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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

State Visit Jewels: State Banquet in Spain

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There are state visits galore on the docket this week. In Spain, King Felipe and Queen Letizia have welcomed the President and First Lady of Colombia to Madrid this week.

For the welcome ceremony, Letizia wore her diamond earrings with a pearl pendant drop.

Colombia’s first lady, Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos, wore a golden necklace in the shape of a dove, plus a pair of trendy pearl earrings, with a larger pearl secured to the back of a smaller pearl stud.

At the state banquet yesterday evening, there were few surprises on display. Letizia wore the diamond floral tiara, a piece that dates to the reign of Alfonso XII. It’s the same tiara she has worn regularly at white-tie events since her husband became king.

She’s also wearing her diamond wedding earrings and the fleur-de-lis brooch, which some have speculated is a part of an unseen Ansorena tiara.

Letizia also wore a brand-new chivalric order: the Order of Boyaca, which she received during this visit. Felipe’s also wearing collar and star of the same Colombian order, plus the Order of the Golden Fleece around his neck.

The first lady also wore a lovely pair of earrings — they look to be diamond in the Art Deco style — and the Order of Isabella the Catholic.

Gala Jewels: Mexican-British State Visits

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This week, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh will welcome the President of Mexico to London for a state visit. The visit will include a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, so we can expect to see some significant glitter on display. In anticipation of Tuesday’s events, let’s have a look back at some of the jewels worn by HM during other state visits to and from Mexico during her reign, shall we?

1975: Wearing pearls and one of Queen Victoria’s bow brooches during a visit to Mexico

1975: Posing with Prince Philip and President Echeverría while wearing the Coronation Necklace and Earrings, plus one of Queen Victoria’s wheat ear brooches in her hair

1975: Wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara, her antique diamond girandole earrings, diamond bracelets, and her diamond festoon necklace in Mexico

2009: Pearls and the Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch during the welcome ceremony for President Calderón

2009: At Buckingham Palace for the state banquet, wearing the Brazilian aquamarine parure with the Collar of the Order of the Aztec Empire and the star of the Order of the Garter


Which jewels do you hope to see Queen Elizabeth II and the other members of the royal family wearing as they welcome President Peña Nieto and First Lady Rivera to Buckingham Palace this week?

Sundays with the Queen: Elizabeth II’s Wedding Bracelet

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When Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten — or, as he was formerly known, His Royal Highness Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark — proposed to Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom in the 1940s, he had to find a way to present his bride with jewels appropriate for a future queen while earning a sailor’s paycheck.

Help came in the form of a diamond tiara owned by his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg. The piece was dismantled; some of the stones were used to create Elizabeth’s engagement ring, while others were used to make the piece we’re discussing today: the diamond bracelet he offered his new wife as a wedding present.

Philip went to a London-based jewelry firm, Philip Antrobus Ltd., to create the new diamond pieces in 1947. The engagement ring claimed a three-carat brilliant, plus several smaller stones; the new bracelet also includes three large brilliant-cut diamonds. The bracelet’s design is geometric, almost Art Deco-inspired. It features three large, square links connected by vertical sections. Like the engagement ring, the bracelet is set in platinum.

From the start, Elizabeth chose the new bracelet for significant white-tie events. Several of her early portraits feature the bracelet; she also chose it for her official Diamond Jubilee portraits in 2012. The Queen’s collection includes a number of diamond bracelets of a similar shape and size to this one, including Queen Mary’s chain link bracelets and the diamond and gold bracelet that belonged to Queen Victoria.

But while those other pieces have major historical and family importance, the sentimental value of this bracelet is pretty hard to deny. It’s no wonder that it has remained a staple in the Queen’s jewelry box for nearly seventy years.