The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: July 29-August 4

by // Leave a Comment

July 29-August 4, 2016
Summer vacations and Olympic meetings dominate this week’s jewel roundup. Be sure to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
10. Infanta Elena of Spain was in Palma de Mallorca this week for the royal family’s annual holiday. She wore casual stacks of bracelets and necklaces on Monday at the Calanova Nautic Club.

Photo: J.J. Guillén – Pool/Getty Images
9. On Friday, Queen Letizia of Spain wore glittering star-shaped stud earrings to bid farewell to Spain’s Olympic team at the airport in Madrid.
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
8. In Rio, Princess Anne wore pearls and a floral-esque brooch at the Team GB British House Reception on Wednesday.
Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
7. In Mallorca, Queen Letizia wore a pair of gold-toned hoop earrings from Mango for a big family dinner on Sunday at the Flaningan Restaurante.
Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
6. Infanta Elena chose a tasseled statement necklace for Sunday evening’s dinner.
Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
5. And Queen Sofia of Spain wore a long, beaded necklace for the family outing. (And, bonus! That’s a sparkly headband on the Princess of Asturias!)
Photo: Johnny Gates/Antonio Dominguez de Haro via Getty Images
4. Here’s a royal lady we don’t see often enough: Princess Barbara of Yugoslavia (nee Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein), the widow of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, who was the son of Prince Paul and Princess Olga. She wore a pair of major earrings with pearls for an art exhibition in Marbella on Friday.
Photo: Fabrice Coffrini-Pool/Getty Images
3. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark attended the opening meeting of the IOC in Rio on Monday; she wore major statement earrings, plus bracelets and rings, for the event.
Photo: KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP/Getty Images
2. Empress Michiko of Japan was in Tokyo on Sunday for a concert. Unusually, she wore both pearls and a jewel with a colored gemstone: a lovely brooch that is set with diamonds and a blue stone (possibly a blue topaz?).
Photo: MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images
1. Queen Haminah Hamidun of Malaysia wore glittering jewels — including rings and a gem-studded brooch — for Sunday’s Warriors’ Day Celebration, where she was visibly moved by the presentations.

The Baden Palmette Tiara

by // Leave a Comment

The Baden Palmette Tiara (Photo: Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

The Danish royal family has one of the biggest and widest-ranging tiara collections in Europe. Today, we’re looking at one of the older and more traditional tiaras in the bunch. The Baden Palmette Tiara, an heirloom with a long history, is a petite diadem that still packs a big, sparkly punch.

Queen Margrethe wears the tiara at the Norwegian royal wedding in 2001 (Photo: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

The tiara is originally a German piece, made in the mid-nineteenth century, probably by Koch. It was reportedly a wedding gift from King Wilhelm of Prussia (who later became the first German kaiser) to his daughter, Princess Louise, who married Grand Duke Frederick of Baden in 1856.

Queen Margrethe wears the tiara at the Norwegian royal wedding in 2002 (Photo: Sion Touhig/Getty Images)

Frederick and Louise’s daughter, Victoria, married King Gustaf V of Sweden in 1881. She brought the tiara with her to Stockholm (along with another rather familiar diadem, the Baden Fringe, which is generally worn today by Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden). When Victoria died in 1930, her granddaughter, Princess Ingrid, inherited the tiara, and when Ingrid married Frederik IX of Denmark five years later, she brought the tiara with her to her new country.

Queen Margrethe wears the tiara in 2010 (Photo: KELD NAVNTOFT/AFP/Getty Images)

Queen Ingrid died in 2000, and her impressive jewel collection has filtered through the royal and princely families of Denmark, Greece, and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Queen Margrethe was the lucky inheritor of this lovely tiara, and she wears it often. As it’s a rather romantic tiara, with its heart-shaped palmette motifs, she often dons it for romantic occasions.

Queen Margrethe wears the tiara at Prince Joachim’s wedding in 2008 (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

She’s worn it to numerous royal weddings, including the nuptials of both Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Martha Louise of Norway, the wedding of her godson, Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, and the second wedding of her own son, Prince Joachim. It’s easy to see why the sparkler is one of Daisy’s favorites: it’s elegant, playful, and (most importantly for a tiara) small and therefore likely quite comfortable.

Note: This is an updated version of an earlier post with new text/images.