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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: March 27-April 2

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March 27-April 2, 2015
It’s a battle of the royal earrings this week! Be sure to register a vote for your favorites in the poll below!
10. We got a good look at the Duchess of Cambridge’s new Kiki McDonough morganite and diamond drop earrings on Friday when William and Kate visited XLP in London.

9. Last Thursday, the Countess of Wessex attended the reburial service for King Richard III in Leicester. She wore her lemon topaz earrings by Heavenly Necklaces.
8. When you’re attending the horse trials at Gatcombe Park, the teensiest golden stud earrings, like the ones worn on Saturday by Princess Anne, are perfectly appropriate.
7. A regally-bejeweled Queen Sofia of Spain, wearing pearls, golden earrings, a floral brooch, and stacks of bracelets, attended the Real Foundation Awards in Toledo on Friday.
6. The Duchess of Cornwall’s pearl earrings just peeked out from under her hat at the races on Sunday, which benefitted the Prince’s Countryside Fund.
5. The Danish crown princely couple visited Japan this week; Crown Princess Mary paired pearl earrings with her floral dress to open an exhibit about Greenland on Friday.
4. On Saturday, Mary wore glittering floral earrings in Tokyo.
3. Queen Elizabeth II brought out some major glitter to launch the George III Project on Wednesday: the Cullinan V Brooch.
2. The Queen distributed Maundy money for the sixtieth time on Thursday, this time while wearing the Mappin and Webb Orchid Brooch at Sheffield Cathedral.
1. No one out-glittered Princess Caroline this week; she attended the annual Rose Ball in Monaco wearing a pair of gorgeous Art Deco earrings, which may have belonged to her grandmother, Princess Charlotte, and her diamond fringe necklace. More sparkle from the Rose Ball here!

The Top Ten: Royal Diamond Tiaras

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Since April’s birthstone is the king of all gemstones, the diamond, it’s pretty impossible for me to make one list of my top ten diamond pieces. So instead, let’s break it down item by item, shall we? Today, I’ve made a quick list of my favorite all-diamond tiaras worn by royal women. There are about a million stunning pieces that didn’t make the cut, so be sure to add your list in the comments below!

10. The Dutch Diamond Bandeau

This tiara started out as a necklace, given in 1879 to Queen Emma of the Netherlands. The setting may be simple, but the glitter of these impressive diamonds more than makes up for it.

9. The Luxembourg Empire Tiara

One of the very largest tiaras still worn today by a royal lady, this nineteenth-century piece can be seen gracing the head of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa at major events.

8. The Spanish Floral Tiara

Bought in 1879 for Queen Maria Cristina, this piece left the Spanish royal collection during their exile in the twentieth century. Franco reacquired it for Queen Sofia as a wedding gift, and the Spanish royal ladies have been donning it regularly ever since.

7. Princess Sibilla’s Art Deco Tiara

Princess Sibilla acquired this versatile diamond tiara (probably as a gift from her family) after becoming a member of Luxembourg’s grand ducal family; its gorgeous Art Deco design also allows it to be worn in two distinct versions.

6. The Baden Fringe Tiara

This piece, which originally belonged to Queen Victoria of Sweden, is everything you’d want a sunburst tiara to be: uniform, striking, and oh-so-sparkly.

5. Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara

One of the many treasures of the Leuchtenberg family, this all-diamond tiara is now worn by the Queen of Norway.

4. The Khedive of Egypt Tiara

Made by Cartier in 1905 as a wedding gift for Princess Margaret of Connaught, this lovely tiara has become a sentimental wedding diadem for the descendants of Queen Ingrid of Denmark.

3. The Braganza Tiara

From 1820s imperial Brazil to present-day royal Sweden, this intricate and enormous diamond tiara makes a serious statement. It’s also the perfect tiara for Queen Silvia, whose mother was born in Brazil.

2. The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara

Classic and balanced, this fairytale nineteenth-century tiara from Queen Mary’s collection has become the favorite sparkler of her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

1. Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara

Can you beat a wall of diamonds? I don’t think you can — and the fact that it’s been an important part of Queen Elizabeth II’s tiara arsenal for more than half a century says it all!

Jewel History: Bottled Note Tells of Eugenie’s Jewels (1913)

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“Bottled Note Tells of Eugenie’s Jewels”
(originally appeared in the New York Times, 30 Mar 1913)
PARIS, March 29 — Historians are greatly puzzled over a remarkable document, found this week by a soldier at Mont Louis in the Eastern Pyrenees.

The paper, which was found in a bottle, was dated to the 4th of September, 1870, the memorable day on which the Third Republic was established, and Empress Eugenie fled from Paris. It purports to give a list of jewels brought to the Empress by Senor Manuel Perez of Madrid, to be handed over to her in Paris.

The Empress is referred to throughout by her maiden name of the Countess de Montijo [1].

The total value of the jewels and other articles enumerated is given as $1,350,000, and among the separate items mentioned are two pearl bracelets, given to the Empress by Queen Victoria and worth $130,000; a pearl and diamond necklace, presented by the Czar of Russia, and worth $100,000; and Bank of France bills for $400,000.

Careful search around the spot where the bottle was found revealed the presence of human bones, and the discovery, if genuine, has all the elements of a romantic mystery.

The identity of Manuel Perez, who is described as bringing the valuables from Madrid, has not yet been cleared up [2].

NOTES
1. Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III, was born María Eugenia de Palafox Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick. She was the daughter of Don Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero, Count de Montijo and his wife, María Manuela Kirkpatrick de Grivegnée. Eugenie’s elder sister married the Duke of Alba, and their descendants still hold that title today.
2. Stories about hidden royal treasure are almost always too good to be true, and this one is no exception. The hidden “Empress Eugenie jewel inventory” was apparently a fairly common scheme to dupe vulnerable “discoverers” in late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Spain; an article published that April notes that the inventory “has within the last 40 years been found again and again.” For even more, see Edward Legge’s book on the Second Empire, which discusses the historical jewel swindle in detail. If you were planning on heading out to search the Pyrenees for the empress’s missing jewels, unpack your bags, please! 🙂