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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Letizia’s Earrings Make a Statement

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King Felipe and Queen Letizia deliver scholarships in Madrid (Photo: Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images)

There are statement earrings — and then there are the statement earrings that Queen Letizia wore today as she and King Felipe delivered Iberdrola Foundation Scholarships in Madrid.

Photo: Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images

The earrings are so long that they dust Letizia’s shoulders, and they are made of various elements, including a glittering fringe.

Photo: Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images

What do you think of these earrings — exuberant, or too exaggerated?

This Week in Royal Jewels: June 24-30

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June 24-30, 2016
We’ve got some really interesting pieces to marvel at this week — be sure to vote for your favorite in the poll below!
Photo: HATIM KAGHAT/AFP/Getty Images
10. Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore gold jewelry in Brussels on Wednesday for a ceremony for the Federal Poverty Reduction Prize.

Photo: FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images
9. Michelle Obama, America’s first lady, is on a trip this week to highlight the importance of literacy for girls and women. On Tuesday, Princess Lalla Salma welcomed her to Morocco while wearing gold jewelry, including a dramatic pair of hoop earrings.
Photo: Casa de Su Majestad el Rey via Getty Images
8. Mrs. Obama also made a stop in Spain, where she met with Queen Letizia at Zarzuela Palace on Thursday. Letizia wore her Tous multicolored “Beethoven” earrings for the occasion.
Photo: AARON MCCRACKEN/HARRISONS 07778/AFP/Getty Images
7. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was on a mini-tour of her own this week in Northern Ireland. It’s a little tough to see here, but during a visit to Hillsborough Castle on Monday, she wore a lovely diamond clip brooch that she debuted last year at Newbury Racecourse.
Photo: Tim Rooke – Pool/Getty Images
6. The Duchess of Cambridge attended a ceremony marking the centenary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on Thursday. She rewore the same mabe-pearl-style earrings that she debuted earlier this month at Trooping the Colour.
Photo: SAMUEL KUBANI/AFP/Getty Images
5. Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands traveled to Slovakia this week. At the presidential palace in Bratislava, she wore a beautiful pearl necklace with an intriguing clasp — which, I think, is set with a large gray pearl? She also donned gray pearl cluster earrings and a coordinating hat pin.
Photo: SAMUEL KUBANI/AFP/Getty Images
4. Beatrix brought out the amethysts to open Bratislava’s Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum on Thursday, including a gorgeous pair of earrings, a ring, a bracelet, a floral brooch, and a station necklace with a briolette pendant.
Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images
3. Queen Elizabeth II wore one of her most important brooches — the Cullinan V — for the Somme centenary vigil at Westminster Abbey on Thursday evening.
Photo: FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images
2. Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco also hosted a dinner for Michelle Obama in Marrakech on Tuesday. Her entire outfit is gorgeous and sparkling as usual, but I’m drooling over her pear-shaped earrings and her ring!
Photo: Arthur Edwards/WPA Pool/Getty Images
1. The winner for me this week: Queen Elizabeth II, who gave us a second outing for another mysterious piece of jewelry: the diamond brooch she debuted at a Commonwealth reception in 2014. This wearing gave us a much better look at the piece, although we still don’t know any specifics on the provenance.
Photo: Arthur Edwards/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Just because I love it (and all of you!) so much, here’s a close-up of the brooch. Also, here’s a link to a discussion at the Royal Jewels of the World Message Board, where there’s speculation that the five large diamonds in the brooch could be the ones given to the Queen when she opened the Graving Dock in East London in March 1947 (before she was married or a monarch!).

The Top Ten: Royal Pearl Tiaras

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Queen Elizabeth II wears the Vladimir Tiara (Photo: KIERAN DOHERTY/AFP/Getty Images)
As June winds down, it’s time to pay another tribute to this month’s birthstone, the elegant pearl. Today, I’m counting down my top ten tiaras that include pearls and are currently worn by royals. Let us know in the comments which tiaras make your top ten!

10. The Pearl Sunburst Tiara
One of the Japanese imperial family’s many tiaras set with “white” gemstones is this magnificent, modern diamond and pearl sunburst tiara. So far, it’s been worn by both Empress Michiko and Crown Princess Masako.
Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Now owned by Princess Benedikte, this nineteenth-century tiara features a dramatic set of alternating pearl and diamond-star toppers.
Photo: Ian Gavan/Getty Images
This pearly tiara may be a replica of the original, but it still packs a lot of sparkle into its convertible frame. Queen Sonja is usually the wearer of the full version, but she also shares the smaller version with Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Martha Louise.

This pearl tiara was patterned after one owned by Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge — and now it’s worn by the current Duchess of Cambridge. The most famous wearer of the tiara, however, will probably always be Diana, Princess of Wales.
Photo: Michel Porro/Getty Images

This tiara was designed to mimic the shape of one that belonged to Anna Pavlovna, wife of King Willem II; its pear-shaped pearls belonged to a seventeenth-century Dutch princess. The tiara resides in the Dutch royal family’s jewel foundation, which means that all of the royal ladies have handy access to it.

Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois — mother of Prince Rainier III of Monaco — ordered this pearl and diamond sparkler from Cartier in 1949. She famously wore it at her son’s pre-wedding gala in 1956, but today, it is more commonly worn by her granddaughter, Princess Caroline.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark frequently wears this heirloom pearl tiara, which was made in 1825 for Princess Louise of the Netherlands. It meandered through the line of Louise’s descendants, through the Swedish and Danish royal family, before Queen Louise of Denmark placed it in a trust in 1926. Today, the tiara is worn exclusively by Queen Margrethe. 
Photo: GERO BRELOER/AFP/Getty Images
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands wore this grand diamond and pearl tiara, which was made in 1897, at her wedding in 1966. The versatile tiara has multiple settings, and because it is in the family’s jewel foundation, it can also be worn by multiple royal women. Queen Maxima debuted the tiara in Japan in 2014.
Photo: DAVE CHAN/AFP/Getty Images
Likely made by Bolin for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (wife of Grand Duke Vladimir of Russia) in the late nineteenth-century, this tiara was rescued from post-revolution Russia by a British diplomat. Queen Mary later purchased it and had it adjusted so that it could also be worn with the Cambridge emerald drops. Today, Queen Elizabeth II wears it three different ways: with the original pearls, the emeralds, and “widowed” (i.e., with no drops at all).
Photo: ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images
One of my favorite tiaras of all time, this diamond and pearl sparkler was made by Cartier for Queen Ena of Spain — using gemstones from a tiara given to Ena by her mother-in-law! The tiara could originally also be worn with emeralds, but today, it’s worn only with pearls. After making its way through the Spanish royal family, it resides today in Queen Sofia’s jewelry box.