A Romantic Tiara for Liechtenstein’s Princess Brides

The tiara has a balanced, classic design with elements popular in centuries past. The sparkler, which features honeysuckle motifs in diamonds, silver, and gold, dates to the nineteenth century. The honeysuckle designs are surrounded by a halo of diamonds, and each element is interspersed by a vertical element with a floralesque design.

The tiara takes its name from the House of Kinsky, a family of Czech nobles who were part of the glittering world of the Habsburgs. The tiara started as a part of the Kinsky family collection, but its first wearer actually was a Princess of Liechtenstein. The sparkler was apparently a wedding gift to Princess Marie Josepha of Liechtenstein from her new husband, Prince Ferdinand Bonaventura, the 7th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, in 1870. (They were one of many Kinsky-Liechtenstein marriages.) The maker of the piece does not seem to be known. Above, it’s worn by Princess Marie Mathilde Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, the second wife of Ulrich, 10th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau.

Our friends over at Luxarazzi, who also covered the princely family of Liechtenstein, did a little digging on the way that the Kinsky family’s tiara ended up in the Liechtenstein princely collection. For one, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein’s wife, Princess Marie (who sadly recently passed away), was born a Countess of Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau. The consensus seems to be that the Kinsky family sold the tiara to Hans-Adam and Marie sometime in the 1980s or early 1990s. Princess Marie wore the piece in public for the first time in 1993, for a ball the night before the wedding of her son, Hereditary Prince Alois, and Duchess Sophie in Bavaria.

Since then, three brides from the Liechtenstein princely family have chosen to wear the Kinsky tiara on their wedding days. The first was Princess Tatjana of Liechtenstein, the only daughter of Prince Hans-Adam and Princess Marie. She wore the tiara on June 5, 1999, for her wedding to German businessman Philipp von Lattorff at the cathedral in Vaduz.

A few months later, another family bride wore the tiara for her religious wedding ceremony. Angela Brown, a Panamanian-American fashion designer, wore the tiara for her wedding to Hans-Adam and Marie’s second son, Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein, at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan on January 29, 2000.

Princess Angela paired the classic honeysuckle tiara with an elegant wedding dress that she designed herself.

And most recently, the tiara was worn at a Liechtenstein/Luxembourg family wedding in Italy. On September 25, 2021, Princess Marie Astrid of Liechtenstein wore the diamond honeysuckle tiara with a Marta Ferri gown to marry Ralph Worthington V at the cathedral in Ortobello. Marie Astrid is the daughter of Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (a brother of Prince Hans-Adam) and Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg, making her the niece of both the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein and the reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

The tiara has also been worn by one more member of the princely family: Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein, the wife of Hereditary Prince Alois (eldest son of Prince Hans-Adam). She was born Duchess Sophie in Bavaria. In September 2004, she wore the Kinsky Honeysuckle Tiara for a reception held ahead of the wedding of her sister, Duchess Elisabeth Marie, in Munich.

For me, though, the tiara has been most successful on the heads of princely brides. The combination of the classic design and a wedding veil is perfection. Add in the fact that honeysuckle is a symbol of happiness, and you’ve got a truly excellent tiara for a royal wedding.