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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Queen Sophie’s Diamond Tiara

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Queen Sophie’s Diamond Tiara (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

For royal jewel lovers, there are few things better than the sudden, surprise reappearance of a jewel that has been hidden away from public view for decades. One of the biggest of these surprises was the reemergence of one of the most impressive diadems belonging to the former royal family of Greece: the diamond tiara of Queen Sophie of the Hellenes.

Sophie of Greece wears the tiara (Photo: Grand Ladies Site)

The first owner of this large, intricate diamond tiara was Queen Sophie, who was born Princess Sophie of Prussia. She was the daughter of Princess Vicky, the first child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; she was also the sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It’s never been revealed exactly how Sophie acquired the tiara, or who made the piece, but many have guessed that she received it from one of her many royal relatives (possibly her mother or her brother) as a wedding present. Sophie married Crown Prince Constantine, the future king of Greece, in 1889.

Sophie of Greece wears the tiara (Photo: Grand Ladies Site)

Sophie wore the tiara as a crown princess and as a queen. The piece is an intriguing combination of modern and traditional styles. Many of the stones are large, rectangular diamonds. But those stones are nestled within more traditional floral designs, which are reminiscent of the ruby tiara owned by the Bernadottes and the sapphire tiara of Princess Elisabeth of Denmark.

Helen wears the tiara (Photo: The Royal Forums)

Sophie’s daughter, Princess Helen (who married the crown prince of Romania and gave birth to the country’s last king), was also photographed in the tiara; the portrait was taken by Bassano in 1934, two years after Sophie’s death. In 1938, the tiara was given to Sophie’s daughter-in-law, Princess Friederike of Hanover, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick.

Friederike wore the tiara on her wedding day (along with the small nuptial crown of Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom, which had been won by the Hanoverians in a legal dispute with Queen Victoria). Friederike was the last Greek queen to wear the tiara in public.

Queen Ingrid of Denmark wears the tiara (Photo: screencap from video)

Friederike did loan the piece once to another queen: Ingrid of Denmark (who also happened to be the mother of Friederike’s daughter-in-law, Anne-Marie). Ingrid borrowed the tiara during the centenary celebrations of the Greek royal family, an event that started with a state visit from Denmark. Here’s a video that shows Ingrid wearing the tiara; she appears at about the 4:40 mark. The image above is a (fuzzy) screencap from that video.

Queen Friederike wears the tiara (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Queen Friederike wore the tiara regularly during her time as Greece’s queen; in the portrait above, she’s actually wearing two tiaras (that’s the family’s emerald parure tiara, in necklace form, around her neck). After the Greek monarchy was deposed, though, the tiara vanished from public view for nearly half a century. Friederike still owned the tiara when the family went into exile; although she gave other tiaras to her daughter-in-law, Queen Anne-Marie, she kept this one in her own collection. Most jewel lovers assumed that the tiara had been sold either during the final years of Friederike’s life or after her death in 1981. Even so, there were persistent rumors that the family still had the piece.

Marie-Chantal wears the tiara (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Those rumors were substantiated in spectacular fashion in 2012, when Marie-Chantal, the wife of Crown Prince Pavlos, appeared in Queen Sophie’s tiara at a banquet in honor of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark’s ruby jubilee. The enormous tiara nearly overpowered the diminutive princess, but no matter — the fact that the Greeks still had the piece was the main story of the evening. Why it hadn’t been worn for so long — and why Queen Anne-Marie has never worn it — still remains a mystery.

Pavlos and Marie-Chantal (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Some have speculated that Queen Friederike left the tiara directly to her grandson, Crown Prince Pavlos, just as Queen Ingrid of Denmark willed the ruby parure directly to Crown Prince Frederik. Others have wondered if the piece was inherited by someone else, possible Princess Irene, and was then subsequently acquired by the main branch of the family. Perhaps we’ll never know. All I know is that I am amazed that this piece is still in royal hands and grateful that we get to see it sparkle again after so much time!

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



A New Brooch for Queen Elizabeth?

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Queen Elizabeth II attends a garden party at Buckingham Palace (Photo: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Today another garden party was held at Buckingham Palace with several members of the royal family in attendance. By far, the most exciting jewelry story from the party is a possible brand-new brooch for Queen Elizabeth II!

