A Sentimental Heirloom Brooch for Queen Letizia in Madrid

The Queen of Spain wore a special family brooch as she and the King joined family members on Monday at a somber memorial service in honor of one of his late cousins.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain arrived at the Cathedral Church of the Armed Forces near the Royal Palace in Madrid on Monday to pay tribute to Fernando Gómez-Acebo y Borbón, a member of the extended Spanish royal family. He died in March at the age of 49 after a long battle with respiratory issues, complicated by influenza and Covid, leaving behind a young son.

Fernando was King Felipe’s first cousin. He was the youngest son of the late Infanta Pilar of Spain, the elder daughter of the Count and Countess of Barcelona and sister of King Juan Carlos I. Infanta Pilar and her husband, Luis Gómez-Acebo, have both passed away. Felipe and Letizia greeted Fernando’s siblings, Simoneta, Juan, Bruno, and Beltran, on their arrival at the church.

For the memorial mass, Queen Letizia wore a special piece of jewelry with significant meaning for the extended royal family.

With a pair of bezel-set diamond stud earrings, Letizia wore the Countess of Barcelona’s Pearl Drop Brooch. The jewel features a large pearl set in a cluster of diamonds, from which a round diamond and a pear-shaped pearl pendant are suspended.

The brooch was one of the wedding presents given to King Felipe and Don Fernando’s grandmother, Princess Maria de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, when she married Infante Juan of Spain (later Count of Barcelona) in Rome in 1935.

The Countess left the brooch to her son and daughter-in-law, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Above, Sofia wears the jewel during a gala dinner given in honor of the visiting Emir of Qatar in Madrid in April 2011.

Queen Letizia wore the brooch in public for the first time on National Day in October 2017. Above, she wears the jewel pinned to her jacket during a reception at the Royal Palace.

Here’s one more look at Letizia wearing the brooch for Fernando’s memorial. The choice was a lovely tribute to the King’s cousin, aunt, and grandmother on a difficult day for the royal family.