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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Archives for February 2017

Birthday Jewels: Princess Astrid Turns 85

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Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen / the Royal Court

The Norwegian royal court has released a new set of portraits of Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner. The king’s sister celebrates her 85th birthday today, and the jewels she chose for the images show her deep connection to Norway’s royal history.

Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen / the Royal Court

The most bejeweled of the three portraits is this one, which features Astrid standing between portraits of her parents, King Olav V and Crown Princess Martha. She’s wearing her heirloom set of turquoise and diamond jewelry.

Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen / the Royal Court

Here’s a better look at the jewels. The turquoises were inherited by Astrid’s grandmother, Queen Maud, from her own mother, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. Astrid received the parure after the deaths of Queen Maud and Crown Princess Martha, and she’s indicated that the jewels will eventually return to the main line of the royal family.

And there’s one more interesting royal history connection here; Brock from the RJWMB has noted that Astrid’s bracelet appears to be the badge of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert — probably the one that belonged to Queen Maud.

Morten Brun / the Royal Court

A third portrait shows Astrid with her brother and sister-in-law, King Harald V and Queen Sonja, and her nephew and niece, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit.

Morten Brun / the Royal Court

Astrid wore a glittering geometric suite of jewelry for this photograph. The earrings are made in a modern, abstract daisy design.

Morten Brun / the Royal Court

Sonja’s necklace matches the belt of her dress. Her earrings feature leaf and ribbon motifs.

Morten Brun / the Royal Court

Mette-Marit wears long, dramatic earrings…

Morten Brun / the Royal Court

…and a lovely gold bracelet that appears to be set with rubies, diamonds, pearls, and sapphires.

Morten Brun / the Royal Court

And even Haakon shows off a few accessories: a signet ring and, amusingly, a watch that shows us precisely when the portrait was taken!

Sundays with Victoria: Prince Albert’s Tiaras

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The Oriental Circlet (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Prince Albert, who is steaming up the screen right now on Victoria, was kind of a Victorian Renaissance man, if you will. He loved design, and Queen Victoria was the lucky beneficiary of his jewelry design efforts. Today, we’re looking at the four tiaras that Albert designed for his wife during their marriage.

Queen Victoria wears the Sapphire Coronet

The Sapphire Coronet: This petite diamond and sapphire coronet was designed by Albert and made by it was made by Joseph Kitching in 1842 for the price of £415. Victoria was painted in the coronet by Winterhalter the same year. The piece stayed with the main branch of the royal family until 1922, when King George V gave it to his daughter, Princess Mary. Her descendants kept the piece until a few years ago, and it was recently part of a bit of drama over an attempted foreign sale. (Much more over here!)

Queen Victoria wears the Emerald and Diamond Tiara

The Emerald and Diamond Tiara: In 1845, Albert designed this diamond and emerald tiara, which was made by Joseph Kitching for around a thousand pounds. Victoria was painted in the piece twice, but at some point, it ended up with the descendants of her daughter, Princess Louise. The tiara was included in Geoffrey Munn’s 2001 tiara book, but its current whereabouts are unknown. (More details over here!)

Queen Victoria wears the original, smaller version of the Ruby Strawberry Leaf Tiara

The Ruby Strawberry Leaf Tiara: This tiara, with its fashionable Victorian strawberry-leaf motifs, was originally a small diamond and ruby bandeau. It was made by Joseph Kitching, apparently with Albert’s design input, around 1844. The piece was later altered to make it taller, and a second, all-diamond version was commissioned for his daughter, Princess Alice. After Albert’s death, Victoria had at least one important outing in the tiara; she wore it for the wedding of her daughter, Princess Louise, in 1871. She gave the sparkler to her youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, in 1885. Her descendants (including Queen Ena of Spain) wore and owned the tiara for years, but it seems likely that it was eventually sold. (More over here!)

Queen Victoria wears the Oriental Circlet in its original opal setting

The Oriental Circlet: One of the most beautiful tiaras designed by Albert is this diamond circlet, which was originally set with opals, one of his favorite gemstones. Inspired by the Indian jewelry from the Great Exhibition, Albert reflected Mughal arches in the diadem’s design. The tiara was made in 1853 by Garrard; in 1858, after the settlement of the Hanoverian claim, the piece was remade to remove any diamonds that came from Queen Charlotte. In her will, Victoria designated the circlet as an “heirloom of the crown,” and it has been with the main line of the royal family ever since. Queen Alexandra had the opals removed and replaced with rubies, and the piece remains in that form today. (Much more over here!)

Queen Mary’s Amethyst Tiara

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Queen Mary wears her amethyst tiara and necklace

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom has a massive jewel collection, with tiaras featuring all sorts of precious stones. But one notable stone lacking from the queen’s tiaras is the amethyst. That wasn’t always the case, though; once upon a time the Windsors did have amethyst tiaras, including this substantial diadem.

The tiara belonged to the biggest jewel fan of the family: that’s right, our lady of the week, Queen Mary. Rather than having the piece specifically commissioned, May snapped these amethysts up at a charity auction. She was photographed in the tiara at least twice before apparently giving it to her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth. Unlike her mother-in-law, the Queen Mum was never photographed wearing the tiara. Supposedly, when she offered it to her own daughter, Elizabeth II, to be included in the royal collection, the queen refused (for reasons unknown).

Instead, the tiara was put up for auction, leaving the family entirely. The matching pieces, including earrings and a brooch, were also sold. The necklace was later photographed on Vogue editor Anna Wintour at a gala at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2007.

So why get rid of one of May’s tiaras, especially when there aren’t any other amethyst tiaras (that we know of, anyway!) in the family collection? Maybe the tiara wasn’t deemed to be up to the usual standards of craftsmanship for a royal collection piece? Maybe the queen simply doesn’t like amethysts? Her collection does include one important demi-parure of diamond and amethyst jewels, the Kent amethysts, but that set doesn’t include a tiara.

A fuller version of Mary’s amethyst portrait

It’s also possible, though, that Elizabeth simply doesn’t have as much use for an amethyst tiara as past queens and consorts did. Amethysts are traditionally mourning jewels, and when families still regularly observed the strict mourning protocol of earlier centuries, royal ladies needed to have an amethyst tiara on hand. Things are quite different today. Ultimately, we may never know Elizabeth’s real reason for ditching this modern purple sparkler.