Eight Royal Tiaras for Eighty Years: Queen Silvia Wears a British Royal Ruby Tiara Gift

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden made a state visit to Estonia in May. On the first evening of the visit, they were the guests of honor at a state dinner in Tallinn, hosted by President and Mrs. Karis.

Queen Silvia wore a glamorous gown covered in blue sequins for the dinner. She coordinated her jewelry with the red sash of her Estonian decoration, the Order of the White Star.

Appropriately, she matched red rubies from the family vaults with the red order sash, as well as sparkling diamonds.

As usual, her tiara was the star of the jewelry show. This is the King Edward VII Ruby Tiara, an early twentieth-century jewel that was given by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to their niece, Princess Margaret of Connaught, as a wedding present in 1905.

Here’s an illustration of the tiara made at the time of the 1905 royal wedding. The tiara was accompanied by a diamond and ruby bracelet, which can also be attached to the ends of the tiara so that it can be worn as a necklace. After Princess Margaret’s death, the tiara was inherited by her second son, Sigvard. It meandered through the family for decades before King Carl XVI Gustaf reportedly bought it from Sigvard’s son, Michael. Since then, it’s been worn exclusively by Queen Silvia, both in tiara and necklace form.

For the dinner in Estonia, Silvia paired the tiara with modern earrings, plus a classic diamond necklace and a ruby and diamond brooch from the Bernadotte jewelry collection.

And though I think this is a really fascinating piece in its tiara setting, I’ll leave you today with an image of Silvia wearing it in my favorite format: as a necklace. Beautiful!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a final birthday tribute to Silvia before we switch into holiday mode!