Let’s wrap up our work week in one of the best ways possible: with a Habsburg wedding tiara! Thanks to our generous friend Stefan, we can take a closer look at the bridal tiara worn by Countess Leonie von Waldburg-Zeil, as well as some jewelry worn by two particularly familiar royal wedding guests. (Hint, hint: think Orange.)
On Saturday, June 22, Countess Leonie von Waldburg-Zeil arrived at the parish church in Hohenems, Austria, for her wedding to Count Caspar von Matuschka. Twenty-six-year-old Leonie, who works in the fashion industry, is a great-great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Caspar, who recently turned 30, works in business development for a tech company. If my (admittedly poor) German is correct, I believe that Caspar is a great-grandson of Count Michael von Matuschka, one of the members of the resistance who took part in the July 20th plot in Germany during World War II.
Countess Leonie arrived for the wedding ceremony on the arm of her father, Count Franz Clemens, who is a direct descendant of the Habsburg family. His great-great-grandparents are Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. He’s descended from their beloved youngest daughter, Archduchess Marie Valerie, whose marriage to a third cousin, Archduke Franz Salvator, was notable because it was a love match rather than a dynastic one.
Valerie and Franz’s eldest daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska, followed in her parents’ footsteps, marrying for love rather than money or power. In 1912, she wed Count Georg von Waldburg, a penniless aristocrat who had been hired to serve as a tutor for her younger brothers. The marriage was reportedly supported and even encouraged by her doting grandfather, Emperor Franz Josef. Ella and Georg had four children (including Countess Leonie’s grandfather, Count Franz Josef) before her untimely death from pneumonia at the age of 38. The family tree gets even more complicated afterward, though, as Georg married Ella’s younger sister, Archduchess Gertrud, two years after Ella’s death.
Countess Leonie was a gorgeous bride in a textured white wedding gown with a square neckline. She added even more drama to the ensemble with a cathedral length veil.
In her hair, Leonie wore an heirloom jewel that served as an additional reminder of the family’s imperial heritage. Marlene Koenig shares that the bandeau-style tiara belonged to Leonie’s great-grandmother, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska.
The piece, which was originally a necklace, was Ella’s wedding gift from her grandfather, Emperor Franz Josef, when she married Count Georg in 1912. Franz Josef personally attended the wedding, which was held in the chapel of Archduchess Valerie’s schloss. Newspapers ate up the romantic story of yet another Habsburg love match. In London, the Sunday Dispatch wrote, “The Archduchess Ella, the favourite granddaughter of the Emperor, is twenty years old and was expected to make a brilliant match; but she fell in love with Count Georg Waldburg-Lustenau-Hohenems, a dragoon officer who was the comrade of her brothers during their education. The Archduchess told the secret to her grandfather, the Emperor, who supported the engagement against opposition of other members of the Imperial Family.”
Marlene shares that the necklace was placed on a tiara frame by A.E. Köchert, the firm that served as court jeweler to the Habsburgs for generations, in 2021 for the wedding of Countess Leonie’s elder sister, Countess Tatjana. (You can see images of Tatjana wearing the tiara here.) Leonie also wore an elegant pair of diamond and pearl drop earrings with the tiara to complete her bridal look.
Interestingly, Archduchess Ella’s diamond necklace also featured a petite pendant. At this wedding, the pendant was worn as a brooch by Countess Leonie’s mother, Countess Stefanie.
After I published this article, the good people at Köchert reached out to share this lovely image of the necklace’s original design, which shows both the section mounted on the tiara frame and the pendant.
Countess Leonie’s family is well connected, in part because their home, Palast Hohenems, is located near several popular royal locales. Numerous members of the princely family of Liechtenstein were present, because Hohenems is located right on the principality’s border. (There are also plenty of historical family ties between the Liechtenstein family and the Habsburgs.) Perhaps more unexpected is the friendship that exists between Countess Leonie’s family and three of the wedding guests: the King and Queen of the Netherlands and the Princess of Orange.
As it turns out, the link between the Dutch royals and the Waldburg-Zeils also appears to be rooted in geography. Hohenems is quite close to Lech, the ski resort frequented by the Dutch royal family. (It’s where the late Prince Friso was caught in an avalanche in 2012.) King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are so close to Count Franz Clemens and Countess Stefanie that the King is actually Countess Leonie’s godfather.
Queen Maxima was elegant in raspberry and diamonds for the Austrian wedding, wearing diamonds with family and sentimental history. She called back to her own wedding day in 2002, wearing the same diamond bracelet that she wore for her civil and religious wedding ceremonies that February. She also wore a pair of diamond rosette earrings from the family collection with a pair of diamond drops. (Princess Alexia wore the same earrings last year for Prinsjesdag.) We recently saw Maxima wear the floral studs with pearl drops during a trip to the Philippines.
On her dress, she pinned an elaborate diamond ornament that’s been in the family collection for many generations. Queen Emma’s Diamond Aigrette was one of her wedding gifts in 1879. It can be worn as a brooch or as a hair ornament, and Maxima has used it in both ways over the years. We’ve seen her wear it in recent years for diplomatic visits linked to Greece (in 2022) and France (in 2023).
Delightfully, Princess Amalia also brought along some dazzling jewelry to wear for the religious wedding ceremony. With her royal blue ensemble, she wore Queen Maxima’s diamond and tanzanite earrings. Amalia wore the same diamond and tanzanite pendants on a longer chain last year for Prinsjesdag.
Please join me in thanking Stefan for sharing these spectacular images of Count Caspar and Countess Leonie’s wedding with all of us! You can follow him on Instagram at @royaltravelevents.
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