Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
For a royal house that has reigned over a country for more than a century, the Belgian royal family has a surprisingly small number of tiaras in their vaults. There are several reasons for this—pieces have been sold, inherited by women who married into other families, etc.—but the family has managed to hang on to one of their sparkliest heirloom pieces: the Nine Provinces Tiara, which is worn by the nation’s queen.
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| The Queen at the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Justin Tallis – WPA Pool/Getty Images) |
It’s that time of year again, everybody: yesterday, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom officially opened parliament, which means glittering jewels galore! Here’s a look at some of the pieces we saw on display.
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| Photo: Richard Pohle – WPA Pool/Getty Images |
The Queen always wears the George IV Diamond Diadem on her way to and from parliament. This year, she paired it with two pieces of jewelry from Queen Victoria: her pearl drop earrings and her Golden Jubilee Necklace.
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| Photo: Arthur Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images |
For the actual opening itself, the Queen always wears the Imperial State Crown. The event always gives us great views of this important piece of the crown jewel collection. Above, you can see both the Black Prince’s Ruby (actually a spinel) and the 317-carat Cullinan II Diamond.
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| Photo: TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images |
A view of the back of the crown shows us the Stuart Sapphire, which weighs 104 carats, and pearls that supposedly belonged to Queen Elizabeth I (suspended beneath the crown’s arches).
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| Photo: TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images |
And, just for kicks, here’s a look at the top of the crown as well.
For more on the Imperial State Crown, here’s a tour of the piece by the wearer herself!
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| Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images |
In recent years, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have also attended the state opening — which I love, because we get another chance to see Camilla absolutely rock major jewels. This year, she wore her go-to tiara — the Greville Tiara, part of the collection of the late Queen Mum — with her pearl and diamond earrings and her pearl choker necklace with the round diamond clasp.
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| State banquet in Belgium for the Jordanian king and queen (Photo: THIERRY ROGE/AFP/Getty Images) |
To quote myself from back in the days of Mad Hattery, we’ve got a tiara alert on our hands today! King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan began a state visit to Belgium today, which means we had both arrival jewels and glittering state banquet tiaras.
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| Photo: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images |
Queen Mathilde wore a pair of intricate statement earrings to welcome her royal guests. Can you imagine how many pairs of statement earrings must be in Mathilde’s jewelry wardrobe? I feel like we see a new pair every week!
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| Photo: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images |
Queen Rania also brought out a pair of major earrings for the welcome ceremony — these look to be metallic squares surrounded by white gemstones (possibly diamonds?). The embellishment on her lapel is a part of her coat, not a brooch, but I appreciate the extra glitter anyway.
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| Photo: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images |
Later that evening, it was tiara time. Queen Mathilde wore the bandeau base of the Nine Provinces Tiara with Queen Fabiola’s diamond and pearl earrings.
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| Photo: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images |
Here’s a closer look at the meander design of the tiara.
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| Photo: THIERRY ROGE/AFP/Getty Images |
Mathilde also wore a glittering bracelet set with diamonds and rubies. I think this bracelet is also from the jewelry collection of the late Queen Fabiola.
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| Photo: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images |
Queen Rania, to my everlasting disappointment, brought out the smallest sparkler in her collection: the convertible bracelet/tiara by Boucheron. It’s really more headband than tiara. At least she also wore a lovely pair of diamond earrings, as well as a delicate diamond bracelet!