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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Archives for 2017

Jewels in Motion: Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara

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William Thomas Cain/Getty Images
The final post in our month-long celebration of the jewels of Diana, Princess of Wales focuses on one of her most famous pieces: Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara. You can read more about the tiara’s background in our post here, and then come back to enjoy today’s collection of GIFs featuring Diana wearing the tiara!
(Usual caveats apply: some GIFs may include flash photography, and everyone needs to avoid rehashing old arguments in the comments section. Thanks, everyone!)

Diana wears the tiara at the State Opening of Parliament, November 1981
Diana wears the tiara at a return dinner during the Dutch state visit, 1982
(Along with a pearl choker borrowed from the Queen and the enormous sapphire brooch, later made into a choker clasp, that was a wedding present from the Queen Mum!)
Diana wears the tiara during a dinner in New Zealand, April 1983
Diana wears the tiara for a dinner in Ottawa, June 1983
Diana wears the tiara at the Malawi state banquet, 1985
(And yep, that’s Princess Anne wearing the same dress and jewels she wore at the Guildhall banquet this month! Classic Anne.)




Diana wears the tiara with her famous “Elvis dress” in Hong Kong, 1989
Diana wears the tiara for the Italian state banquet, October 1990
Diana wears the tiara for the Malaysian state banquet, 1993

The Bavarian Ruby and Spinel Parure

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Photo taken by a friend of the blog. Do not reproduce.

A good friend of mine recently made a trip to Munich, and — knowing how much I love jewelry — she sent me a few photographs of some of the grand royal jewelry in the treasury room at the Residenz Museum. I thought it would be fun to feature one of those sets today: the tiara and jewels Bavarian Ruby and Spinel Parure. (It’s especially appropriate since we’re right at the end of the month, and ruby is July’s birthstone and spinel is now one of August’s!)

Wikimedia Commons

The suite of jewels is almost two centuries old. Made by the Bavarian court jeweler, Caspar Rieländer, the parure was a gift from King Ludwig I of Bavaria to his wife, Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Therese was able to enjoy her new jewels while a major party broke out around her: the first Oktoberfest was celebrated in Munich as a part of Ludwig and Therese’s wedding festivities, and it’s been an annual event ever since.

Wikimedia Commons

The focus of Rieländer’s massive new parure was, without a doubt, the tiara. This enormous diadem, which features numerous floral elements in its design, is made of gold and set with diamonds, rubies, and spinels. The tiara was so heavy and difficult to wear that Therese apparently didn’t like it very much, and I don’t believe there are any extant portraits of her wearing the tiara.

Wikimedia Commons

Here’s another view that emphasizes the diamonds that dominate the tiara’s design. Can you spot the individual flowers, vines, and leaves? Many of the flowers feature diamond petals with rubies or spinels in their centers.

Wikimedia Commons

The set also includes a pair of bracelets. The floral motif carries through each piece of the parure, as you can see above.

Wikimedia Commons

And here are the necklace and earrings. The entire parure now lives in the treasury room of one of Bavaria’s grandest museums, the Residenz in Munich.

Princess Antonia, wife of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, wears the ruby and spinel parure, ca. 1921

It’s difficult to fully appreciate the size of this whopper of a tiara until you see an image of someone wearing it. Thankfully, Princess Antonia, the Luxembourgish wife of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, decided to wear the parure for a set of official portraits taken shortly after her wedding in 1921. She’s wearing court dress here, and the combination of the tiara and the veil somehow makes the diadem look even more massive. Can you imagine trying to wear this one while eating dinner or dancing??? It’s probably better off stored safely in a museum display.