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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Colorful Royal Wedding Tiaras

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Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy and Clotilde Courau leave the church after their wedding in Rome, September 2003 (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

One of my suggestions for a bridal tiara for Meghan Markle, the Queen Mother’s Cartier Bandeau, can be worn in settings featuring rubies, emeralds, or sapphires. If she chooses a colorful sparkler for her royal wedding day, she’d be joining an exclusive club of royal brides. Here’s a look at some of the most colorful tiaras worn by royal brides.

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden greet the crowds following their royal wedding, June 2010 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The grandest royal wedding tiara to incorporate colorful components is the Cameo Tiara, worn by Swedish royal brides. The gold tiara features large cameos that tell stories from the world of Greek mythology. Another massive family tiara, the Swedish Aquamarine Kokoshnik, has also been used as a bridal tiara by the daughter of Princess Margaretha.

Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip of Sweden at their royal wedding, June 2015 (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Probably the most prominent recent royal wedding tiara that includes colorful gems is the Diamond and Emerald Palmette Tiara worn by another Swedish royal, Princess Sofia. The tiara, a remodeled necklace, was a gift to Sofia from her parents-in-law, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia. The tiara has since been adjusted again, changing the shape and adding a set of pearl toppers that can replace the emeralds.

Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Grand Duke Ernst of Hesse and by Rhine on their wedding day

Sofia wasn’t the first royal bride to wear emeralds on her wedding day. Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, wore a Diamond and Emerald Tiara for her wedding to her cousin, Grand Duke Ernst of Hesse and by Rhine, in 1894. The marriage didn’t work out, but she hung on to the tiara after their divorce.

Soraya and the Shah on their wedding day (Wikimedia Commons)

In Iran, Princess Soraya wore her Diamond and Emerald Sunburst Tiara with a massive couture gown for her royal wedding to the country’s last Shah. After their divorce, though, the tiara stayed with the imperial family, and now resides with the rest of the country’s crown jewels in Tehran.

Photograph © Stefan from Royal Travel and Events. Do not reproduce.

Last summer, we also saw an heirloom diamond and emerald wedding tiara pop up in Germany at the wedding of Sophie of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg.

Prince Edouard de Ligne de la Tremoille and Isabella Orsini leave their wedding, September 2009 (Mark Renders/Getty Images)

In Belgium, Isabella Orsini wore a tiara set with vibrant blue aquamarines for her wedding to Prince Edouard de Ligne de Tremoille. The Ligne Aquamarine Tiara even includes motifs that resemble the letter L, echoing the aristocratic family name.

Jean and Philomena of Orleans on their wedding day in Senlis, May 2009 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Bright blue gems were also center stage at the wedding of Jean of Orleans, son of a French pretender, to Philomena de Tornos. She wore the de Tornos Turquoise Tiara, which features large diamonds and turquoises, for her lavish royal wedding ceremony.

Helene of Orleans arrives with her father for her wedding to Count Evrard of Limburg-Stirum, 1957 (Photo licensed to The Court Jeweller. DO NOT REPRODUCE.)

Other Orleans family brides have worn another colorful tiara: the Mellerio Sapphire Tiara that belonged to the Countess of Paris. It features dark blue sapphires set with diamonds in an art deco design.

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy and Clotilde Courau leave the church after their wedding in Rome, September 2003 (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

In Italy, Clotilde Courau, the bride of another pretender’s son, wore the Savoy Tourmaline Tiara for her wedding in September 2003. The tiara, which has a fascinating royal history, is set with deep pink tourmalines.

Farah and the Shah on their wedding day, December 1959 (Wikimedia Commons)

But perhaps the most colorful bridal tiara of all belonged to Farah Pahlavi, third wife of the last Shah of Iran. The Noor-ol-Ain Tiara was set solely with diamonds — but some of them were vibrant shades of yellow and pink.

Princess Soraya’s Sunburst Tiara

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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary on their wedding day, 1951 (Wikimedia Commons)

This Saturday’s sparkler takes us back to the ultra-glam days of the public face of the Iranian monarchy in the 1950s. Here’s a look at the diamond and emerald sunburst tiara worn by Princess Soraya, a queen-turned-movie star.

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary was the second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Their whirlwind romance was arranged by the Shah’s sister, Princess Shams, who met Soraya in London. The teenaged Soraya, daughter of an Iranian diplomat and his German wife, went to Tehran and was engaged to the Shah within days. He presented her with a 22 carat diamond engagement ring.

AFP/Getty Images

The wedding was scheduled for December 1950, but Soraya suddenly became ill. It was typhoid. The illness left her so weak that, when the wedding went ahead in February 1951, Soraya had difficulty bearing the weight of her enormous Christian Dior wedding gown. Vincent Meylan explains, “Minutes before the ceremony, the Shah and one of his aides used scissors to cut away eight meters of the train, in order to relieve Soraya of some of the weight. Relieved, the new Queen of Iran could just about remain standing during the reception that followed the religious ceremony.”

As you can see from this footage of Soraya’s arrival for the wedding ceremony, she did not wear a tiara for the wedding itself. Instead, she wore a Juliet cap that was embellished with gems.

Wikimedia Commons

For the wedding reception and dinner that followed, however, Soraya donned a suite of modern emerald and diamond jewels.

Here’s a look at Soraya’s parure. The maker of the set appears to be unknown, though it has some echoes of the diamond parure worn by her predecessor, Queen Fawzia. (That suite was made by Van Cleef and Arpels.) A similar all-diamond tiara was also worn by Princess Grace of Monaco.

The small diamond and emerald tiara sparkled among the sumptuous surroundings during the wedding reception.

And here, we get a glimpse of the back of the tiara, as Soraya and her groom move through the crowds at the event.

Soraya and the Shah’s relationship, though arranged and swift, apparently was something of a love match. But it didn’t last. The Shah desperately needed an heir, and when they discovered that Soraya was infertile, the couple divorced in 1958. Soraya was given the title of “princess,” but she decided to leave Iran altogether, settling in France. She even embarked on a brief film career.

Soraya’s emerald and diamond parure, however, stayed behind in Iran. It was worn by several other members of the family, including the Shah’s third wife, Empress Farah, and his daughter, Princess Shahnaz. Today, the suite resides in the Central Bank in Tehran, where it is on display with the rest of the country’s crown jewels.