Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
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| JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images |
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| Mark Renders/Getty Images |
Queen Paola of Belgium’s jewelry box has always been on the petite side. As the wife of a younger son, the jewelry she received at the beginning of her marriage was more modest — and it actually remained that way throughout her life as a princess and as a queen. Today, we’re talking about one of the lovely small diamond pieces that she owns: a diamond necklace that can also be worn as a tiara.
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Paola has been wearing the piece as a necklace and as a tiara since the early years of her marriage. There’s speculation that she was given the necklace either as a wedding present in 1959 (possibly by her new husband?) or as a gift in honor of the birth of her first child, King Philippe, the following year. It’s essentially comprised of two rows of diamonds — a chain from which a row of tiny drops are suspended — and a slim pendant piece.
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Paola’s modest jewel collection actually includes two delicate diamond necklaces, and sometimes people confuse the two. This piece is easy to identify because of the V-shape that it forms, thanks to the large central pendant section. In a way, it resembles the Y-necklaces that were so popular during the 1990s — but of course, a highly glamorous version. In comparison, the second diamond necklace includes festoon designs. The side-by-side photos above should help you tell the difference between the two.
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| Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS/Alamy |
While the festoon-style necklace hasn’t been worn as a tiara, Paola wore today’s necklace as a tiara several times as a young princess. You can just see the small tiara peeking out of Paola’s complicated hairstyle in the photo above, taken in October 1967.
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Paola wore the necklace often during her years as Princess of Liege. Above, she wears the jewel during an official visit from French President François Mitterrand in October 1983.
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During her years as Belgium’s queen consort, Paola had access to two significant tiaras: the Nine Provinces Tiara, reserved for the nation’s queen, and Queen Elisabeth’s Art Deco Bandeau, which she was given by her father-in-law. But the delicate diamond necklace still played an important part in her jewel collection; above, she pairs the Nine Provinces with the delicate necklace during a state visit from the Norwegian royals in May 2003.
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She often reached for the necklace for black-tie events, which generally require a lot of sparkle but not a tiara. One of these, pictured above, was the pre-wedding dinner honoring the future King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in January 2002.
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She has also worn the necklace for more formal daytime events. In July 2011, she chose the piece for the wedding of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco.
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| Mark Renders/Getty Images |
When Paola’s husband, King Albert II, abdicated, the Nine Provinces Tiara was transferred to the collection of the new queen consort, Mathilde. But along with her diamond bandeau tiara, Paola also retained this necklace. The former king and queen have largely kept a low profile since the abdication, but if we do so Paola appear at another glittering event any time soon, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this favorite necklace is worn as a prominent accessory.
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| Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse |
Today marks the 68th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne. It seems like a particularly appropriate time to take a closer look at one of the jewels associated with that moment: the Flame Lily Brooch.
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The brooch, made of diamonds set in platinum and white gold, is designed to represent Zimbabwe’s national flower, the flame lily. The piece was designed by Len Bell, a jeweler based in Harare, and made by Eric Kippin for Sidarsky and Son in Johannesburg in 1947.
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| Princess Elizabeth’s official 21st birthday portrait, taken on April 18, 1947, in London (AFP via Getty Images) |
The brooch was commissioned as a 21st birthday gift for Princess Elizabeth from the children of Zimbabwe, which was then called Southern Rhodesia. Elizabeth arrived in the country with her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and her sister, Princess Margaret, on April 7, 1947. The stop was a part of their tour of southern Africa. King George opened the nation’s parliament, and later the same day, six children presented the brooch to the princess.
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Elizabeth wore the delicate diamond brooch frequently in the early 1950s. Above, she sports the piece to inspect a group of crewmen aboard the HMCS Ontario during a tour of Newfoundland in November 1951.
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In January 1952, Elizabeth and her dressers packed the flame lily brooch in her luggage as they prepared to embark on a lengthy Commonwealth tour. But, as we all know, history intervened. Her father, King George, died on February 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya. The tour was hastily canceled, and the new Queen Elizabeth II flew quickly back to England. On the flight home, the Queen dressed in black mourning clothes and pinned the flame lily to her coat.
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In some of the most iconic images of her reign, photographers captured her on February 7, 1952, wearing the brooch as she descended the stairs to step on English soil as monarch for the first time. She was also photographed leaving the airport in a car, exhaustion and sorrow plain on her face.
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The new Queen actually wore the brooch multiple times during the period of mourning that followed her father’s death. Above, she wears the jewels with a black coat as she and the Duke of Beaufort attend the Olympic Horse Trials at Badminton in April 1952.
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| Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images |
In June 1952, she wore the brooch as she stepped of the plane that carried her from Balmoral, where she’d spent the Whitsun holiday with her young children, to London on her way back to Windsor.
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In more recent years, the brooch has remained a favorite. Sixty years after she received the brooch, she wore it for the second day of Royal Ascot in June 2007. By this point, there were actually two identical flame lily brooches in the Queen’s collection. In June 1953, Eric Kippen made copies of the brooch for the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, and the Queen inherited her mother’s version of the brooch in 2002. There’s really no easy way to tell the difference between the two brooches, so these days, we don’t know whether HM is wearing her own brooch or the later copy. I think it’s more likely that she’s simply kept on wearing her own brooch — but who knows?
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In November 2010, she wore the brooch for diplomatic meetings in Abu Dhabi during her visit to the United Arab Emirates.
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The brooch made a very prominent appearance, with the diamonds sparkling mightily on a red dress, during the Queen’s Christmas Message in December 2011.
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The brooch is well-suited for garden parties, like this one at Buckingham Palace, held in June 2013.
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In November 2016, the Queen chose the brooch for an occasion honoring another stalwart member of the royal family, wearing it for a Buckingham Palace reception held in honor of Princess Alexandra’s 80th birthday year.
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The brooch’s delicate design tends to get lost a bit when worn against prints, but it shines brightly when worn with bright or dark colors. This yellow coat provided a perfect background for the brooch during Royal Ascot in June 2017.
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| GEOFF PUGH/AFP via Getty Images |
More recently, the Queen wore the brooch with a lime green jacket for an appropriately floral occasion: her annual visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2019.