Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
Jewels in Motion: Belgian Sparkle in Denmark
KELD NAVNTOFT/AFP/Getty Images |
Yesterday, one of my favorite royals — the elegant Queen Mathilde of the Belgians — celebrated her birthday. In her honor, we’re devoting today to a glittering flashback to the 2017 Belgian state visit to Denmark. Enjoy the sparkle!
In March 2017, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians embarked on a two-day state visit to Denmark, where they were hosted by Queen Margrethe II.
The event included a glittering state banquet at Christiansborg, attended by Queen Margrethe, King Philippe, and Queen Mathilde, as well as Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim, and Princess Marie of Denmark.
Queen Margrethe greeted her guests for the banquet in one of her most beloved sets of heirloom jewelry: the family’s married diamond and pearl parure, which features the Pearl Poire Tiara and its matching brooch, plus a pearl and diamond necklace and coordinating earrings. (Learn more about her jewels over here!)
Queen Mathilde also wore her grandest tiara: the full setting of the Nine Provinces Tiara.
The tiara, which was originally a wedding present to Queen Astrid of Belgium, is reserved for Belgium’s queens (both regnant and consort). You can learn much more about the versatile tiara over here!
The jewels sparkled mightily during Queen Margrethe’s speech…
…and the toast!
With her tiara, Mathilde also wore a pair of diamond earrings that she often dons for gala occasions, plus a delicate diamond brooch.
Crown Princess Mary also wore her most spectacular set of jewels for the banquet: the Danish Ruby Parure. Learn more about this important heirloom suite over here!
The royals seated at the head table showed off a variety of order sashes. Queen Margrethe and Crown Prince Frederik wore the Order of Leopold (Belgium’s highest order). King Philippe and Queen Mathilde wore the Order of the Elephant (Denmark’s highest order). Crown Princess Mary wore the Order of the Crown (her highest Belgian order). Prince Joachim (not pictured here) also wore the Order of the Crown (his highest Belgian order), while Princess Marie (who is also not pictured) wore the Order of Leopold II (her highest Belgian order). You can see more of Joachim and Marie in our previous post on this banquet!
Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Gift Parure
A colorized version of Edward VII and Alexandra’s wedding portrait (Grand Ladies Site) |
For many years, one of the biggest tiara mysteries surrounding the British royal family had to do with a showstopper tiara associated with one of the family’s matriarchs, Queen Alexandra. But in recent years, much more has been revealed about the piece, which was part of a parure of jewels that Alexandra received as a wedding gift — and its eventual fate.
A nineteenth-century illustration of the pearl and diamond parure |
Most of you will probably be familiar with the tiara under its more commonly-used name: the Rundell Tiara. For quite a long time, the tiara was presumably referred to as such because it was believed to have been made by Rundell and Bridge. But while that jewelry house did supply pieces to the British royals, this tiara and its accompanying jewels were made by another familiar name: Garrard.
While the tiara was an all-diamond affair, it was a part of a larger diamond and pearl parure made by the company in 1862. The set included the tiara, a necklace, a brooch, and a pair of earrings. Interestingly, although the pieces were made as a set, there are few similarities in the design of the tiara (which was an all-diamond piece with knot and fleur-de-lis motifs) and the rest of the parure (which feature button-style pearl and diamond clusters and pear-shaped pearl pendants).
Alexandra wears the necklace, earrings, and brooch on her wedding day (Grand Ladies Site) |
Alexandra wore the necklace, earrings, and brooch on her wedding day (but not the tiara — she wore flowers in her hair instead, which you can see in the portrait above). You’ll spot the brooch pinned on the bodice of her gown.
Alexandra wears the tiara with its fleur-de-lis and knot elements, ca. 1883 (Grand Ladies Site) |
The parure was commissioned by the future Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, for his future bride, Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Interestingly — perhaps because of the design differences between the tiara and the rest of the set — Alexandra rarely wore the pieces together as a complete parure, choosing instead to pair each piece with different jewels.
Alexandra wears the star setting of the tiara and the brooch (Grand Ladies Site) |
The tiara was an especially versatile piece for mixing and matching with other pieces. Three rows of diamonds made up a solid base, upon which were mounted a series of interchangeable elements. Alexandra commonly wore the tiara with large diamond fleur-de-lis elements interspersed with intricate interlocking diamond “knots.” However, the tiara could also be worn without those bridge elements or with diamond stars worn in place of each of the fleur-de-lis.
Alexandra wears the necklace (hung with additional pendants), 1893 (Grand Ladies Site) |
You’ll often spot the wedding necklace included in a larger “stack” of necklaces, often hung with additional pendants, as it is here. (The two diamond pendants on either side of the central element are now diamond earrings worn by Queen Sonja of Norway.)
Alexandra wears the earrings in a portrait by Winterhalter, 1864 (Wikimedia Commons) |
Alexandra chose to wear the earrings in an 1864 portrait commissioned by her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, from Winterhalter.
Alexandra wears the brooch pinned to her gown, ca. 1880s (Grand Ladies Site) |
And Alexandra wore the brooch more generally as well, both in its complete form (with all three pendants and clusters) and as just the central (detachable) cluster and pendant brooch.
Alexandra wears the tiara with just the fleur-de-lis elements and the brooch, which is partially visible (Grand Ladies Site) |
Alexandra was the only member of the family ever photographed in her tiara. For some time, Windsor watchers hoped that the wedding gift tiara was simply gathering dust in the jewelry vaults and might someday make a reappearance in some form. But with the publication in 2012 of Hugh Roberts’s important book, The Queen’s Diamonds, the fate of the tiara has been made clear.
Roberts reports that although Alexandra did not have a will when she died in 1925, she did indicate items of jewelry that she wished to leave to each of her daughters. The Garrard tiara was inherited by Princess Victoria, Alexandra’s second daughter. And unfortunately, Roberts also notes simply that the tiara was “disposed of” by Toria at some point. But while hopes to see the wedding gift tiara reappear have ultimately been dashed, the other parts of Alexandra’s diamond and pearl parure remain securely today in royal hands today.
The Queen Mother wears the necklace at Princess Elizabeth’s wedding, 1947 (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
The brooch, necklace, and earrings were all inherited by Queen Mary on Alexandra’s death. Mary gave the necklace to her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, and the piece became one of Elizabeth’s favorite and most-worn necklaces. In November 1947, she chose to wear it for her daughter’s royal wedding at Westminster Abbey.
The Duchess of Cambridge wears the necklace, October 2018 (John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images) |
She kept and wore the necklace for the rest of her life, leaving it to her elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2002. The necklace was most recently worn by another member of the royal family, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
The brooch and the earrings passed directly from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. In recent years, she has worn the brooch and earrings more frequently, primarily for evening occasions. In November 2018, she chose the earrings for the annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, pairing them with Queen Mary’s Richmond Brooch.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
And the brooch has also made more appearances over the past five years. Above, the Queen wore it for another Festival of Remembrance, this time in November 2015.
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