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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Royal Tour Jewels: The Duchess of Cornwall in Canada

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Much of the royal attention over the past two weeks has been focused on a series of anniversaries — milestone wedding anniversaries in Denmark and Spain, and an important constitutional anniversary in Norway — but in the midst of all of that, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall made a trip across the pond to Canada. The nation’s future king and his wife visited three provinces and met lots of Canadians along the way. Let’s have a look at the jewelry that Camilla packed in her hand luggage for the tour, shall we?

The royal couple landed on Sunday in Halifax to begin their four-day visit. With a pair of small pearl pendant earrings, Camilla wore a pair of brooches that she’s donned at some important occasions for the royal family. The diamond brooches are shaped like four-leaf clovers. She wore them at Prince William’s wedding in 2011, and for her first Christmas as a member of the royal family at Sandringham in 2005.

The tour kicked into high gear on Monday with a series of military-related events in Halifax. While Camilla kept her pearl necklace covered with a warm scarf for several events, she showed it off during the official welcome ceremony at the Cenotaph. Camilla has several pearl necklaces; this one has four strands of pearls connected by a clasp that features several circular rows of diamonds. She wore no brooch with the coat, probably so that the Nova Scotia tartan could take center stage. The Duchess of Cambridge is often praised for planning tributes to the areas she visits into her wardrobe choices; she’s not the only lady in the family who does so. In this case, the lapels and the cuffs of Camilla’s coat are embellished with the local tartan. (Let’s not talk about the dumb feather on the hat. *shudder*)

Here’s a close-up look at the bracelets and rings that Camilla wore on Monday during a visit to a family resource center in Halifax. On her right wrist, she wears her watch and a Rainbow Loom bracelet, surely a gift from an admiring young Canadian. On her left wrist, she wears a gold bracelet with cabochon stones that often features in her daytime jewelry, as well as a more delicate gold chain bracelet. She’s also wearing her platinum and diamond engagement ring, an heirloom that once belonged to the Queen Mother, and her wedding ring, made from part of a nugget of Welsh gold.

On Tuesday, the royal couple moved on to Prince Edward Island. The brooch she wore for the day’s engagements, including a visit to Cornwall United Church, belonged to the Queen Mother. It’s the white gold and diamond Lily of the Valley Brooch, made by Fabergé, that was presented to the Queen Mum by Nikita Khrushchev during his visit to the UK in 1956. Camilla has worn it at a number of important occasions, most importantly her daughter’s wedding in 2006.

Wednesday’s events were held in Manitoba, where Camilla made a visit to the Winnipeg Ballet. Her choice of brooch for the engagement was especially appropriate:

This is her ballerina brooch, made by Van Cleef & Arpels. The piece is made of gold and set with sapphires, rubies, and diamonds.

The tour came to a close on Tuesday with an investiture at Winnipeg’s Legislative Chamber. Camilla changed her outfit, as well as her jewels, for this final engagement. With her usual pearl earrings, she wore a single-stranded pearl necklace. She also paid tribute to one of the military regiments for which she serves as Colonel-in-Chief: The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. The pin she wears on her lapel is the diamond cap badge of the regiment, which features a bold number two in its center. Camilla has worn this piece in Canada before, and before her, it was worn by other royal Colonels-in-Chief (including Princess Alexandra). During the 2012 tour, she donned it for a luncheon in Toronto, and at a muster at Fort York commemorating the War of 1812, she affixed it to her hat.

And that’s it from Canada! Hope you enjoyed this rundown of royal tour jewels — Camilla may be less newsworthy than Kate, but she certainly can bring the bling. Stay tuned tomorrow for a special “Sunday” Sparkler post!

Bridal Jewels: The Princess of Asturias

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Ten years ago today, the biggest royal wedding to be held in Spain in nearly a century took place in Madrid, when Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, a Spanish journalist and television news anchor, married the heir to the throne, Prince Felipe. Because the wedding was a daytime affair, the guests weren’t dripping in jewels as they had been in Denmark a few days before (when the Danish crown prince was married — see here and here for a recap of that wedding!).

Instead, the jewelry focus was mainly on the bride, who wore an heirloom tiara from her new husband’s family for the occasion. (Want more on the wacky hats worn by the guests? Head over to The Royal Roundup to see a classic Mad Hattery! post on the majestic millinery in all its glory!)

The tiara worn by Letizia on her big day was borrowed from her new mother-in-law, Queen Sofia of Spain. It’s generally called the “Prussian Tiara.” How, you may be asking yourself, did the Spanish royals get a hold of a tiara with the word “Prussian” in its name? The answer to that question lies in the heritage of the current queen of Spain. Sofia was born a princess of Greece and Denmark; her mother, Friederike, was a Hanoverian princess. And her mother was the Prussian link: Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kaiserin Augusta Victoria of Germany.

Victoria Louise received the diamond and platinum tiara, which features both meander and laurel-leaf elements, as well as a central pear-shaped diamond mounted en tremblant, as a wedding present from her father in 1913. It was made for the princess by Koch, a jeweler that often did work for the German imperial family. (We’ve seen several examples of Koch tiaras on the blog this year — see here and here for two of them.) Victoria Louise wore the tiara on her wedding day; her new husband was Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick. She’s also wearing the tiara in the wedding souvenir postcard pictured above.

The next owner of the tiara was Ernst August and Victoria Louise’s daughter, Friederike. When she traveled to Greece to marry the country’s crown prince (later King Paul) in 1938, she was given the diamond tiara to take along. Friederike and Paul’s elder daughter, Sophia, wore the sparkler to some of her first white-tie events. When she married the future king of Spain — and changed the spelling of her name to Sofia — she wore the Prussian tiara with her veil. (You can see her wearing it in the picture above, in the midst of her wedding ceremony in Athens.)

