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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Jewel History: February 3

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On this day in royal history…

February 3, 1866: The Illustrated London News publishes an image of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) visiting the Crewe Steelworks

February 3, 1930: E.C. Butt, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Queen Nefertiti, poses with a plaster bust of the famous Egyptian queen

February 3, 1932: A bust of Kaiser Wilhelm II is carted away in Cologne, Germany

February 3, 1952: Three days before her father’s death, Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (later Queen Elizabeth II) visits a hospital named for her in Nairobi, Kenya

February 3, 1955: Queen Elizabeth II hosts the Commonwealth prime ministers, including Churchill and Nehru; she wears Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik with the Brazilian aquamarines

February 3, 1962: Infante Juan Carlos of Spain (later King Juan Carlos) poses with his fiance, Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark (later Queen Sofia) in London

February 3, 1964: The “Royal Stork Stakes” gives the public a chance to wager on the names of the babies expected by Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra, and the Duchess of Kent. (The babies were the Earl of Wessex, Lady Sarah Chatto, James Ogilvy, and Lady Helen Taylor)

February 3, 1965: Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (later Queen Beatrix) skis during a holiday in Gstaad

February 3, 1968: Princess Benedikte of Denmark marries Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg at Fredensborg Palace

February 3, 1971: Princess Alexandra and Earl Mountbatten board a plane at Heathrow in London

February 3, 1971: The novelist Barbara Cartland and her daughter, the Countess of Dartmouth (later Raine, Countess Spencer, stepmother of Diana, Princess of Wales) attend a book launch party at the Dorchester Hotel

February 3, 1998: Stamps commemorating the life of the late Diana, Princess of Wales go on sale

February 3, 2005: Queen Paola of the Belgians arrives at the final ceremony during a state visit from President Stephanopoulos of Greece

February 3, 2006: The Duchess of Cornwall visits an art exhibition in Bath

February 3, 2007: Princess Anne presents the Calcutta Cup to Phil Vickery following England’s victory in the Six Nations championship match

February 3, 2009: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh open the Carole Brown Health Centre

February 3, 2010: The Princess of Asturias (now Queen Letizia of Spain) attends the Principe Felipe a la Excelencia Empresarial Awards

February 3, 2011: Commemorative memorabilia is displayed in Stoke-on-Trent ahead of the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton (now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge)

February 3, 2013: Mourners remember the late former king of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, as he lay in state in Phnom Penh

February 3, 2015: Prince Harry of Wales visits the Full Effect Youth Project in Nottingham

Saturday Sparkler: Princess Ingeborg’s Star Tiara

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Even though turquoises are relatively inexpensive semi-precious gems, many royal families do not own significant pieces of turquoise jewelry, let alone tiaras featuring turquoises. But this tiara, once in royal hands and now owned by Danish nobles, combines turquoises with stars.

Ingeborg wears the star tiara at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1937 [source]

The tiara’s first owner was Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, the daughter of King Frederik VIII and Queen Louise of Denmark. (She’s best known today for because of the brilliant marriages made by her daughters, including Crown Princess Märtha of Norway and Queen Astrid of the Belgians, making her the grandmother of one reigning king and the great-grandmother of a reigning king and a reigning grand duke.)

When Ingeborg married Prince Carl of Sweden in 1897, she received this tiara as a wedding present. The giver was none other than the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, who was one of Ingeborg’s first cousins. The tiara also has a coordinating star brooch.

When Ingeborg’s jewelry was distributed between her children after her death in 1958, this tiara was inherited by her daughter, Princess Margaretha. She had married back into the Danish royal family, wedding her cousin Axel in 1919. Margaretha wore the tiara frequently, but this branch of the Danish/Swedish royal family was extremely generous about sharing jewels with their female relatives. Along with Ingeborg and Margaretha, Crown Princess Märtha was also photographed in the tiara; so was Princess Anne of Denmark, Margaretha’s daughter-in-law (and niece of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother).

Margaretha bequeathed the turquoises to her daughter-in-law, the late Countess Ruth of Rosenborg, in 1977. Today the tiara belongs to Ruth’s daughter-in-law, Countess Jutta, who has worn it at royal events. Apparently the plan is for this tiara to stay in the family, inherited by successive generations, and because the Rosenborgs still attend royal events like weddings, we may be able to see these stars shining occasionally in the future.

This Week in Royal Jewels: January 15-21

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January 15-21, 2016
From jubilees to circus festivals, we’ve got a treasure trove of jewelry on display this week. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
10. Princess Charlene of Monaco exercised the privilege du blanc when she visited the Vatican this week, and you could just see a glimpse of pearl stud earrings peeking out from under her white lace veil.

9. While visiting a tourism fair in Madrid on Wednesday, Queen Letizia of Spain wore her Tous cultured pearl drop earrings.
8. In a departure from her usual minimalist jewelry style, Charlotte Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco, wore statement earrings during a gala dinner in Geneva on Monday.

7. Speaking of a departure from the usual — look at the earrings that Princess Stephanie of Monaco wore at the annual circus festival on Saturday! I don’t know what’s gotten into the Monegasque jewelry water, but I like it.

6. During the Silver Jubilee festivities for King Harald V of Norway on Sunday, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wore a gorgeous pair of ruby and diamond earrings. She also pinned a diamond and ruby brooch to the jacket beneath that fur coat. (See more jewels from the Jubilee over here.)

5. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom attended a church service near the Sandringham estate on Sunday. For the occasion, she chose one of her most-worn brooches: the Frosted Sunflower Brooch.

4. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway turned twelve on Thursday, and the royal court released new portraits to mark the occasion. In the photographs, she wears the pearl necklace and diamond and ruby heart pendant that was given to her by her grandmother, Queen Sonja, as a christening present. (See more of her birthday portraits here!)

3. Queen Elizabeth II wore the largest of the three Nizam of Hyderabad Rose Brooches to a Women’s Institute meeting on Thursday. To read more about the Cartier-made brooches and the dearly-departed tiara that once housed them, check out this post.

2. For a dinner held at the crown princely family’s home during the Silver Jubilee, Queen Sonja of Norway wore pieces from her set of modern emerald jewelry. (More on the jewels worn at this event can be found here.)

1. My number one spot this week goes to the three Scandinavian queens, who all wore beautiful jewels during the most glittering of the Jubilee events. Queen Silvia’s diamond floral brooch, Queen Margrethe’s sapphire demi-parure, and Queen Sonja’s diamond and pearl brooch were all stunners, and I couldn’t choose just one!