We’ve chosen the ten best royal jewel moments of 2016 — here’s our complete list!
Which royal jewel moments were your favorite in 2016?
The Top Ten: The Best Royal Jewels of 2016
The Best Royal Jewels of 2016: #10 (Albania’s Royal Bride)
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| (DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images) |
It’s officially the last week of 2016, which means it’s time for a countdown of the best royal jewel appearances of the year! I’ve chosen ten of my favorite bejeweled royal appearances from this year, and we’ll be featuring two of them every day until we reach #1 on Friday. Enjoy — and, of course, weigh in on your own favorites in the comments!
#10: Albania’s Royal Bride
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| (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images) |
When royal pretenders have big weddings, we often get to see pieces of jewelry that have remained hidden from public view for years. And when Prince Leka, the pretender to Albania’s throne, married Elia Zaharia in October, we got to see a very unusual bridal tiara on display.
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| (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images) |
Elia’s bridal diadem was a diamond and sapphire heirloom tiara from her new husband’s family. The center of the tiara features a unique element: a diamond-set version of the Ram of Skanderbeg, one of Albania’s most important national symbols.
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| (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images) |
We discussed the symbolism of the ram at length in our post on the wedding (which you can read over here!). Lots of Albania’s royal jewelry featured this unique image. Because of its rather different design motif, the tiara is not exactly universally liked. Even so, this bejeweled appearance makes my top ten simply because it’s an extremely unusual piece that is rarely seen. (And I thought the bride wore it well, too!)
This Week in Royal Tiaras: October 7-13
October 7-13, 2016
Get excited everyone — it’s time for another rare weekly tiara roundup! We were blessed with too many glittering jewels this week to fit into one poll, so we’ve got a separate post here for my top ten tiaras of the week. Vote for your favorites below!
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| Photo: KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images |
10. The Wolfers Tiara: Worn by Queen Mathilde of the Belgians at a state banquet in Japan on Tuesday.
9. The Norwegian Amethyst Tiara: Worn by Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway at a state banquet for the President of Singapore on Tuesday.
8. The Modern Gold Tiara: Worn by Queen Sonja of Norway at a state banquet for the President of Singapore on Tuesday.
7. Princess Mako’s Tiara: Worn by Princess Mako of Akishino at the Belgian state banquet on Tuesday.
6. Princess Kako’s Tiara: Worn by Princess Kako of Akishino at the Belgian state banquet on Tuesday.
5. The Akishino Tiara: Worn by the Princess Akishino at the Belgian state banquet on Tuesday.
4. The Pearl Sunburst Tiara: Worn by Crown Princess Masako of Japan at the Belgian state banquet on Tuesday.
3. The Vasa Tiara: Worn by Princess Astrid of Norway at a state banquet for the President of Singapore on Tuesday.
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| Photo: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images |
2. The Albanian Sapphire Ram Tiara: Worn by Elia Zaharia at her wedding to Prince Leka of Albania on Saturday.
1. The Kent Pearl Festoon Tiara: Worn by Princess Michael of Kent at the Albanian wedding reception on Saturday evening.