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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: July 12-18

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July 12-18, 2019
Brooches and birthday jewels dominate this week’s royal jewel review! Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
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15. The Duchess of Sussex paired simple turquoise earrings with rings on both hands at Wimbledon on Saturday. (More here!)

VICTORIA JONES/AFP/Getty Images
14. For Saturday’s visit to Wimbledon, the Duchess of Cambridge wore a favorite pair of golden Asprey hoops with a leafy design. (More here!)
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images
13. Baroque pearl drops accompanied Kate to Wimbledon on Sunday, where she presented trophies after the gentlemen’s finals. (More here!)
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12. Princess Madeleine of Sweden chose coral hoop earrings to celebrate Crown Princess Victoria’s birthday at the annual concert on the island of Oland. (More here!)
11. For her sister-in-law’s birthday, Princess Sofia of Sweden wore summery gold statement earrings. (More here!)
Julia Reinhart/Getty Images
10. On her 42nd birthday, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden wore summery earrings set with bright stones in shades of orange and pink. (More here!)
Julia Reinhart/Getty Images
9. Playful pearls, hoop earrings, and bracelets were Queen Silvia of Sweden’s accessories of choice for her elder daughter’s birthday this week. (More here!)
JUAN SEQUEIROS FUENTES/AFP/Getty Images
8. Princess Mako of Akishino has been in South America this week; she chose red earrings and a coordinating necklace on Sunday for a visit to Cusco’s cathedral.
AIZAR RALDES/AFP/Getty Images
7. On Tuesday, Mako wore pearl earrings and a pearl station necklace for a visit to the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in La Paz.
BENOIT DOPPAGNE/AFP/Getty Images
6. Queen Mathilde of the Belgians chose a pair of her favorite golden statement earrings on Thursday for a visit to the opening of the annual Science and Culture exhibition at the Royal Palace in Brussels.
Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images
5. An intricate golden necklace, plus gold and diamond earrings, were the Duchess of Cornwall’s choice for a visit to the town of Mevagissey on Monday during her official visit to Devon and Cornwall.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
4. Camilla wore a classic single strand of pearls, plus her favorite pearl drop earrings, on Tuesday for a reception to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Prince Charles’s chairmanship of the Duchy of Cornwall.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
3. On Wednesday, Camilla wore a lovely gold and diamond brooch with a crown detail as she received birthday wishes during the National Parks “Big Picnic” celebration in Simonsbath.
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2. Meghan sparkled in diamond and enamel stud earrings for the premiere of The Lion King in London on Sunday. (More here!)
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1. On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore the Cambridge Emerald Brooch with its distinctive cabochon drop for a private audience with the Royal Gurkha Rifles regiment at Buckingham Palace.

Two Decades of Royal Wedding Jewels (Part 2)

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Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

It’s my wedding day, everybody! While I’m off getting hitched, I’ve got the second part of our royal wedding jewel flashback for you to enjoy! (If you missed part one, you can read it here!)

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Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden

On June 19, 2010, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden married Daniel Westling in Stockholm. She wore the tiara and jewels from the Cameo Parure for the occasion. Both her tiara and veil were the same ones worn by her mother, Queen Silvia, for her own royal wedding in 1976. Victoria and Daniel are now the parents of two children, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar.

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Catherine Middleton

When she married the Duke of Cambridge in London on April 29, 2011, Kate Middleton borrowed the Cartier Halo Tiara from the Queen for the occasion. She paired it with new diamond earrings made just for her wedding day. The Duke and Duchess now have three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

When Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg married Alexander Johannsmann in Bad Berleburg on June 18, 2011, she wore the family’s wedding diadem, the Khedive of Egypt Tiara. She paired it with diamond earrings for the occasion. The couple have two children, Konstantin and Louisa.

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Charlene Wittstock

For her religious wedding to Prince Albert II of Monaco on July 2, 2011, Charlene Wittstock chose not to wear a tiara. Instead, she borrowed diamond floral hair ornaments from her sister-in-law, Princess Caroline. (Part of the same ornament was recently worn by Charlotte Casiraghi at her religious wedding.) For her wedding reception, Charlene wore the Baumer Aigrette. Albert and Charlene are now the parents of twins, Princess Gabriella and Hereditary Prince Jacques.

BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
Zara Phillips

Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Phillips, borrowed two significant jewels from her mother for her wedding to Mike Tindall in Edinburgh on July 30, 2011. Her tiara, Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara, once belonged to her great-grandmother, Alice of Battenberg. Her diamond earrings also belong to Anne. Mike and Zara now have two daughters, Mia and Lena.

