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| Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) |
Time for the third installment of our look back at the jewels worn to the religious wedding of Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco! This post features jewels worn by the “pretenders” — members of formerly reigning royal families. (If you missed either of our previous posts, catch up here and here!) Stay tuned today for even more glitter from the wedding reception!
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): Marc Piasecki/Getty Images, Marc Piasecki/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, Marc Piasecki/Getty Images |
Let’s start off with the attendees from France. Quick background: there are three “houses” of French royalty today, all of which claim to be the rightful heirs to the French throne. Representatives of two of those houses attended the wedding. The Orleans branch descends from King Louis Philippe, who reigned until 1848; the head of the house uses the title of “Count of Paris.” And this is his wife: Micaela d’Orleans. She wore a lovely diamond and pearl demi-parure to the wedding, which includes a pair of pearl drop earrings and an intriguing diamond loop necklace with a pearl drop pendant. She also wore gold rings, including the hammered ring you see above.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images |
The other French pretender at the wedding was Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, current head of the “Legitimist” line. (This line is complicated, and it threads through the Spanish royal family, too.) Louis Alphonse uses the title of “Duke of Anjou.” His wife is Maria Margarita de Bourbon, a Venezuelan banking heiress. She wore classic diamond stud earrings with her sparkling dress, plus a major diamond ring on her right hand.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): Marc Piasecki/Getty Images, DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images, DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images |
If Germany still had a monarchy, its sovereign today would probably be Georg Friedrich of Prussia, head of the main branch of the Hohenzollern family. His wedding took place shortly after this one, but he brought along his fiancee, Sophie of Isenburg. She wore an intricately embroidered dress to the wedding, so she kept her jewelry simple: just a necklace with a disc-shaped gold pendant, and her engagement ring.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images, Dan Kitwood/Getty Images, DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images, Dan Kitwood/Getty Images, Dan Kitwood/Getty Images |
Leopold of Bavaria, a member of the extended Bavarian royal family, attended the ceremony with his wife, Ursula. (You’ll see them pop up at lots of royal events because they’re friends with several reigning royals. He’s Prince Carl Philip of Sweden’s godfather.) Ursula wore several pieces of intriguing jewelry: a pair of earrings with a ribbon stud and a pave-set ball pendant; a six-stranded pearl necklace; a glittering bracelet; and a brooch with a cabochon amethyst center stone and a diamond meander border.
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| Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
And here’s another German royal with significant connections to reigning royalty: Valerie of Baden, wife of Maximilian of Baden, who is a nephew of the Duke of Edinburgh. (Valerie’s own royal connections aren’t too shabby, either — she’s a great-granddaughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.) Unfortunately, photographers at this wedding didn’t seem to recognize her — but, luckily for us, she was seated beside Karl Lagerfeld, so we got a pretty good glimpse of her jewels anyway. (That’s Karl’s glove in the corner of the photo, of course.) Valerie went with pearls for the wedding: pearl drop earrings and a multi-stranded pearl necklace worn knotted.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, Marc Piasecki/Getty Images, Marc Piasecki/Getty Images |
Photographers did, however, recognize Valerie’s daughter-in-law, Stephanie of Baden. She also wore pearls, including a three-stranded necklace and a pair of earrings with a gem-set stud and a pearl drop.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images, PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images, PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images |
The former empress of Iran, Farah Pahlavi, attended the wedding in a bright suite of jewels. The set includes earrings, a large cocktail ring, and an even larger brooch in the shape of a bird. She also wore a delicate gold necklace.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images |
Marina of Savoy, wife of one of the pretenders to the Italian throne, went big with two pieces of jewelry: large earrings with a faceted center stone, and a ring with rows of gemstones.
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| Photo: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images |
Marina’s daughter-in-law, the glamorous French actress Clotilde Courau, wore only one piece of jewelry at the wedding ceremony: her own wedding. (As you’ll see later, though, she more than made up for it at the evening reception.)
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): Dan Kitwood/Getty Images, Dan Kitwood/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images |
The Italian contingent was rounded out by two Monegasque residents: Carlo and Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. The pair are close friends of the Grimaldis, and they’re often in attendance at the big social events in Monaco during the year. For this wedding, Camilla wore major pearls, including large earrings, a necklace, and an enormous ring. She also wore a glittering diamond bracelet, plus one set with colorful gemstones, on her left wrist.
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| Photos: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images, DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images |
The pretender to the throne of Portugal is Dom Duarte Pio de Braganza, who often uses the title “Duke of Braganza.” His wife, Isabel, wore glittering diamonds to the wedding ceremony, including the necklace of diamond circles that belonged to her mother-in-law, Maria Francisca of Orleans-Braganza.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images, PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images |
Margarita of Romania represented her father, King Michael, at the wedding. She wore a three-stranded pearl necklace, pearl and diamond earrings, and a gorgeous diamond brooch in the shape of a fleur-de-lis.
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| Photos (clockwise, L-R): Marc Piasecki/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images |
One of the claimants of the headship of the House of Romanov, Maria Vladimirovna, attended the wedding. She wore an intriguing suite of jewelry that looks like it may be a matched set: earrings, brooch, and ring.
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| Photos: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images, Sean Gallup/Getty Images |
Katherine, the wife of Alexander of Serbia (son of the last king of Yugoslavia), wore understated jewels. The most notable pieces were her earrings, which appear to be set with light blue gemstones — possibly aquamarines?
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