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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

The Royal Jewel Questionnaire: Castleholic’s Sydney (Part 2)

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Time for Part 2 of Sydney’s Royal Jewel Questionnaire! You can read part one over here, and don’t forget to jump over to her blog, Confessions of a Castleholic, to see me nattering on about my favorite castles!

QUESTION #5: You have a magic wand and the opportunity to make your least favorite piece of royal jewelry disappear from public view forever. Which one would you choose?

Probably Queen Margrethe’s Golden Poppies – I can get over bad jewellery designs if the intention was good but who thought it would be a good idea to stick large golden poppies and bugs all over someone’s head in the first place?!

QUESTION #6: Your magic wand also lets you recover one piece of lost royal jewelry — which one do you magically bring back to life?

My initial thought was that it should be a Romanov piece but there are simply too many to choose from. I don’t think there are very many successful amethysts tiaras out there so I’d love to see the Amethyst Parure once owned by the House of Hesse-Cassel again. Unfortunately it was stolen at the end of World War II. While I’m not wild about it worn bandeau-style, I love the way it looks in the portrait of Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark. (Plus, the necklace and earrings are gorgeous!)

QUESTION #7: You’re a crown princess, and you’re having an enormously grand royal wedding. Which royal wedding jewelry would you choose to wear?

I think I’d go for what Crown Princess Victoria wore. The Cameo Tiara usually wouldn’t rank up on top of my list but it all came together beautifully that day and it gave her a one of a kind look.

QUESTION #8: And now, for the most challenging jewel game of all, The Court Jeweller’s tiara version of “shag, marry, kill”: borrow, buy, or sell! Your three pieces are … the Habsburg Fringe Tiara, the Belgian Scroll Tiara, and the Grand Duchess Adelaide Tiara.

You are killing me… As if this hasn’t been seriously difficult already! I’d buy the Grand Duchess Adelaide Tiara, borrow the Habsburg Fringe Tiara and sell the Belgian Scroll Tiara (but just because you are forcing me and it has the least history attached to it.)

Thanks again to Sydney for answering our questionnaire, and don’t forget to go check out Confessions of a Castleholic!


The Royal Jewel Questionnaire: Castleholic’s Sydney (Part 1)

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It really ’tis the season for new features here at the Court Jeweller! Today, we’re featuring something I’ve been thinking about for a long time: the Royal Jewel Questionnaire, a post in which I get to make my friends answer incredibly tough questions about their favorite royal jewels.

Today’s questionnaire comes courtesy Sydney, a blogger you’ll be very familiar with if you read Luxarazzi (one of the best sources out there about the royal families of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein). Sydney also runs a great blog called Confessions of a Castleholic, which chronicles her visits to various schlosses, chateaux, and palaces.

I’m guest posting about my favorite castles over at Castleholic today, so when you’re done reading through part one of Sydney’s questionnaire, head over there and check it out! And stay tuned tomorrow here at the Court Jeweller for more of Sydney’s answers to the really tough royal jewel questions!

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QUESTION #1: What’s your favorite piece of jewelry from each of the current bejeweled European monarchies? (Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom)



When it comes to royal jewellery, I’m a go big or go home kind of person so there are loads of tiaras coming your way. (Plus, I know too little of many collections to pick a favourite between the brooches, earrings or necklaces.)

Liechtenstein: Habsburg Fringe Tiara

Luxembourg: Empire Tiara
Netherlands: A tie between the Sapphire Tiara and the Diamond Bandeau

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QUESTION #2: The grand ducal family of Luxembourg has an immense collection of jewelry, but if you could add one piece to their vaults, what would it be?

Definitely something with rubies in it; it’s too bad they sold the rubies owned by Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte a few years ago and Princess Claire’s new ones don’t really do it for me, at least not in the tiara department. As I feel they also lack medium-to-large-sized tiaras, I think I would go for something like the Duchess of Angoulême’s Ruby Tiara.

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QUESTION #3: You’re a guest at a glittering state banquet. You need to wear a tiara, a necklace, a pair of earrings, a bracelet, and a brooch to secure your order sash. You can choose items from any royal collection. Which ones do you select? (Bonus points for choosing your chivalric order!)

The Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara from Luxembourg; the Vasa Earrings from Sweden; the Diamond Necklace worn by Queen Mathilde for the wedding celebrations in Luxembourg…

…Princess Benedikte’s Floral Brooch (which I believe comes from her tiara) as well as the Swedish Diamond Bow Brooch on my back to properly fix my sash…

…and the Bernadotte Diamond Bracelet – having just chosen all these, I didn’t realise before how big my weakness for the Bernadotte vaults was! Considering there is so much Swedish in here, I think it’s only natural to go for the Order of Seraphim.

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QUESTION #4: I strongly believe that every queen should have at least five tiaras at her disposal. If you could assemble your ultimate collection of five royal tiaras, which ones would you pick?

Considering that I have mentioned so many all-diamond tiaras already, I’ll go for my collection of ultimate colourful tiaras instead (because I believe a queen should have one tiara of each of the following stones at least): The Hesse Aquamarine Tiara, the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Tiara, Queen Mary’s Amethyst Tiara, the Duchess of Angoulême’s Ruby as well as her Emerald Tiara. She really had the best taste in jewels!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Questionnaire tomorrow!