Archives for February 2021

The grand ducal family of Luxembourg doesn’t just have one dedicated bridal diadem. The members of the large, extended family have used several sparklers as wedding tiaras. Two family brides have chosen today’s jewel, the Nassau Floral Tiara, to wear on their wedding days.

The exact provenance of this petite diamond floral tiara doesn’t appear to be known to the public. It shares design similarities with several large diamond floral brooches from the family’s collection, which likely date to the nineteenth century. (The family’s larger floral tiara, the Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara, also dates to that era.) The smaller floral tiara was photographed on the late Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte, and it has been worn on occasion by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, especially during her years as hereditary grand duchess. In the photo above, she wears it during the Belgian state visit to Luxembourg in March 1994.

Today, the tiara is most frequently worn by the next generation of the family. Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg has worn the tiara more than once. Above, she wears it for the dinner held the night before the wedding of her brother, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, in October 2012.

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie has also worn the tiara. She paired it with one of the floral brooches for the National Day reception in June 2019.

The tiara is small and romantic in design, making it perfect as an understated wedding tiara. It’s been worn that way by two of the family’s brides. In both cases, the weddings were held in cold weather, with the tiaras adding a bit of seasonal frost to the bridal ensembles. Archduchess Marie Christine of Austria, daughter of Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg, wore the tiara for her wedding to Count Rodolphe of Limburg-Stirum in Belgium in December 2008.

Four years later, the tiara was worn again for a winter wedding. This time, the bride was Adelaide Drape-Frisch, who married Archduke Christoph of Austria, son of Princess Marie Astrid, in France in December 2012.