We’re still on hiatus from our normal weekly roundup of royal jewel news — events are due to slowly start ramping up again next week, so fingers crossed that we’ll have lots of sparkle and glitter to discuss then! In the meantime, I thought you’d all enjoy a collection of stories about royal jewels that have been making the rounds this week. Happy reading!
Dutch writer Eric Schoonhoven has posted new information about the magnificent sapphire and diamond tiara worn by Queen Máxima at her husband’s inauguration in 2013. Although the piece was often attributed to Mellerio, maker of one of the family’s ruby sets, Schoonhoven writes that gemologist George Hamel believes it was actually made by the Dutch jeweler Maison van der Stichel.
The Huffington Post ran a profile of Cécile of Hohenlohe-Langenburg this week. Cécile is a descendant of numerous royal families; her ancestors include Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark (pictured above; one of the Duke of Edinburgh’s sisters) and Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and of Tsar Alexander II. In the interview, Cécile reminisces about her family’s ancestral jewels and her own new collection of modern rings.
Over at Luxarazzi, Sydney recently posted about the wedding tiara of one of Liechtenstein’s royal brides. She’s managed to trace the small diamond fringe tiara worn by Princess Marie on her wedding day in 1989 back to its previous royal owner: Princess Maria Luisa, a Parmese princess who married a Bulgarian tsar.
While in Brazil for the wedding of Princess Amélia of Orléans-Braganza, the Duchess of Braganza (wife of the pretender to the Portuguese throne) gave an interview in which she discusses her use of the family’s heirloom jewels. Isabel wore a grand diamond tiara from the collection of the last queen of Portugal, Amélie of Orléans, on her wedding day in 1995 and in a few official portraits; she reveals that she hasn’t worn it more often because of its size and historical importance. She also hints that some of her mother-in-law’s jewels (possibly including the diamond bandeau worn by Isabel in the picture above) will eventually be inherited by her daughter, Maria Francisca.
Posters at the Royal Jewels of the World Message Board have been speculating about the tiara that might be worn by Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (pictured above with her mother, Gloria) at her wedding in September. The thread includes great pictures of the tiaras that the family still owns, along with images of the sparklers that have been sold at auction.
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