Both of Sofia’s daughters, Elena and Cristina, have worn their great-grandmother’s tiara, but the piece did not grace another royal bride’s head until 2004. Letizia wore the petite diamond sparkler with her veil on her wedding day. It was a neat homage to her new family, paying tribute to the wedding of her parents-in-law and to her husband’s regal heritage. It was also a good choice because (unlike her extremely tall husband) Letizia is a small woman, and a larger bridal tiara might have overwhelmed her.

Since the wedding, Letizia has been the primary wearer of the tiara. She’s not been given the tiara outright — it still resides in her mother-in-law’s collection, but Sofia is quite generous in lending jewels to her daughters and daughter-in-law for major occasions, like weddings and banquets. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if this is one of the first tiaras that we see one day on Letizia’s daughters, the future Queen Leonor and her younger sister, Infanta Sofia, continuing the family tradition for yet another generation [1].

NOTES, PHOTO CREDITS, AND LINKS
1. A version of this post originally appeared at A Tiara a Day in September 2013.

Jewel History: The Brunswick Jewels (1874)

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Karl II, Duke of Brunswick [1]
“The Brunswick Jewels”
(originally appeared in the New York Times, 22 May 1874)

On April 29, and rather unexpectedly, writes the Geneva correspondent of the London Times, the sale of the Brunswick jewels was brought to an unsatisfactory close. There is much disappointment at the result of the sale, commenced a week ago, and continuing from day to day ever since.

At first, the competition was brisk, and good prices were realized, but with the third day of the sale a marked decline set in, which went on decreasing until today, when the sale may be said to have actually died out for want of bidders.

On the first day — i.e., April 23 — twenty-four lots were sold, realizing 96,425 francs, of 27,000 francs over the reserved price. On the second day, the thirty-six lots sold produced 293,230 francs, about 35,000 francs over the upset price. On both days several lots were withdrawn because of the upset price not being offered — viz: (in all) 45,520 francs on the first day, and 11,550 francs on the second day.

During those two days, the chief articles disposed of were the toilet service in gilt silver of the late Duke [2], secured by Capt. Hargreaves for 11,000 francs; a rose brilliant of great beauty for 18,000 francs; and a pure brilliant for 37,100 francs, bought by M. Schlessinger of Vienna; four rubies for 13,700 francs, by M. Clement of Paris; a pair of brilliants mounted as earrings, 27,700 francs; a blue brilliant, 17,600 francs, by Messrs. Blogg and Martin, of London; the orders, colors, and decorations of the late Duke, for 88,200 francs, by Baron L.A. Goldschmidt and M. Porges; a lot of tinted diamonds, 45,200 francs; a heart-shaped brilliant, 10,100 francs; and four brilliants, 13,000 francs.

An incident of the second day’s sale was the discovery that certain “emeralds” put up were imitation, and their consequent withdrawal. On the third day, as I have said, there were marked indications of a decline in the sale, the biddings being by no means brisk. The sum of 132,930 francs was, however, realized, or 20,000 francs  (about) over the upset price. The lots withdrawn were of the estimated value of 142,775 francs.

The fourth day’s sale (Sunday) realized 283,980 francs, or nearly 100,000 francs over the reserved price, indicating a revival in the interest of the sale; but on the fifth day, the attendance of buyers was very small, and only 96,000 francs was realized, lots to the value of 164,650 francs being withdrawn. Yesterday, the sixth day, still less business was done, only 61,635 francs being secured. Today 25,480 francs’ worth of jewels only were sold.

The general results of the seven days’ sale are as follows: Sum realized, 990,030 francs; estimated value, 768,558 francs; estimated value of the lots withdrawn, 846,355 francs. No decision has yet been come to respecting the disposal of the unsold jewels, but great disappointment is felt in Geneva at their failure to tempt purchasers. The lots sold realized, on the whole, very favorable prices, and those that remain unsold are, in the opinion of the dealers, much overrated in value. As far as the sale of the late Duke’s jewels is concerned, the benefit to Geneva is small, but the town has had a substantial benefit from his bequest in the 10,000,000 or 12,000,000 of francs in stock and real property.

Among the buyers were representatives of the Shah of Persia [3], Messrs. Sabot and Totvania of Teheran, but their purchases were confined to a collection of about ten small rubies, at 10,000 francs, some emeralds of small price, and a few other trifles. The large and beautiful rose-tinted brilliant, the gem of the collection, was sold to Messrs. Blogg & Martin for 70,600 francs. Among the other chief purchasers were Messrs. Haas of Geneva and Paris, M. Soemenstein, M.L. Taub, M. Achard, and M. Vanderheim.

NOTES, PHOTO CREDITS, AND LINKS
1. Image available via Wikipedia; source here.
2. The recently-deceased duke whose possessions were being auctioned was Karl II, Duke of Brunswick (1804-1873). He was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Marie of Baden; his paternal grandmother was Princess Augusta, the sister of King George III of Great Britain, and (the much injured) Queen Caroline of Great Britain was his aunt. Karl inherited the dukedom in 1815, while he was still a minor; his uncle/cousin, the Prince Regent (later King George IV of the UK), was named his guardian. He never married, and he was succeeded by his younger brother, Wilhelm.
3. In 1874, the Persian shah was Nasser al-Din (1831-1896) of the Qajar dynasty.