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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Did Crown Princess Mary Purchase Her New Tiara Herself?

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Most royal tiaras are gifts, either from spouses, families, or even governments or business — but some royal ladies occasionally purchase tiaras for themselves. That’s the provenance suggested for Crown Princess Mary’s new tiara by a new article in Billed-Bladet, which claims that she bought the convertible piece herself at auction. Here’s my rough translation of the article:


The sight of the beautiful Princess Marie had barely faded before her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Mary, passed the Christiansborg Palace guard on the way to the gala. Along with their husbands, they arrived within an interval of a few minutes and enthralled everyone with their beautiful appearances, providing style and especially magnificent jewelry.

Crown Princess Mary surprised with a new, brilliant tiara in her dark hair, and many could immediately recognize the jewel. After all, the diadem actually hung around the neck of Crown Princess Mary on April 8 last year at the party to mark the Queen’s 75th birthday at Aarhus.

At that time, the diamonds of the necklace flashed in competition with the evening sun and perfectly matched the dark blue velvet Prada dress which the Crown Princess wore. In the jewel faceted diamonds are set beginning from a large central section, and there are also gems in the jewelry at the end of each small white gold stem.

The Crown Princess acquired the piece herself at an auction. It is rare that this kind of jewelry comes up for sale, so when the Crown Princess became aware of the unique necklace, she hopped to it. The Crown Princess has several private friends within the auction industry, including Nina Wedell-Wedellsborg, who is the Danish director of Sotheby’s, so here she has been able to obtain expert help.

For the queen’s evening gala for art and culture at Christiansborg Palace, the Crown Princess had the jewel mounted on a frame, so she could wear it as a diadem. Whether the piece is made so that it can be disassembled and used alternately as a tiara and a necklace is unclear, but both variants are incredibly beautiful.

(Thanks to @european_royals on Twitter for sharing the original article!)

Saturday Sparkler: Princess Margaretha’s Floral Tiara

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Princess Margaretha [source]

We’ve talked quite a bit around these parts about the jewels that belonged to a pair of royal sisters, Queen Astrid of Belgium and Crown Princess Martha of Norway. But did you know that there was actually a third princess in the family? Astrid and Martha’s elder sister, Princess Margaretha, is the wearer primarily associated with today’s diamond floral tiara.

Princess Marie of Denmark [source]

The sparkler actually goes back at least one generation further in royal history. It was owned by Prince Axel’s mother, Princess Marie of Denmark (born Princess Marie of Orleans). Some have suggested that its first owner was Marie’s mother-in-law, Queen Louise of Denmark, but to my knowledge, that claim has never been substantiated.

Princess Marie of Denmark (and friend) [source]

Marie wore the tiara with a gorgeous diamond necklace in a series of portraits, including the image above, which is one of my very favorite royal portraits of all time. That dog! Look at that collar! Marie was free-spirited and Bohemian (as much as a princess could be, anyway), and this portrait really encapsulates her wit.

When Marie died in 1909, the floral tiara faded from sight for several years. It reappeared in 1919, when her second son, Prince Axel, married Princess Margaretha of Sweden. Margaretha was the eldest of the four children of Prince Carl of Sweden and his Danish-born wife, Princess Ingeborg. After her wedding, Margaretha began wearing the floral tiara, placing it low across her brow in 1920s-era style.

Princess Margaretha’s extensive family connections to the royals of Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway meant that she had plenty of opportunities to wear tiaras during her lifetime. She wore the sparkler at the grand royal wedding of her sister, Queen Astrid, in 1926. Above, she also wears the tiara during the Nobel Prize festivities in Stockholm in 1968.

And here, she wears the tiara at an event also attended by her (very pregnant) niece-in-law, Crown Princess Sonja of Norway (who is wearing the grand emerald parure that belonged to Margaretha’s mother). When she died in 1977, Margaretha left the tiara to her elder son, Prince Georg. He did not have (biological) children, and some royal writers noted that the tiara was passed along to the family of his brother, Count Flemming of Rosenborg. Flemming’s (late) wife, Countess Ruth, told royal historian Trond Noren Isaksen that Georg actually sold the tiara. What happened to it after the sale isn’t known. Was it broken up? Is it still hanging around in a private collection today? Yet another tiara mystery…




Crown Princess Mary Debuts New Diamond Tiara

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When Crown Princess Mary debuted a new convertible diamond necklace last spring, many were anxious to see the piece in tiara form. That day has officially come!

Mary wore the diamond tiara at a gala held at Christiansborg Palace on Tuesday.

Here’s another view of the piece. To my knowledge, we haven’t been given any provenance information on the tiara. I tend to agree with those who think it looks like an antique piece.

Mary has paired the necklace/tiara with the same simple diamond earrings both times she’s worn it.

This is the second diamond sparkler in Mary’s jewel collection that can be worn as either a tiara or a necklace; her wedding tiara is similarly convertible.