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The Top Ten: Spanish Royal Tiaras

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Michel Porro/Getty Images, Borja Benito – Pool/Getty Images, Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
In honor of the Spanish state visit to the United Kingdom this week, we’re going to be featuring loads of Spanish royal jewels here on the blog. To start off, we’ve got a whole bunch of glittering tiaras for you to enjoy: ten of my favorite Spanish royal tiaras!

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

10. The Niarchos Ruby Bandeau: One of Queen Sofia’s wedding gifts was this Van Cleef and Arpels ruby set, presented to her by the shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos. The set includes a bandeau, which can be worn with either one or two strands of diamond and ruby clusters linked by diamond leaves. We last saw this tiara in public during the French state visit in 2009. (Read more about the tiara over here!)

9. Infanta Pilar’s Sapphire Tiara: King Juan Carlos’s sister, Infanta Pilar, owns a diamond and sapphire tiara that once belonged to her mother, the Countess of Barcelona. She wears the piece occasionally herself, and she’s also loaned it out to other members of her family (including Laura Ponte, above, who wore it upside down) as a bridal tiara.

8. The Asturias Fleur-de-Lis Tiara: This diamond and pearl sparkler, made by Ansorena and now owned by Queen Letizia, has a complicated backstory surrounding its creation and acquisition. (Read much more over here!) No wonder Letizia decided to debut the tiara for the first time at a birthday party in Denmark, not a state occasion in Spain!

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

7. Queen Ena’s Aquamarine Tiara: This tiara has undergone several changes since it was first made for Queen Ena of Spain shortly after her wedding. We most recently saw it on one of Ena’s non-Spanish royal descendants: Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg. (Much more over here!)

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

6. The Cartier Loop Tiara: Although this large diamond and pearl tiara meandered away from the main line of the Spanish royal family, it’s since been returned to the royal fold. Queen Sofia is the piece’s most recent wearer, but we haven’t seen it in public in about a decade. (More over here!)

5. The Mellerio Shell Tiara: An innovative nineteenth-century sparkler with a maritime theme, this tiara dates back to the volatile days when Spanish monarchs were ousted as often as they were inaugurated. Queen Sofia received the tiara as a wedding present, and she’s owned it ever since, frequently loaning it to other ladies in the family. (Much more over here!)

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

4. The Prussian Tiara: A delicate, petite kokoshnik that was originally owned by a German princess, this tiara has been worn by two generations of Spanish royal brides. Its streamlined silhouette has made it a favorite of Queen Letizia since her marriage. (Read much more over here!)

Jose Luis Cuesta – Pool/Getty Images

3. The Spanish Floral Tiara: Another of Letizia’s favorite tiaras is this classic diamond floral sparkler, which originally resided in the Spanish royal vaults in the nineteenth century. It was reunited with the family when Queen Sofia received it as a wedding present, and it’s been one of the most frequently worn royal tiaras ever since. (Much more over here!)

Borja Benito – Pool/Getty Images

2. Queen Ena’s Fleur-de-Lis Tiara: Part of the joyas de pasar collection, this tiara passes from Spanish monarch to monarch, and it is now worn by the current Spanish queen consort, Queen Letizia. It was made by Ansorena for Queen Ena in 1906, and it’s since been nicknamed La Buena — “the good one.” (Much more over here!)

SVEN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

1. Queen Ena’s Pearl and Diamond Tiara: La Buena may be the “good one,” but I think the greatest tiara in the Spanish collection is the gorgeous, balanced diamond and pearl tiara that Cartier made for Queen Ena. Even better — it’s a recycled version of the wedding gift she received from her mother-in-law. Genius! (Read more over here!)

Which tiara do you hope to see Queen Letizia wear during this week’s British state visit?

The Mellerio Shell Tiara

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Queen Sofia wears the tiara at the Swedish royal wedding, 2010 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Of all the diadems in royal vaults, the regal tiaras created by Mellerio dits Meller frequently rank as favorites among the tiara lovers of the world. Today’s diamond and pearl tiara, the Mellerio Shell Tiara, is one of the most unique sparklers ever created by the jewelry house.

The original Oscar Massin design for the tiara

Made in 1867, the shell tiara was purchased by Queen Isabella II of Spain the following year as a wedding present for her daughter, Infanta Isabella. While Mellerio’s headquarters were (and still are) based in Paris, they opened a branch in Madrid in 1850 and subsequently became a favorite with the royals and nobles of nineteenth-century Spain. This particular Mellerio creation, based on a design by Oscar Massin, features drop pearls and diamonds suspended from a diamond-encrusted frame that is designed to look like a shell. (Others have also noted the tiara’s resemblance to a cresting wave.) The tiara can be worn with or without an additional diamond drop suspended from the center of the tiara’s base.

