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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Fortnight in Royal Jewels: August 10-23

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August 10-23, 2018
Summer means that most royal ladies are on holiday, but we’ve still got a selection of jewels from the past two weeks to enjoy. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!


Michael Campanella/Getty Images

10. Princess Sofia of Sweden wore slender hoop earrings and delicate bracelets on August 23 for the inauguration of Prince Alexander’s viewpoint at the Nynas Nature Reserve in Gisesjon.

JESSICA GOW/AFP/Getty Images
9. Classic hoop earrings were also Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden’s choice for Princess Estelle’s first day of school in Stockholm on August 21.
ANDREU DALMAU/AFP/Getty Images
8. To honor the memory of the victims of last year’s terror attack in Barcelona on August 17, Queen Letizia of Spain wore simple, low-key jewels: her Chanel star stud earrings.
MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/AFP/Getty Images
7. On August 23, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark wisely selected simple stud earrings to accessorize the lovely traditional local attire during an official visit to the Faroe Islands.
6. On August 23, Empress Michiko of Japan wore a striking pendant necklace as she visited the Ohinata settlement in Karuizawa.
Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images
5. On August 10, the Princess Takamado wore golden jewels as she visited the ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba during the women’s softball world championships. (More over here!)
PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images
4. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wore daisy pieces and personal jewels during her annual photocall at the Chateau de Cayx on August 16. (Much more here!)
3. Crown Princess Masako of Japan wore a coordinating earring and necklace suite to walk on Mitsuihama Beach in Shimoda on August 16.
ARUN SANKAR/AFP/Getty Images
2. Ashi Dorji Wangmo, the Royal Queen Mother of Bhutan, wore gorgeous beaded jewelry for the inauguration of the Mountain Echos festival at the Royal University of Bhutan in Thimbhu on August 23.
1. Empress Michiko wore pearls and a gorgeous gold and pearl brooch to attend a reception for the International Academy for Production Engineering General Assembly at the University of Tokyo on August 20.

Royal Regalia Stolen in Sweden

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Police tape blocks off an area near the Swedish cathedral where pieces of royal regalia were stolen on Tuesday (PONTUS STENBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

Sad news out of Sweden this week: around noon on Tuesday, thieves swiped a pair of crowns and an orb from a display at Strängnäs Cathedral.

The burial regalia of King Karl IX and his wife, Queen Christina; the crowns and one of the orbs were stolen this week (Police handout photo)

I’ve seen lots of sources describing the items as part of Sweden’s crown jewels, which isn’t precisely true. The crowns and orb were part of the funeral regalia used in the burials of King Carl IX of Sweden, a monarch from the Vasa dynasty who died in 1611, and his consort, Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, who died in 1625. The regalia was buried with the king and queen in their tombs at the cathedral, but the pieces were later exhumed and placed on display.

Police work following the theft of royal regalia in Sweden on Tuesday (PONTUS STENBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

In broad daylight, thieves stole the crowns and orb from their glass display case (which was alarmed) and escaped by boat. Authorities are still searching for the thieves and the stolen items. One police spokesperson told Aftonbladet, “It’s 1-0 to them right now. We want to spread information and pictures of these items so that they can be identified as stolen objects.” Here’s hoping the priceless objects turn up soon.

The King Edward VII Ruby Tiara

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Queen Silvia of Sweden wears the ruby tiara on a state visit to Japan, March 2007 (EVERETT KENNEDY BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Like so many of the Swedish royal family’s jewels, their ruby tiara came to the Bernadottes in 1905 when Princess Margaret of Connaught married Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. The tiara was a wedding present from Margaret’s uncle and aunt, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom.

Gustaf Adolf and Margaret with their four eldest children, Gustaf Adolf, Sigvard, Ingrid, and Bertil, ca. 1912 (Wikimedia Commons)

Unfortunately, Margaret’s story has a tragic end — she never got to be queen of Sweden, as she died in 1920 of an infection after having operation. Her tiaras were dispersed between her children. Today, some are still with the Swedish royals, while others followed Margaret’s daughter, Ingrid, to Denmark. This particular tiara was inherited by Prince Sigvard, Margaret’s second son.

Sigvard Bernadotte, 1944 (Wikimedia Commons)

Sigvard was stripped of his royal title when he married a commoner, but the jewels left to him by his mother stayed with him. Two of his wives, Sonja and Marianne, both wore the tiara as a diadem and as a necklace.  But eventually Sigvard decided to sell the tiara. Conveniently, though, there was a royal buyer in the wings: Sigvard’s father, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden.

Queen Silvia wears the tiara during a state visit to Japan, March 2007 (EVERETT KENNEDY BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

But there were problems with the sale. Sigvard claimed he’d only really loaned the tiara to his father, but Gustaf Adolf maintained the sale was legitimate. Possibly as a mea culpa, the king left the tiara to Sigvard’s son, Michael, when he died in 1973. But then, even though his father was still alive, Michael also sold the tiara — to the new king, Carl XVI Gustaf.

Queen Silvia wears the ruby tiara for Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark’s 50th birthday party, May 2018 (Ole Jensen/Getty Images)

Sigvard lived until 2002, and although she brought it out very occasionally during his lifetime, Queen Silvia did not begin wearing the tiara regularly in public until after his death. Today she’s the primary wearer of the piece. Now that the ownership of this historic Connaught/Bernadotte piece has finally been settled, perhaps it’s time to place it in the family jewel foundation once and for all?

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