The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Saturday Sparkler: Queen Fabiola’s Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara

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It’s always a sad day when we have to bid farewell to a grand royal lady. Yesterday, Queen Fabiola of Belgium died in Brussels at the age of 86. Born a Spanish aristocrat, Fabiola married King Baudouin of the Belgians in 1960. She was the aunt of both King Philippe of the Belgians and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg. Today, we’re going to remember Fabiola — queen consort, aunt, sister, nurse, author, philanthropist, and patron — by marveling at her most glittering piece of jewelry: her convertible diamond tiara.

The Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara is named as a such because it was a) a wedding gift, and b) was given to Fabiola by the then-leader of Spain, Generalissimo Franco, and his wife, Carmen. The Spanish head of state gave the new queen a tiara because she was born into an aristocratic Spanish family — her maiden name was Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, and her godmother was Queen Ena of Spain. Coincidentally, Carmen Franco delivered the tiara to Fabiola exactly 54 years ago today, on December 6, 1960. Fabiola wore the tiara in public for the first time at the reception held the night before her wedding.

Fabiola was working as a nurse when she met King Baudouin through her connections to the Spanish royal family. The two hit it off, and the rest is history. She went from nurse to queen when the pair married in 1960. (Fabiola chose to wear a different tiara at her wedding: the Nine Provinces Tiara that had belonged to her husband’s late mother, Queen Astrid.)

The piece can be worn not only in three different configurations but also with three different sets of colored gemstones. The tiara is a feat of construction, endlessly adaptable and yet still balanced and lovely. It can be worn as a large but elegant wreath tiara. The leaf elements can also be worn upright, transforming the piece into a coronet.

Even better, Fabiola also wore the elements as pendants on a necklace; she’s wearing one of them on her necklace in the photo above, from a 1978 reception in Brussels.

The center of each diamond leaf element is studded with a gemstone, and those too are interchangeable. The piece can be worn with rubies, emeralds, or aquamarines. Add in Fabiola’s impressive bouffant, and you’ve got a truly remarkable tiara.

Fabiola continued to wear the tiara even after Baudouin’s sudden death in 1993. I believe the 2005 Polish state visit, pictured above, was the last time she wore the piece in public, as a necklace with aquamarine center stones. Appropriately, she wore the piece as a tiara at the Spanish state visit in 2000..

It’s a good piece to have if you’re a royal woman who, like the ladies of the Belgian royal family, doesn’t have tons of tiaras at your disposal. There are two major Belgian tiaras being used by the current queen (the Nine Provinces and the laurel wreath), two in the personal collection of the late Queen Fabiola (this tiara and the small Wolfers Tiara, which is also convertible), and one (the art deco bandeau) in the hands of Queen Paola. Princess Astrid and Princess Claire also each have one or two tiaras of their own.

Many, including me, hope that Fabiola decided to bequeath her tiaras to her niece-in-law, Queen Mathilde. As Mathilde has been seen in other small pieces of jewelry from Fabiola’s collection, I’d say it’s a good possibility that she decided to do exactly that. Keeping Fabiola’s tiara in the family, and having it worn in public by the queen, would be a wonderful way to honor Fabiola’s legacy in Belgium. We’ll have to wait to see how Fabiola arranged the inheritance of her jewels, but if Mathilde and Philippe did indeed inherit this piece, I have a feeling we’ll see Mathilde wearing it soon as a way to remember a beloved member of the family.

Remembrance Sunday 2014

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Today, Britain marked Remembrance Sunday, an annual day of reflection and ceremony honoring those who have died in military conflicts. With commemorations all over the country and the globe, from the Tower of London’s poppy installation to the Cenotaph to Afghanistan, the royal family played a central role in remembering the sacrifices of those who served.

The Queen, who is the Commander in Chief of the British Armed Forces (and of the Canadian Forces), led the tributes at the Cenotaph in London. Her jewelry on Remembrance Sunday is almost always the same: she selects one of her diamond bow brooches, but she uses it to gather the stems of her bunch of memorial poppies. The choice highlights the poppies rather than competing with them. This year, she wore the Dorset Bow Brooch, made by Carrington and given to Queen Mary as a wedding present in 1893 by the county of Dorset. As with her brooch at last night’s Festival of Remembrance, the choice of an item from Mary’s collection also neatly commemorates the woman who was queen consort during World War I.