Infanta Isabella wears the tiara

Infanta Isabella, who was known as “La Chata,” wore the tiara throughout her lifetime. On at least one occasion, she loaned the sparkler to her younger sister, Infanta María de la Paz. Isabella did not have any children, so when she died, she bequeathed the shell tiara to her nephew, King Alfonso XIII. His wife, the British-born Queen Ena, was only photographed in the tiara a few times; she also loaned it at least once to her daughter-in-law, the Countess of Barcelona.

Queen Sofia wears the tiara in Ottawa, 1975 (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In 1962, the Spanish royal family gained a new member when Queen Ena’s grandson, Juan Carlos, married Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark. Queen Ena and Juan Carlos’s parents (the Count and Countess of Barcelona) jointly gifted the shell tiara to the the new Spanish princess, who adopted the Spanish spelling of her name after her marriage. Sofia wore the tiara for the first time at her pre-wedding ball in Athens. After her wedding, and throughout her husband’s reign, the tiara was a regular part of her jewelry rotation for major gala events, including state banquets and royal weddings.

But Sofia has also continued the tradition of loaning this tiara to other women in the family. Both of her daughters have been depicted wearing the tiara, as has her sister-in-law, Infanta Margarita. In 2007, she also loaned the piece to her daughter-in-law, the Princess of Asturias, who is now Queen Letizia of Spain. Letizia has so far worn the tiara only once in public, at a December 2007 state banquet honoring the President of the Philippines.

Queen Sofia wears the tiara at a gala dinner for the President and First Lady of Mexico, 2001 (Marc Alex/AFP/Getty Images)

The tiara isn’t a part of the royal family’s joyas de pasar, but rather is one of Sofia’s personal possessions, which means that it did not automatically transfer to Letizia when her husband became king. But as Sofia has stopped wearing tiaras in public, I think it’s likely that we’ll next see the tiara again on either Letizia or one of her daughters. It’s too interesting a piece to remain shut up in the vaults!

Note: this is an updated version of an earlier post, with new text and images.

This Week in Royal Jewels: June 23-29

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June 23-29, 2017
We’ve got some wonderful and unexpected pieces in this week’s royal jewel review! Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!

(Note: some beautiful, elegant jewels were worn at the late Countess Mountbatten’s funeral this week; you can view them over here, but they were not included in these rankings.)
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
10. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore hot pink earrings — and a … fuzzy swim cap? — on Thursday for a visit to the Architecture Museum Nagele in Urk.

VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images
9. For an appearance at Jumping International de Monaco on Saturday, Princess Caroline wore a brightly beaded necklace and earring set, plus a gold cross necklace.
BRUNO FAHY/AFP/Getty Images
8. To kick off a summer of 80th birthday celebrations, Queen Paola of Belgium wore pearls and diamond stud earrings as she sliced into a giant birthday cake on Thursday in Waterloo. (Paola’s actual birthday falls in September.)
Robert Marquardt/Getty Images
7. For Thursday’s Princess de Girona Awards, Queen Letizia of Spain wore girandole earrings from her jewelry box. (See more of the earrings she’s been wearing this week over here!)
Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool/Getty Images
6. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore her diamond and aquamarine clip brooches for the 2017 Queen’s Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
5. Queen Elizabeth II rounded out this year’s Royal Ascot with a brooch of diamond flax flowers on Saturday. (Much more over here!)
Chris Jackson-Pool/Getty Images
4. The Duchess of Cornwall kicked off a three-day tour of Canada on Thursday; she wore pearls and her Faberge Lily of the Valley Brooch for the welcome ceremony in Nunavut. (More on the brooch’s provenance over here!)
Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images
3. My third vote goes to all of the jewels worn by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg during the country’s National Day celebrations last weekend. (See more, including tiaras, over here!)
Photograph © Stefan from Royal Travel and Events. Do not reproduce.
2. Stefan, friend of the blog and writer at Royal Travel and Events, brings us even more jewels today from this weekend’s noble wedding in Germany. The gala featured numerous tiaras, including Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria wearing the Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara and a necklace with her initial. (Read more about the tiara’s history from our friends at Luxarazzi, and then head over to Stefan’s blog to see more tiaras!)
Photograph © Stefan from Royal Travel and Events. Do not reproduce.
1. My top vote of the week goes to the unusual, fascinating diamond and emerald bridal tiara worn by Sophie, Princess zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg. (Much more on the tiara over here!)