My favorite tiara

The diamond and pearl tiara created by Musy for the Italian
queen Margherita is my favorite tiara. Probably the most
versatile of designs, it can be worn at least five or six
different ways. I've only seen images of Queen Margherita
wearing the tiara in its main form, which is quite grand.


When Princess Marie Jose of Belgium married Margherita's
grandson in 1930, she wore the tiara on her wedding day.
It is worn quite spread out here and must have been a
sight to behold. Later it gets worn conventionally
more towards the back of the crown.


Two further illustrations of the tiara's versatility.
During the 1930's and 1940's tiaras were worn low on
the forehead. To the left is the tiara with just the
inner "spikes" and to the right is the outer frame
without pearls. Since I don't have the book on the
Savoy jewels (and not being a reader of Italian) I
can't tell you much about the jewel itself.


Many of you royal jewels diehards will be mutually
gritting your teeth at the sight of Marina Doria
wearing the grand tiara (this was at the 2004
Danish royal wedding, BTW). Sunglasses with tiara?
Oh, please. Personally I'm happy to see it's
still around, not sold like other pieces of
the Savoy jewels or languishing in a Roman
bank vault.

Lost & Found - The Brunswick Tiara

Revisiting my image cache I came across these two pictures.
One shows in old age, Princess Viktoria Luise, the dowager
Duchess of Brunswick and Princess of Prussia, wearing the
tiara that was given to her by the people of Brunswick
(or was it from her husband?) upon her marriage in 1913.

I had read somewhere that this particular tiara went AWOL
under the possession of her son, also named Ernst August.
It wasn't seen on the head of Chantal, the first wife of
Viktoria Luise's grandson, Ernst August. But, the tiara
made a startling reappearance at the Danish royal wedding
in 2004 on the head of Caroline of Monaco. Was it ever
missing or just misplaced? Or is this tiara a duplicate?

Surprise(s) of the year?

With 2005 coming to an end royal jewelry fans have been
treated to several surprises, namely from the House of
Windsor. The biggest surprise was the re-appearance,
after over half a century, of the Delhi Durbar Tiara on
the head of none other than Camilla, the Duchess of
Cornwall. during the Norwegian state visit to England.

It was last worn by the late Queen Mother on a State
visit to South Africa, only to be mothballed away,
leading to speculations of dismantling. During the
2001 exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum it
reappeared, with the provenance of the Queen Mother.
We were rapturious because a beautiful piece still
existed in the British Royal Family.

Another pleasant surprise was the appearance of the
Indian Ruby Tiara on the head of Her Majesty. For
a long time it was worn by the Queen Mother instead
of being turned over to her daughter, being one of
her three favorite tiaras. There are several royal
jewelry fans who feel that this tiara is prettier
in design than the Burmese Ruby Tiara.

Nobel Gala 2005 - 1st Evening, Pt. 1

As usual the royal ladies of the House of Bernadotte did not
disappoint fans of royal jewelry. For the first evening of
the Nobel 2005 gala, Queen Silvia wore the full cameo parure
of the Empress Josephine. It consists of a tiara, necklace,
earrings, a brooch and a pair of bracelets.

The tiara is of cameos and pearls, set in yellow gold, whereas
the rest of the set have cameos set in diamonds. Perhaps the
parure was never complete in the first place?

Princess Lillian sparkled magnificiently wearing the tiara of
six diamond buttons, large diamond pendant earrings, a necklace
of collet diamonds with a pendant similar to the buttons, and
diamond brooch securing her sash.

It should be noted that a sharp-eyed royal jewelry fan discovered
that the six buttons, as well as the other four diamond buttons,
are not identical. Rather the four central buttons are the same,
while the side buttons are round in shape.

Photos by way of Tamara

Nobel Gala 2005 - 1st Evening, Pt. 2

A radiant Crown Princess Victoria wore the Baden Fringe Tiara,
along with pearl pendant earrings, a diamond rose brooch and
the lovely antique sapphire and pearl necklace. I love the
gorgeous color of the sapphires and the overall design of
the necklace, which is appropriate for a young woman.

Princess Madeleine also turned heads, wearing her mother's
diamond fringe tiara, diamond pendant earrings and the
hanging drops from the Connaught Diamond Tiara as
pendants on a chain.

Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, wore the tiara of four
diamond buttons.

Photos by way of Tamara

Nobel Gala 2005 - 2nd Evening, Pt. 1

For the second evening of the Nobel Gala, Queen Silvia
wore the Nine-Prong Diamond Tiara, a pair of diamond
pendant earrings, a collet diamond necklace with
a drop pendant and a pearl pendant brooch.

Princess Lillian had on the same diamond brooch from
the previous night, but this time wore as a tiara her
diamond leaf necklace, a pair of diamond and pearl
pendant earrings and a necklace of pearls and carved
gemstone scarabs.

Photos by way of Tamara

Nobel Gala 2005 - 2nd Evening, Pt. 2

Crown Princess Victoria was more subdued on the second night,
wearing the tiara of gold and cut-steel, along with diamond
pendant earrings, a small diamond brooch and a diamond
bracelet.

Princess Madeleine looked beautiful with the Six Button Tiara
and the diamond necklace and pendant worn the previous night
by Princess Lillian, along with large diamond stud earrings
and a little bow brooch.

Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, was also present for the
second evening, this time wearing the diamond fringe tiara
she had inherited from her godmother, Mrs Elsa Cedegren.

Photos by way of Tamara