Can you identify the jewels worn here by Michiko Shoda, now the Empress of Japan, on her wedding day in 1959? (PS: Here’s a link to a color photograph that may help in your detective work!)
Sunday Sparkler: The Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Turquoise Tiara
When you hear of princess and princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, one very famous member of the family, Prince Albert, may be the first who springs to mind. But although the consort of Queen Victoria may be the most recognized member of the family, there are members of the house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha today in Bulgaria, in Belgium, in Sweden, and in their native Germany. Today, let’s have a look at the family’s heirloom turquoise and diamond tiara.
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
The current members of the German branch of the SCGs are descended from Albert and Victoria’s fourth son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Leopold’s descendants ended up with the SCG dukedom that had belonged to Prince Albert’s brother, Ernst. Albert’s eldest son, Edward VII, renounced his rights to the title; his second son, the Duke of Edinburgh, inherited the title but then died without a surviving male heir; his third son, the Duke of Connaught, also renounced his rights; and Leopold died long before he could have inherited the title.
The Duchess of Albany with Alice and Charles Edward
Since Leopold couldn’t inherit himself, his son, Charles Edward, became the last duke in 1900. (As a German member of the extended royal family, he was deprived of his British titles after World War I, and that turned out to be an especially good move on the part of George V, because Charles Edward later became a Nazi.)
Victoria Adelheid wears her turquoises (source)
In 1905, the duke acquired a wife: Victoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein. This turquoise and diamond button tiara originally belonged to her; it is a part of a parure that also included a necklace, a brooch, and a rather impressive pair of large, dangling earrings. Ursula has speculated that the set might have been one of Victoria Adelheid’s wedding gifts, perhaps a present from her parents or her new husband. The maker of the parure is apparently unknown.
Victoria Adelheid (far right) wears the tiara during Princess Sibylla’s wedding festivities (source)
At the end of World War I, the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family lost their
dukedom. Their royal connections, however, were far from over, and they
managed to keep their jewels (not just the turquoises — they’ve also
held on to the lovely Albany diamond necklace). In 1932, Victoria Adelheid wore the turquoise set at the wedding of her daughter, Princess Sibylla, to Prince Gustaf Adolf, the heir to the Swedish throne. The current king of Sweden is the son of Princess Sibylla, and his close family links to the SCGs mean that they pop up from time to time at major royal events.
In 2010, the turquoise tiara showed up at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. The wearer was the American-born Hereditary Princess Kelly, the wife of Hereditary Prince Hubertus. Kelly also wore the tiara at the wedding of Princess Madeleine in 2013 (pictured above).
And Hubertus and Kelly also recently welcomed a member of the next generation of tiara-wearing SCG princesses: their daughter, Katharina, whose royal godparents included Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Konstantin of Bulgaria, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, Hereditary Prince Ernst August of Hanover, and Countess Katharina of Faber-Castell.
In Memoriam: The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire
This week, the Duke of Devonshire announced the death of his mother, Deborah, at the age of 94. Born the youngest of the famous Mitford sisters, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire was the chatelaine of Chatsworth House, one of the grandest estates in England, for more than half a century. As you can imagine, the job came with the opportunity to wear some impressive heirloom jewels. Here’s a look at some of the jewelry worn by Debo during her lifetime.
Banquet held by the Royal Society of St. George, 1954
With her husband, the 11th Duke, at the Dorchester Hotel, 1955. The ruby and diamond clasp of her pearl necklace was a Cavendish family heirloom; the necklace became Deborah’s signature piece of jewelry
At the Dorchester Hotel, 1961. Deborah wears the smaller of the two Devonshire diamond tiaras; she also wore the tiara at the 1953 coronation, where the larger Devonshire tiara was worn by her mother-in-law, then the Mistress of the Robes. At the coronation, Deborah was described by Cecil Beaton as “the most beautiful of all … with her hair dressed wide to contain an Edwardian cake-like crown — a Cavendish heirloom” [1]. Her appearance at the coronation was especially striking because she wore the eighteenth-century robes of one of her predecessors, Georgiana, the famous wife of the 5th Duke. The Devonshires also have an unusual Victorian intaglio parure; Deborah wears it here
At the opening of the Chatsworth Farm Shop in London, 2000
Attending a memorial service for Sir Hardy Amies, 2003
With her chickens at Chatsworth, 1995
NOTES
1. Quoted in Diana Scarisbrick’s Ancestral Jewels, p. 153.