Tiara Flashback: Dazzling Diamonds in Spain (2009)

The Spanish royals gathered at the Royal Palace in Madrid on December 14, 2009, to host a gala dinner in honor of their diplomatic guests, President Nguyen Minh Triet of Vietnam and his wife, Tran Thi Kim Chi.

Back then, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were still on the Spanish throne, and they led the royal contingent at the dinner. All four of the Spanish royals wore the star and sash of the Order of Carlos III, and Juan Carlos and Felipe also both wore the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Both Queen Sofia and Princess Letizia wore monochromatic looks with sparkling details. Letizia’s wore a black sleeveless gown with a full skirt, while Sofia wore a long-sleeved red dress with a tiered skirt.

Queen Sofia wore several pieces of important Spanish royal heirloom jewelry. She wore the Spanish Floral Tiara, paired with the 37 Pearl Necklace and the Gray Pearl Pendant Brooch from the joyas de pasar collection. She finished off the look with elegant pearl drop earrings, gold bangles on both wrists, and a gorgeous cluster ring.

Princess Letizia wore the small geometric kokoshnik from the family collection. The Prussian Tiara, which belongs to Queen Sofia, is an heirloom from Sofia’s German royal grandmother, the Duchess of Brunswick. Both Sofia and Letizia wore the jewel as a wedding tiara.

With the tiara, Letizia wore several pieces of personal jewelry with simple, clean lines. The selected jewels almost form a sort of married parure, given their design similarities. She wore her diamond girandole earrings from Yanes, her white gold and diamond column bracelet from Cartier, and the fleur-de-lis brooch that comes from her Ansorena tiara.