Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
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| Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
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| Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, ca. 2014 (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) |
On Friday, the former Greek royal family announced some exciting news: Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark is engaged to be married!
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| Greek Royal Family |
King Constantine’s office released the following statement on the family’s official website: “Their Majesties King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie are delighted to announce the engagement of their youngest daughter Theodora to Mr. Matthew Kumar. Further details about the forthcoming wedding will be provided in due course. Mr. Matthew Kumar, 34, was born and raised in Southern California to Sam and Lonnie Kumar. He is a practicing attorney in Los Angeles.”
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| Greek Royal Family |
Theodora is the daughter of the former King and Queen of Greece, as well as a niece of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain. She is a professional actress, with a degree in theater arts from Brown University. In recent years, she has lived in Los Angeles, where she filmed a role on the television soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Official engagement photos of the couple were taken in London, where Theodora was born, and released on the Greek royal website.
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| Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
Here’s hoping that Theodora will follow in the footsteps of the previous royal brides from her mother’s family, wearing the Khedive of Egypt Tiara as a wedding diadem. The tiara originally belonged to Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden; after her death, it was inherited by her only daughter, Queen Ingrid of Denmark. All of Queen Ingrid’s female descendants so far have worn the tiara on their wedding days. The most recent bridal outing for the tiara came in 2011, when Theodora’s cousin, Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, wore the tiara for her religious wedding ceremony in Germany. Learn more about the tiara’s history here!
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| Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
The newest section of the Tiarapedia has officially arrived, and it’s packed with tiaras that still belong to the members of the former Greek royal family. Thanks to their stellar royal family connections, these diadems are still sparkling decades after their owners were dethroned.
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| Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
This is just the latest section of the new, revamped Tiarapedia. The project originally began way back in 2008, with a goal of collecting information about royal tiaras from around the world. This year, I’ve been reworking and republishing the project with the latest provenance information available.
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| Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
Today’s newest section focuses on the fascinating tiaras of the former Greek royals, who have managed to hang on to some spectacular jewels in the midst of upheaval and exile. From diamonds to rubies to emeralds, the collection features something for just about everybody. And because the former Queen Anne-Marie is the sister of Queen Margethe II of Denmark, and the former King Constantine II is the brother of Queen Sofia of Spain, there are still plenty of opportunities for the Greeks to use them.
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| Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
I’m debuting a new, updated section of the Tiarapedia every week this autumn, so stay tuned next week for even more royal sparkle. Today, though, be sure to grab a snack and dig in to the immense glitter of the former Greek royal vaults!