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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: February 26-March 3

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February 26-March 3, 2016

It was a light week for royal jewelry, but two bright, colorful pieces managed to steal the show. Be sure to vote for your favorites in the poll!

10. Princess Charlene of Monaco wore pearl stud earrings to accompany Prince Albert and Prince Jacques to the Sainte Devote Rugby Tournament on Saturday.

9. Queen Letizia of Spain chose glittering starburst-shaped drop earrings for the Rare Diseases World Day Event in Madrid on Thursday.

8. In Belgium, Queen Mathilde also chose what appears to be a lovely pair of drop earrings to visit a military hospital; unfortunately, her hair obscures their full shape/material in every picture I’ve found. Drat!

7. Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway wore a pendant necklace during a visit to Alna on Tuesday.

6. Queen Elizabeth II received credentials from new ambassadors on Wednesday wearing her usual daytime jewelry uniform: pearl and diamond studs, pearl necklace, and brooch. It’s tough to see this one, but I think it might be the Pearl Trefoil.

5. Queen Mathilde wore a pair of colorful purple and red earrings to visit Turnhout on Friday.

4. The Bernadottes gathered on Thursday for a service of thanksgiving following the birth of Prince Oscar, the newborn son of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. Queen Silvia wore earrings and a brooch, while Princess Sofia, expecting her own baby next month, wore a lovely pair of drop earrings. (Pearls, perhaps?)

3. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark are on a visit to the Middle East this week. On Thursday in Qatar, Mary wore a lovely pair of pearl earrings.

2. At a Queen’s Trust event in London on Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II wore her diamond and pink sapphire brooch.

1. My top vote of the week goes to Crown Princess Mary, who wore her Annikat earrings while in Qatar, The gorgeous earrings are set with large blue topazes bordered by diamonds and sapphires.

Saturday Sparkler: The de Tornos Turquoise Tiara

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Even when you’re marrying a royal groom who isn’t technically royal anymore, you need a serious tiara. This is perhaps even more true when you’re marrying the man who is the heir to the headship of the House of Orléans (and therefore will eventually be one of the pretenders to the French throne). This turquoise and diamond tiara, the de Tornos Tiara, was the tiara of choice for Philomena de Tornos y Steinhart, who married the Duke of Vendôme in 2009.

While some royal brides wear tiaras from their new marital families on their wedding days, noble brides who have access to tiaras from their own family’s collection often sport those sparklers instead. This tiara, a modified fringe made of alternating, spaced spikes of diamonds and turquoises, comes from Philomena’s family, not the Orléans vaults.

Philomena is descended from Spanish nobles; her grandfather was the private secretary of the Count of Barcelona, who was the grandfather of the current king of Spain. The turquoise tiara was lent to Philomena by her aunt, María del Mar de Tornos y Zubiria. The sparkler, which is a de Tornos heirloom, apparently dates to the early nineteenth century.

It’s unusual, but not unprecedented, to see a royal bride wear a tiara with colored stones on her wedding day. Philomena’s wedding dress was also more colorful than many bridal gowns; it was designed to mimic fabrics hanging at the Palace of Versailles. Since marrying Prince Jean, Philomena has returned the turquoise tiara to her aunt, and now largely wears jewels from the Orléans collection.

Perhaps we should play a little game of “redesign it” in the comments?


This Week in Royal Jewels: February 19-25

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February 19-25, 2016

Earrings, necklaces, brooches, and one very glittering princess on the docket this week. Vote for your favorite in the poll below!

10. The Duchess of Cambridge — or, I should say, the Countess of Strathearn — was in Edinburgh for a series of engagements on Wednesday. She wore her Kiki McDonough Lauren earrings for the day.

9. We got a tiny glimpse of Princess Sofia’s earrings at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts on Friday — looks like small round pearl drops, perhaps?

8. Empress Michiko of Japan was elegant as always in a strand of pearls and a small brooch during a meeting with the Swedish ambassador on Saturday. (She also wore an impressive brooch to meet with King Carl XVI Gustaf the day before.)

7. The Duchess of Cornwall selected her pearls with the diamond and sapphire deco clasp for a trip to a library in Islington on Wednesday; she’s also wearing golden earrings instead of her usual pearl and diamond pair.

6. Camilla wore her usual daytime earrings with one of her sparkliest pearl-and-clasp necklaces to visit a London school on Tuesday.

5. Queen Letizia of Spain went bright with her earrings at the opening of ARCO 2016 on Thursday. (They’re her ruby and emerald pair from Tous.)

4. Here’s a royal we don’t see that much of: Lea, widow of the late Prince Alexandre of Belgium (who was a younger half-brother to King Baudouin, King Albert II, and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte). She wore a lovely pair of glittering earrings (and maybe also a jeweled brooch?) at a charity gala in Switzerland on Saturday.

3. Queen Elizabeth II wore a major royal heirloom on Thursday at an audience with the High Commissioner of Grenada at Buckingham Palace: the brooch from Queen Victoria’s collection that is studded with eleven pearls.

2. Crossrail in London was re-christened the “Elizabeth Line” on Tuesday, and the Queen was there in bright purple and her amethyst bouquet brooch to mark the occasion.

Photo: Kate Gabor/Kungahuset.se

1. My unreserved vote for best jewels of the week goes to Princess Madeleine of Sweden, who wore her Nobel 2015 jewels and gown on Monday at the palace in Stockholm. The occasion? A tea party for Swedish children dealing with medical issues, sponsored by Min Stora Dag (a Swedish organization similar to the Make-a-Wish Foundation — Madeleine is its patron). Any excuse to see the stunning aquamarine kokoshnik (and a pair of gorgeous aquamarine earrings!) is worth it in my book, but a fairytale tea party for deserving kids, complete with an actual tiara-clad princess? SO GOOD.