Sparkling Royal Tiaras to Celebrate a Bavarian Royal Wedding

On August 6, 2005, Prince Manuel of Bavaria married Princess Anna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg at a ceremony in Sweden. Manuel is the elder son of Prince Leopold of Bavaria, a great-grandson of Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria and Infanta Maria de la Paz of Spain, and his wife, Ursula Möhlenkamp. Leopold, a racing enthusiast, is a close friend of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and a godfather to Prince Carl Philip. The two friends became close because Leopold, who was raised by his maternal grandparents, is a nephew of Carl Gustaf’s late brother-in-law, Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern.

Princess Anna is also connected to the Scandinavian royals. She’s a second cousin of Prince Gustav, Princess Alexandra, and Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (children of Princess Benedikte of Denmark). Princess Anna’s mother, Countess Yvonne, is a member of Sweden’s aristocratic Wachmeister family. (That’s why the wedding was held in Sweden.)

Princess Anna didn’t wear the grandest tiara from this royal family’s vault for her wedding—she wore small diamond ornaments mixed in with sprigs of greenery. Instead, the Bavarian Sunburst Tiara was worn by her new mother-in-law, Princess Ursula of Bavaria. The tiara belonged to Prince Leopold’s great-grandmother, Infanta Maria de la Paz. The jewel was gifted to the infanta by her mother, Queen Isabella II of Spain, as a wedding present in 1883.

Princess Anna did get her big moment in the diamond sunburst tiara a few years later, wearing it for the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden in Stockholm in June 2010.

Princess Anna’s sister-in-law, Princess Felipa of Bavaria, wore the diamond sunburst tiara on her wedding day in May 2012. The following year, the tiara was sold at a Sotheby’s auction.

But back to the 2005 wedding—there were numerous prominent royal guests on the list, including the entire main line of the Swedish royal family. Queen Silvia, pictured here with King Carl XVI Gustaf, wore diamonds and pearls, including the Connaught Diamond Tiara and the Vasa Earrings.

Crown Princess Victoria was pretty in pink with diamond accessories, including one of her signature diadems, the Baden Fringe Tiara. Back in 2005, the tiara’s base was still wrapped in gray velvet to match Princess Lilian’s silver hair.

Princess Madeleine wore a fringe tiara, too: the Modern Fringe Tiara, which then was a personal jewel from Queen Silvia’s collection. (Note that the velvet on the tiara’s base is still dark at this point to match Silvia’s hair.) She also wore aquamarine drop earrings and an aquamarine pendant, plus a diamond bow brooch from the family vault.

One of the most striking tiaras at this wedding was worn by Countess Gunilla von Bismarck, a great-granddaughter of Otto von Bismarck. She wore an interesting bandeau set with diamonds and pearls, plus a diamond and pearl fringe necklace.

Other guests included the bridal couple’s German and Swedish families together with other members of the two countries aristocracy. pic.twitter.com/ASAKGVvR2A

— JR (@Jakreg76) May 29, 2019

There were also numerous other German and Swedish royal and aristocratic jewels in attendance, including the Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara on Duchess Marie-Caroline in Bavaria and the Oettingen-Spielberg Tiara on Princess Angela of Oettingen-Spielberg.

In the years since her marriage, Princess Anna has worn a variety of antique jewels at royal events. In June 2010, on the night before Crown Princess Victoria’s royal wedding, Anna wore pieces from Queen Amalia’s Bavarian Amethyst Parure. (Her mother-in-law also wore the amethysts at the 2005 wedding.)

For Princess Madeleine’s wedding in June 2013, she wore a small diamond fringe tiara with an amethyst pendant and striking diamond earrings.

We also saw her wearing the same tiara recently at the Bavarian royal wedding gala in Munich.