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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Archives for September 2017

Prince of Wales Feathers for the Duchess of Rothesay

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ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images

The Duchess of Rothesay — the title used by the Duchess of Cornwall when she’s in Scotland — accompanied her Duke on Friday for a rather delightful royal errand: christening a new aircraft carrier, Scottish style.

JANE BARLOW/AFP/Getty Images

Camilla wore her diamond and gray pearl Prince of Wales Feather Brooch for the occasion, plus her diamond and pearl earrings and her wedding and engagement rings. The brooch, which we saw her wear during the couple’s recent tour of Italy, was an especially appropriate choice, as she was attending the official naming ceremony for HMS Prince of Wales.

JANE BARLOW/AFP/Getty Images

According to the helpful caption writers over at Getty, the ceremony involved “triggering a bottle of ten-year-old whisky from the Laphroaig distillery in the Isle of Islay, smashing it against the ship’s hull.” Not a bad way to spend a Friday!

Queen Letizia Goes Monochrome in Madrid

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Samuel de Roman/Getty Images

For the Esmo 2017 Oncology Congress in Madrid on Thursday, Queen Letizia of Spain went with a striking look in head-to-toe black and white.

Samuel de Roman/Getty Images

Letizia chose the Luna Earrings from one of her favorite brands, Coolook, to receive members of the congress. The earrings are set with white and black onyx.

Samuel de Roman/Getty Images

The earrings echoed the black and white stripes of her dress, which was made by one of her favorite designers, Carolina Herrera. Here’s a look at her entire ensemble for the event.

Jewels on Film: VICTORIA Season 2 Trailer

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Magpies living in the UK are already watching the second season of Victoria, but the royal soap doesn’t return here on PBS in the US until January. In the meantime, here’s a look at some of the jewels we’ve seen in the trailers released by Masterpiece!

Queen Victoria appears to be dealing with issues of new motherhood in the beginning of season two, and we’ve got lots of casual, daytime jewelry on display in these scenes. Here, a pair of small earrings (perhaps pearls?) and a necklace with a carved pendant.
She’s also concerned about Albert’s feelings for her now that she’s a wife, a monarch, and a mother. The earrings here are a bit longer, and it looks like we may have a second, slightly more delicate necklace.
And then, we’ve got a brooch! (We saw this one briefly in season one, but this gives us a better view of the piece.) Queen Victoria was a brooch fiend, and I’ve been pleased overall at the number of brooches on display in the show. It looks like she may be wearing earrings to match the rich red enamel of this particular piece.
Delicate, era-appropriate earring here as Victoria broods over her sleeping baby. You also get a quick glance at Victoria’s famous serpent engagement ring, which the production has done a decent job of replicating. (We got a very good look at it during last season.)
And then we see a few more gala jewels! These are costumes — more specifically, replicas of the real-life costumes worn by Albert and Victoria at the Bal Costume of May 1842. The real Albert and Victoria dressed as King Edward III of England and his queen, Philippa of Hainault, for the occasion. They were painted by Edwin Landseer in their costumes; you can see an image of the painting here!
Uncle Leopold is back, all festooned with orders and medals. We’ve got a new tiara here, which I think might have been used as a hair ornament for the Duchess of Kent in season one. It’s a bit kokoshnik-y on Victoria.
Here’s another angle on that tiara.
Here, as Victoria is dressed in her robes, we see her in the production’s version of her wedding jewelry again, including the mini Albert Brooch. (Here’s our recap of the wedding episode, for comparison.) I do like that they’ve put the actual Garter on her arm!
And although the necklace here looks cheap, it’s grand to see Vic in the Diamond Diadem. The scale is a little off, but it was a piece she actually possessed and wore quite a bit during the early years of her reign. (The diadem appeared quite a bit in last season’s episode, debuting during the coronation scenes in episode one.)
These images are from a scene featuring the christening of little Princess Vicky, which actually took place in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace. (It appears that they’ve placed the christening in one of their royal church sets, given the lighting.) Here’s a painting of the christening, which shows that Victoria did indeed wear her uncle’s state diadem for the event — but she also wore her Turkish necklace and earrings, not earrings with red gemstones and an adjustable length necklace (!).
One more view of Al, Vic, and Vic Jr. (Here’s a little gossip: the actors who play Victoria and Albert, Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes, are apparently now an item in real life, too.) The placement of the replica diadem here is quite good, and the hairstyle is exactly reminiscent of 1841. 
…this diadem placement, though? Not great!

Will you be watching Victoria with us this January? I’ll be recapping the show each Monday, just like last season. If you missed any of those recaps, you can read them all here! (And you can find the first season of the show on Amazon, both in DVD and streaming form, over here!)