resemble the Golden Wattle, a symbol of the nation. Mary first wore the tiara in public in 2009 at a party in honor of the 75th birthday of her father-in-law, Prince Henrik. Since then, she has worn it at several other high-profile occasions, including Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday celebrations and the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013.
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| Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
But although she is the only person who wears the tiara, Mary doesn’t actually own the piece. Rather than purchasing the tiara, which is valued at nearly $300,000, a deal was made that gives Mary the exclusive right to wear the tiara, while the Ole Lynggaard company is the actual owner.
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| The Duchess of Cambridge attends a Kensington Palace reception ahead of next week’s royal tour (Photo: Warren Allott – WPA Pool/Getty Images) |
This evening, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hosted a reception at Kensington Palace ahead of next week’s big tour of India and Bhutan. Let’s have a look at Kate’s earring choice, shall we?
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| Kate wears Cassandra Goad’s “Temple of Heaven” earrings (Photo: Warren Allott – WPA Pool/Getty Images) |
Kate paired familiar earrings — the “Temple of Heaven” pair by Cassandra Goad — with her gown. The earrings are 9 carat yellow gold girandoles made up of squares, ovals, and circles.
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| Photo: Warren Allott – WPA Pool/Getty Images |
I’m going to sound cranky here — forgive me! — but I’m a little confused about the jewelry-hair pairing at this event. The earrings are complicated; like all good girandoles, the various parts are articulated at various levels, so they move delicately as the wearer moves. Unfortunately, because Kate chose to wear her hair down and curled at the ends, the earrings mostly ended up getting stuck in her hair.
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| Photo: Warren Allott – WPA Pool/Getty Images |
It’s not that I think you can never wear statement earrings with your hair down, but in this case, it really kind of spoiled the effect. I’m thinking either Kate needed to choose a different hairstyle or a different pair of earrings: either an updo with the girandoles or a simpler pair of studs or drop earrings with the long, curled hair. Thoughts?