Floral Tiara Tournament: Spanish Floral vs Floral Aigrette

It’s time for the first sparkling tiara contest of round three!

This Spanish tiara has an important pedigree: it was a gift from King Alfonso XII to his wife, Queen Maria Cristina. The sparkler was sold when the family went into exile in the ’30s, but it was later bought back by Franco and given as a wedding present to Queen Sofia. Today, the classic diamond floral tiara is one of Queen Letizia’s signature pieces.

Some believe that this incredible, flexible floral ornament originally belonged to Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, grandmother of King Frederik IX. We know for sure, though, that in the 1960s it belonged to a famous Danish-American tenor, Lauritz Melchior. He sold it to King Frederik in 1963, and it’s been sparkling on the heads of Queen Ingrid and Queen Margrethe II ever since. Queen Margrethe is especially inventive in the ways she wears the three-sectioned tiara.