Photo: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Here’s a closer look at the lens-shaped brooch, which appears to be made of diamonds and pearls. The center of the piece reminds me a bit of some art deco design motifs. Overall, though, this looks to me like it might be a fairly new creation. Maybe a 90th birthday present?

Photo: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also attended the garden party. (In fact, it was William’s very first BP garden party.) Kate wore a very familiar pair of earrings: her Kiki McDonough hoops and Annoushka pearl drops.

Photo: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Both of the York sisters were also at the palace. As per usual, no jewels for Princess Beatrice…

Photo: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

…but Princess Eugenie wore a delicate bracelet and rings.

Photo: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

The Duchess of Gloucester was also in attendance. You can’t see the details well in this photo, but she wore a gray pearl necklace, earrings, and a pair of diamond brooches.

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace

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Queen Elizabeth II wears Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace (Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Happy birthday, Queen Victoria! Today, the iconic nineteenth-century monarch would have turned a spry 197 years old. To help her celebrate, here’s a look at one of her jewels that is still worn regularly today: her Golden Jubilee Necklace. But although the piece has had an important, glittering royal history, its origins are muddled in political infighting and gossip. Scandalous!

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee procession (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Only two monarchs in British history — Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II — have celebrated Golden Jubilees. Queen Victoria’s was an occasion full of suitably Victorian pomp and circumstance. The jubilee was celebrated in June of 1887; the royal banquet held at Buckingham Palace boasted a guest list of fifty foreign kings and princes.

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee portrait by Bassano, ca. 1887 (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

As you can probably imagine, the Queen was showered with presents. An committee calling themselves “the Women’s Jubilee Offering” was formed by a group of aristocratic women in order to present the Queen with an especially grand present. They approached the Queen with a plan to sponsor a recreation of a Scottish equestrian statue of Prince Albert; the replica statue would be placed in Windsor Great Park. At this point, everything went swimmingly: the Queen approved, sufficient funds were raised, and the new statue was created by J.E. Boehm.

But the committee ended up raising too much money — we’re talking about 70,000 pounds too much! — and that inevitably led to problems. The Queen wanted the excess funds to be donated to a charity of her choice, and the committee agreed. But some members within the Women’s Jubilee Offering ranks had decided that some of this extra money should be used to give the Queen a piece of jewelry. The Queen also loved that idea, and the committee was split over whether to give all or some of the extra money to charity.

W.E. Lockhart’s painting of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Finger pointing ensued. The Marquess of Salisbury — who was the prime minister at the time, and whose wife was a key committee member — blamed the Countess of Cork (the wife of a politician from the opposing party) for the fracas. If these names sound familiar, it’s probably because the same people were involved in the contentious presentation of a diamond kokoshnik tiara to the Princess of Wales at virtually the same point in time.

And then, once the jewelry gift was essentially approved, the committee and the Queen couldn’t agree upon exactly what kind of jewel should be presented. Initially, some committee members wanted to present her with a pearl necklace from Garrard, but that was vetoed because of the excessive cost. (The Marquess of Salisbury moaned that this “pearl necklace affair” was likely to be just as messy as the one that Marie Antoinette found herself involved in, which seems pretty hyperbolic, but what do I know?) The suggestion of a diamond badge that was connected to the Queen’s chosen charitable fund (the St. Katherine’s Fund for Nurses) was shot down by the Queen herself, who even said she’d trade in the badge for another piece of jewelry if it was given to her!

Queen Victoria photographed in the necklace by W.D. Downey, ca. 1897

The Queen’s private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, entered into negotiations with the committee to settle the matter. They finally decided to set aside 5,000 pounds from the excess funds to commission a piece of jewelry. A diamond and pearl necklace was created by Carrington and Co.

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee necklace, worn by Queen Elizabeth II (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Carrington crafted the necklace out of diamonds and pearls set in gold. Hugh Roberts describes the necklace as having “eight graduated brilliant-set trefoil links, 12 smaller links and a snap, each centred by a graduated pearl, the crowned quatrefoil centre with pearl drop; the centre and six flanking links detachable for use as brooches or pins … the necklace reduced by two small links at a later date.”

Photo: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images

The necklace was presented to the Queen by the Duchess of Buccleuch on July 30, 1888, more than a full year after her actual Golden Jubilee celebrations. Roberts notes that Victoria “became very attached to the necklace.” She designated it an heirloom of the crown, and it has passed through the royal generations to the present Queen, who wears it often at state occasions, especially the state opening of parliament.