Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
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| Wikimedia Commons |
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
At the end of September and the beginning of October, the citizens of Munich throw an internationally renowned party: the Oktoberfest. The first ever Oktoberfest bash took place on October 12, 1810, when the people of Munich gathered in the fields near the city’s gates to celebrate the royal wedding of King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. They’ve been celebrating ever since, and the festivities have inspired similar celebrations worldwide. (My little hometown even has an Oktoberfest this weekend!)
To celebrate the season, a kind reader, Marina, has shared some of her photographs of Bavarian royal jewels. She recently visited the treasury room at the the Residenz Museum in Munich, and she very generously offered to share some of her sparkling photographs with all of us!
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
A large number of the jewels displayed in the treasury room, including both suites displayed above, belonged to Queen Therese, whose wedding launched the Oktoberfest tradition.
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
This massive diadem is part of the majestic Bavarian Ruby and Spinel Parure. The suite was made for Queen Therese using gold set with diamonds, rubies, and spinels.
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
The set includes five major pieces: the diadem, a large necklace, a pair of earrings, and two matching bracelets. The elaborate necklace and earrings are pictured above.
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
The gorgeous bracelets from the set rest nearby. It’s a little difficult to imagine what this set (especially the tiara) looks like when it’s worn, so be sure to stop by our previous post on the suite to see a picture of Crown Princess Antonia of Bavaria wearing the parure.
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
Queen Therese loved pearls, and her jewelry collection included a pearl and diamond tiara with a familiar design. This is the Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara, which shares significant similarities with the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara and its copy, Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara.
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
Queen Therese later gave the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Duchess Amalia of Oldenburg. Amalia was married to Therese’s second son, Otto, who was elected King of Greece in 1832. King Otto I and Queen Amalia were deposed three decades later, and the tiara returned home with Amalia to Bavaria, where it has resided ever since.
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
The display also includes an absolutely massive diamond and pearl stomacher (or devant de corsage).
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| Image kindly provided by Marina; do not reproduce! |
And finally, Marina has offered us a glimpse of two of Bavaria’s gorgeous crown jewels. At the top of the image, sitting on the cushion, is the Crown of Bavaria, made in the first decade of the nineteenth century for King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. The crown, which was displayed at important ceremonies but never actually worn, is set with diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires.
Below the Crown of Bavaria sits the Crown of the Queens of Bavaria, which was made for King Maximilian I Joseph’s second wife, Queen Caroline. The crown is richly decorated with diamonds and pearls.
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| Queen Elizabeth II wears the Teck Emperor of Austria Brooch (CHRIS JACKSON/AFP/Getty Images) |
Queen Elizabeth II’s brooch collection is well stocked with pieces set with diamonds and pearls. But today’s brooch, the Teck Emperor of Austria Brooch, also has a little something extra: a Habsburg imperial provenance.
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| Princess Mary Adelaide with her third child, Prince Francis of Teck, ca. 1870 |
The brooch arrived in the British royal collection via Queen Mary. It originally belonged to her mother, Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck. The jewel was given to Mary Adelaide in 1870 by one of the most significant royal figures of the nineteenth century: Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary. The occasion? He served as a godparent to Mary Adelaide’s third child, who had been christened Prince Francis Joseph Leopold Frederick of Teck in his godfather’s honor.
Why was Franz Josef the godfather of the third child of minor royals from the Württemberg and British royal families? It may have something to do with the fact that Baby Francis’s father, Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, was educated at an Austrian military academy and served with the Imperial Austrian Army in both the Austro-Sardinian and Austro-Prussian Wars. He retired from the Austrian army when he moved to England to marry Princess Mary Adelaide in 1866.
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| Sean Gallup/Getty Images |
In The Queen’s Diamonds, Hugh Roberts speculates that the brooch may have been made in England, regardless of its Austrian imperial origins. (He notes that “the Emperor of Austria was a Garrard client,” though no evidence has been found that conclusively links the brooch to the firm.) Roberts describes the brooch as “a plaited circle, with pearl centre and 12 brilliants in cut-down collet settings around the edge, suspending a collet chain and three detachable baroque pearl pendants.” The photograph above shows what the brooch looks like without the pendants and chain.
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| Princess Mary Adelaide wears the brooch, ca. 1880s |
Mary Adelaide chose to wear the brooch on her bodice for a portrait by a German court photographer, Carl Jagerspacher, in the 1880s. For this occasion she paired the brooch with other pieces of pearl jewelry.
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| A Vanity Fair caricature of Prince Francis by Leslie Ward, published July 1902 (Wikimedia Commons) |
Roberts writes that the brooch was “almost certainly” one of the jewels that Prince Francis inherited from his mother in 1897. When Frank’s will was unsealed in 2024, that guess was proven to be correct. The brooch was also one of the jewels that he bequeathed to his mistress, Lady Kilmorey. But while most of the jewels left by Frank to Lady Kilmorey were purchased back by Queen Mary and folded into her own collection, the brooch was not. Per Frank’s wishes, Nellie Kilmorey kept the brooch for her lifetime and then bequeathed it to Princess Victoria, daughter of King Edward VII and sister of King George V. The brooch made its way back into Queen Mary’s collection some time after Toria inherited it.
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| Queen Elizabeth II wears the brooch in Prince Edward’s first official photograph, taken at Buckingham Palace by Cecil Beaton, June 1964 (Image licensed to The Court Jeweller; do not reproduce) |
The present Queen inherited the brooch from Queen Mary in 1953, and she has worn in throughout her reign. An important early appearance from the brooch came in 1964, when she wore it for the first official photographs of her fourth child, Prince Edward. The images were taken by Cecil Beaton in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, and Prince Andrew is also featured, holding his baby brother’s hand.
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| Claire Foy wears a replica of the brooch in The Crown (screencapture) |
The moment was sort of recreated in the season two finale of The Crown. Claire Foy, playing Queen Elizabeth II, wears a replica of the brooch for an official family portrait featuring baby Prince Edward and numerous other members of the Windsor family. Many of the replica jewels from the series are so-so in quality, but this was an example where they basically nailed the recreated version of the brooch. (Our recap of the episode is here!)
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| Queen Elizabeth II wears the brooch during the American state banquet, May 2011 (CHRIS JACKSON/AFP/Getty Images) |
Today, the Queen often wears this grand brooch on appropriately grand occasions. In May 2011, she paired it with the pearl setting of the Vladimir Tiara, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace, and additional pearl and diamond jewels for a banquet during the American state visit.
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| Queen Elizabeth II wears the brooch for a state banquet in Germany, June 2015 (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) |
For a banquet during the 2015 state visit to Germany, the Queen used the brooch without its chain and pendants to secure the back of the sash of the Order of Merit. It was an appropriate choice; after all, the Tecks were originally members of the German House of Württemberg. She paired the brooch on this occasion with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and the Crown Ruby Suite.