Nikolas Kominis – Pool/Getty Images
Tatiana Blatnik

On August 25, 2010, Tatiana Blatnik married Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark in a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony on the island of Spetses. She borrowed the Antique Corsage Tiara from her mother-in-law for the occasion, pairing it with coordinating diamond and pearl earrings.

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Stephanie de Lannoy

Countess Stephanie de Lannoy wore her family’s own diamond tiara for her religious wedding to Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg on October 20, 2012. She paired it with diamond earrings that belong to her mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.

Anders Wiklund – Pool/Getty Images
Princess Madeleine of Sweden

Princess Madeleine of Sweden wore her own Modern Fringe Tiara for her wedding to Christopher O’Neill in Stockholm on June 8, 2013. From the family vaults, she also borrowed the Vasa Earrings and a diamond bracelet. The couple now has three children, Princess Leonore, Prince Nicolas, and Princess Adrienne.

Gary Otte/The Ismaili via Getty Images
Kendra Spears

American model Kendra Spears wore a pair of eye-catching tassel earrings and a coordinating necklace for her wedding to Prince Rahim Aga Khan, son of the present Aga Khan, in Geneva on August 31, 2013. Now known as Princess Salwa, she and her husband have two sons, Prince Irfan and Prince Sinan.

ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images
Claire Lademacher

Claire Lademacher married Prince Felix of Luxembourg in France on September 21, 2013. She borrowed two pieces from the grand ducal vaults for the occasion: the Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara and diamond earrings that belong to her mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. The couple are now parents to Princess Amalia and Prince Liam.

TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images
Elisabetta Rosboch von Wolkenstein

Prince Amedeo of Belgium married his Italian bride, Elisabetta Rosboch von Wolkenstein, in Rome on July 5, 2014. She borrowed Queen Elisabeth’s Art Deco Bandeau from his grandmother, Queen Paola, for the occasion, pairing it with pearl and diamond earrings. The couple has a daughter, Anna Astrid, and are currently expecting their second child.

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Sofia Hellqvist

For her wedding to Prince Carl Philip of Sweden on June 13, 2015, Sofia Hellqvist wore a diamond and emerald tiara given to her by her new parents-in-law, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. She paired it with diamond earrings that came from Queen Josefina’s Diamond Stomacher. Carl Philip and Sofia are now parents to two sons, Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel.

Ben Birchall – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Meghan Markle

American actress Meghan Markle married Prince Harry of Wales in a glittering ceremony in Windsor on May 19, 2018. For the wedding, she borrowed Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau from the Queen, pairing it with modern Cartier diamonds. At her wedding reception, she wore more Cartier jewels, plus her late mother-in-law’s aquamarine ring. The couple recently welcomed their first child, Archie.

STEVE PARSONS/AFP/Getty Images
Princess Eugenie of York

Princess Eugenie of York delighted royal jewel lovers when she wore the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik for her wedding to Jack Brooksbank in Windsor on October 12, 2018. She paired the tiara with emerald earrings presented to her by the groom.

TORU HANAI/AFP/Getty Images
Princess Ayako of Takamado

The former Princess Ayako of Takamado (now Ayako Moriya, following her marriage to Kei Moriya) wore a tiara made from a necklace that belongs to her mother for her wedding reception in Tokyo on October 30, 2018.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Lady Gabriella Windsor

When she married Thomas Kingston in Windsor on May 18, 2019, Lady Gabriella Windsor wore her grandmother’s Kent City of London Fringe Tiara for the ceremony. She paired the heirloom tiara with gorgeous diamond earrings.

5 Royal Wedding Traditions

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The wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, June 2010 (Torsten Laursen/Getty Images)
Royal weddings around the world are full of traditions, from tiaras and rings to veils and flowers. Here’s a look at five traditions observed by royal brides, both past and present!

Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg wears the Khedive of Egypt Tiara (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images); Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg wears the Lannoy Tiara (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Family Tiaras
Some royal families even have a tiara that has become a dedicated “wedding tiara” for the women of the family. In Denmark, all three of Queen Ingrid’s daughters wore the Khedive of Egypt Tiara on their wedding days. The tiara was an inheritance from Ingrid’s late mother, Princess Margaret of Connaught. The next generation of Ingrid’s descendants, including princesses from Greece and Germany, have also worn the Khedive Tiara for their weddings. 
In Japan, both Empress Michiko and Empress Masako wore the glittering Crown Princely Wedding Tiara when they married into the imperial family. The diadem, which has a coordinating necklace, was reportedly made using diamonds that belonged to an earlier empress. Now that Masako has become the nation’s empress, the crown princely tiara has been passed to her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Kiko. Britain doesn’t have a dedicated family wedding tiara, but two generations of Windsor brides wore Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara at the altar. When Queen Elizabeth II married in 1947, the tiara’s frame snapped just before she left for Westminster Abbey and had to be hastily repaired. Decades later, her only daughter, Princess Anne, also chose to be married in the tiara — but that marriage was not ultimately a success. No royal brides have donned the tiara since.
Some lucky “commoner” brides even borrow tiaras from their own family vaults for their royal weddings. Diana, Princess of Wales famously borrowed the Spencer Tiara for her wedding in 1981. Three decades later, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg, who was born a Belgian countess, borrowed the Lannoy Tiara from her family for her nuptials.
Anne-Marie of Greece wears Margaret of Connaught’s veil (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images); Crown Princess Mary of Denmark wears Margaret of Connaught’s veil (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Heirloom Veils
Tiaras aren’t the only items passed from royal bride to royal bride. Some families even have traditional veils worn by their brides. The Danish royal family are the owners of the grand lace bridal veil of Princess Margaret of Connaught, the British princess who married into the Swedish royal family and became the mother of Queen Ingrid of Denmark. Ingrid’s daughters all wore the Connaught veil, and in 2004, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark even generously loaned it to her new daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Mary, to wear at her wedding.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding ring, April 2011 (ANDREW MILLIGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Golden Rings
The simple golden wedding rings worn by British royal brides have a lovely patriotic provenance. They’re made from rare Welsh gold, some of which was sourced from the Clogau St. David’s mine. The Queen Mother, the Queen, Princess Margaret, the Princess Royal, Diana, Princess of Wales, Sarah, Duchess of York, the Countess of Wessex, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the Duchess of Sussex have all worn wedding rings made of Welsh gold.
Grand Duchess Alexandra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin wears Queen Charlotte’s Nuptial Crown; Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia wears the Imperial Wedding Crown; Princess Margaretha of Sweden wears the Gärdslösa wedding crown (Wikimedia Commons)
Bridal Crowns
In some religious traditions, women wear special bridal crowns — not tiaras, but teeny crowns — at the altar when they marry. One of the most famous royal nuptial crowns resides in Hanover. Made for Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom, the tiny diamond crown was part of the British royal collection until the Hanoverian royal family won it in a lawsuit in the 1850s. Since then, it’s been worn by numerous Hanoverian brides, including Princess Alexandra of Hanover, who wore it to marry the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1904. The Russian imperial family also used a crown as part of the elaborate regalia worn by imperial brides, placing it behind the famous pointed imperial wedding tiara.
In Scandinavia, many churches have their own bridal crowns, which were (and in some cases, still are) loaned out to brides who marry in that particular church. In 1964, when Princess Margaretha of Sweden married John Ambler in the Gärdslösa Church on the island of Öland, she borrowed the church’s distinctive bridal crown to wear with her wedding dress. The bridal tiara favored by several other Swedish royal brides, the Cameo Tiara, conveniently shares some design similarities with a traditional Swedish bridal crown.
Princess Margaretha of Denmark wears a myrtle crown (Wikimedia Commons); Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden wears a sprig of myrtle in her bridal tiara (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Sprigs of Myrtle
In 1845, Prince Albert’s grandmother gave Queen Victoria a posy of flowers that included sprigs of myrtle. Some of that myrtle was successfully propagated on the grounds of Osborne House, and Queen Victoria’s daughters began incorporating it into their bridal bouquets. (Very appropriately: myrtle represents love and innocence in the language of flowers.) Victoria even sent some of the Osborne myrtle to Russia for the wedding of her son, Prince Alfred, to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna in 1874. The tradition has carried on to the present generation, with the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex each carrying bouquets that included myrtle from Osborne.
When Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Margaret of Connaught, married the future King of Sweden in 1905, Victoria sent a cutting of Osborne myrtle along with her to her new Scandinavian home. The plant was successfully reestablished on the grounds of Sofiero Palace, the new couple’s summer home. Myrtle was already a popular part of the wedding traditions of Sweden, with many brides fashioning their bridal crowns out of the plant. (Princess Margaretha, Princess Martha, and Princess Astrid of Sweden all wore myrtle crowns for their weddings.) Margaret’s descendants began using the Sofiero myrtle in their wedding bouquets and in their hair, too. A close inspection of many of the tiaras of Sweden’s royal brides reveals a small sprig of green myrtle tucked in near their veils.

Did you follow any of these traditions at your own weddings?