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British Royal Christmas Jewels 2016

12.26.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

The Windsors walk to church on Christmas (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The Queen’s under the weather and the Cambridges are in Berkshire, but that didn’t stop the Windsors from bringing us a bit of Christmas sparkle this weekend. Here’s a look at the jewels that the royal ladies wore for Christmas 2016.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Duchess of Cornwall was the senior royal lady on the traditional walk to church at Sandringham. She wore diamond and pearl earrings with her sapphire and diamond butterfly brooch.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Princess Royal, pictured here with Peter and Isla Phillips, wore her diamond-studded gold ribbon brooch. (You can see a better picture of it in this post.) It’s the same brooch that Anne wore on Easter Sunday this year.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Anne’s daughter-in-law, Autumn Phillips, is always one of the best-dressed Windsors at Christmas, and this year was no exception. She paired classic pearl and diamond earrings with a gorgeous hat.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Countess of Wessex also looked gorgeous for Christmas; here she’s exiting the church with several other members of the family, including the Duke of Edinburgh. (Perhaps the flowers are for the Queen?)

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Sophie wore her Amrapali pave-set diamond earrings with her Christmas ensemble.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Sophie’s daughter, Lady Louise, isn’t in jewelry-wearing mode yet, but she did wear a little fascinator to church this year. Jewelry can’t be too far off!

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

No visible jewelry for Princess Beatrice, unfortunately…

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

…and only the hint of a necklace from Princess Eugenie.

Photo: YUI MOK/AFP/Getty Images

The Queen’s annual Christmas Message was recorded in the Regency Room at Buckingham Palace before she came down with a cold, so we did still get a little bit of jewelry from her on Christmas Day. For this year’s message, she wore a diamond brooch set with eight pearls and three pearl pendants. It’s from the collection of Queen Victoria.

Photo: Andrew Matthews – WPA Pool/Getty Images

William and Kate spent Christmas with the Middleton family this year, and they were photographed attending church on Christmas Day in Bucklebury.

Photo: Andrew Matthews – WPA Pool/Getty Images

They may not have been spending the day with the Queen, but Kate wore a bejeweled reminder of her grandmother-in-law. Her earrings are the diamond and pearl pair that the Queen loaned her earlier this year.

The Best Royal Jewels of 2016: #9 (Sofia’s New Tiaras)

12.26.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

(DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Our countdown of the best royal jewels of 2016 continues…

#9: Sofia’s New Tiaras

(Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

During her first year as a member of Sweden’s royal family, Princess Sofia only wore one tiara in public: the Emerald Palmette Tiara that she received as a wedding gift from her new parents-in-law. (More on the background of that tiara here!) But this December, she brought out not one but two new tiaras!

(SOREN ANDERSSON/AFP/Getty Images)

For the Nobel Prize ceremony and banquet on December 10, Sofia wore the smaller cut-steel tiara, giving us an excellent look at the piece. Previously, this tiara had only been worn in public by her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Victoria. (You can see many more images of this tiara appearance in our post here!)

(Kungahuset.se)

The next night, she made another tiara debut for the King’s Dinner, given to honor the Nobel winners. She wore the Diamond Four-Button Tiara, which was made using antique diamond buttons from the family collection, for the reception. (More on this tiara appearance over here!)

The Best Royal Jewels of 2016: #10 (Albania’s Royal Bride)

12.26.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

(DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s officially the last week of 2016, which means it’s time for a countdown of the best royal jewel appearances of the year! I’ve chosen ten of my favorite bejeweled royal appearances from this year, and we’ll be featuring two of them every day until we reach #1 on Friday. Enjoy — and, of course, weigh in on your own favorites in the comments!

#10: Albania’s Royal Bride

(STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

When royal pretenders have big weddings, we often get to see pieces of jewelry that have remained hidden from public view for years. And when Prince Leka, the pretender to Albania’s throne, married Elia Zaharia in October, we got to see a very unusual bridal tiara on display.

(STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

Elia’s bridal diadem was a diamond and sapphire heirloom tiara from her new husband’s family. The center of the tiara features a unique element: a diamond-set version of the Ram of Skanderbeg, one of Albania’s most important national symbols.

(STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

We discussed the symbolism of the ram at length in our post on the wedding (which you can read over here!). Lots of Albania’s royal jewelry featured this unique image. Because of its rather different design motif, the tiara is not exactly universally liked. Even so, this bejeweled appearance makes my top ten simply because it’s an extremely unusual piece that is rarely seen. (And I thought the bride wore it well, too!)