After the Queen’s tribute, the Duke of Edinburgh laid a wreath. Both Elizabeth and Philip are veterans of World War II. She served with the Auxiliary Territorial Service; he served with the Royal Navy and was commended for his courageous efforts during the Battle of Cape Matapan.

The Prince of Wales, who served in the Royal Navy during the 1970s, laid a third wreath.

And the Duke of Cambridge, wearing his Royal Air Force uniform, also laid a wreath at the memorial.

The Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, and the Duke of Kent also participated in the ceremony.

Some wondered why Prince Harry wasn’t involved in the Cenotaph ceremony — and then the palace revealed that he had quietly traveled to Afghanistan, where he participated in Remembrance Sunday services in Kandahar. (Princess Anne and Sir Tim, also not present at the London service, are in Ottawa.)

Other members of the royal family traditionally watch the Remembrance Sunday services in London from a balcony overlooking the Cenotaph. The Duchess of Cornwall wore familiar diamond and pearl jewelry, and she followed the Queen’s lead by securing her poppies with the cap badge of the Lancers, the regiment that her father, Major Bruce Shand, fought with during World War II.

The Countess of Wessex wore the cap badge of The Rifles; she is the Royal Colonel of the 5th Battalion. She also wore the same crystal poppy brooch from Buckley London that she wore at last night’s Festival of Remembrance.

The Duchess of Cambridge has worn a Buckley London poppy brooch in the past, but for today’s service, she chose a different red floral brooch. It’s actually an anemone, not a poppy, but there’s a significant reason for her to have chosen it today: it was given to her during her tour of Australia by Emma Roberts-Smith, wife of Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, a recipient of the Victoria Cross. She also wore her diamond and sapphire earrings and the “Empress Mini” pendant necklace by Mappin and Webb.

The Duchess of Gloucester wore pearls, an enamel poppy brooch on her hat, and the cap badge of the Adjutant General’s Corps. She’s the corps’s Deputy Colonel-in-Chief.

The Duke of Gloucester wore his medals pinned to his jacket.

Princess Alexandra repeated the diamond and pearl cluster earrings and the diamond floral brooch she wore at last night’s Festival of Remembrance.

In Memoriam: The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

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This week, the Duke of Devonshire announced the death of his mother, Deborah, at the age of 94. Born the youngest of the famous Mitford sisters, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire was the chatelaine of Chatsworth House, one of the grandest estates in England, for more than half a century. As you can imagine, the job came with the opportunity to wear some impressive heirloom jewels. Here’s a look at some of the jewelry worn by Debo during her lifetime.

Banquet held by the Royal Society of St. George, 1954

With her husband, the 11th Duke, at the Dorchester Hotel, 1955. The ruby and diamond clasp of her pearl necklace was a Cavendish family heirloom; the necklace became Deborah’s signature piece of jewelry

At the Dorchester Hotel, 1961. Deborah wears the smaller of the two Devonshire diamond tiaras; she also wore the tiara at the 1953 coronation, where the larger Devonshire tiara was worn by her mother-in-law, then the Mistress of the Robes. At the coronation, Deborah was described by Cecil Beaton as “the most beautiful of all … with her hair dressed wide to contain an Edwardian cake-like crown — a Cavendish heirloom” [1]. Her appearance at the coronation was especially striking because she wore the eighteenth-century robes of one of her predecessors, Georgiana, the famous wife of the 5th Duke. The Devonshires also have an unusual Victorian intaglio parure; Deborah wears it here

At the opening of the Chatsworth Farm Shop in London, 2000

Attending a memorial service for Sir Hardy Amies, 2003

With her chickens at Chatsworth, 1995 
NOTES
1. Quoted in Diana Scarisbrick’s Ancestral Jewels, p. 153.