The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Saturday Sparkler: Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara

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When you first dig into the history of the Scandinavian royal families, one of the first things you notice is the plethora of empresses, queens, and princesses named “Josephine” in the family tree. Because of that, there are many opportunities to confuse the royal Josephines with their various tiaras.

But the Josephine associated with this lovely diamond tiara is clear: it comes from Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway (née Princess Joséphine of Leuchtenberg), the wife of King Oscar I and the granddaughter of another famous Josephine (that would be Napoleon’s Empress Joséphine). So many Josephines!

Although some have suggested that this tiara first belonged to Queen Désirée of Sweden, most seem to agree that Queen Josefina was actually its first wearer. Some think it may have been a wedding present to Josefina, and maybe even worn by her on her wedding day [1], though no one knows precisely who the giver might have been. The maker is also uncertain, but the design is beautiful and typical of the first half of the nineteenth century, with its intricate diamond floral and laurel wreath elements.

When Josefina died, the tiara was inherited by her granddaughter, Princess Louise, who married King Frederik VIII of Denmark. The tiara adorned various Danish royal heads until it was gifted to Louise’s granddaughter, Princess Märtha of Sweden, who married Crown Prince Olav of Norway in 1929. Märtha died before she could become queen of Norway herself, but her daughter-in-law, Queen Sonja, wears Josefina’s diamond tiara on a regular basis these days [2].

NOTES, PHOTO CREDITS, AND LINKS
1. This is posited by Norwegian royal historian Trond Noren Isaksen; here’s a link to his post on the tiara.
2. A version of this post originally appeared at A Tiara a Day in January 2013.

This Week in Royal Jewels: May 9-15

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May 9-15, 2014

This week’s news includes a wedding anniversary, a state visit, and the sale of an heirloom jewel…

10. If you’ve been reading the blog this week, you’re more than aware that Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary on Wednesday. (If you missed them, our royal jewel rewind posts on the wedding are here and here.) To celebrate, the Danish court released new portraits of the couple. Mary wore one of her most sentimental pieces of jewelry: the sapphire and diamond brooch that once belonged to the Duchess of Connaught.

9. Queen Sofia of Spain presented trophies (including to a clearly impressed Rafa) at the Madrid Masters on Sunday, and she wore a rather sunny brooch for the event, along with her usual necklace and stack of bracelets.

8. Here’s an item we overlooked last week: the Prince and Princess of Monaco welcomed the president of Montenegro to the principality on May 6, and Charlene continued her trend of slowly incorporating more jewel pieces into her wardrobe by donning a pair of classic pearls stud earrings. And we’ve got an even better jewel opportunity for her on the horizon: it’s been announced that Albert and Charlene will visit the Netherlands during the first week of June. They’ll be there to officially open an exhibit about the late Princess Grace, but the event will also include a dinner at Apeldoorn. Fingers crossed for tiaras!

7. Speaking of the Dutch royals, Queen Maxima wore a pair of glittering jewelry pieces at the King Willem I Awards on Tuesday: diamond pendant earrings and the ears of wheat aigrette that Queen Emma received as a wedding gift in 1879.

6. At the beginning of an official visit to Poland on Monday, Crown Princess Mary selected only a simple pair of sparkling stud earrings to pair with her outfit. But this was an occasion where elaborate jewels would really not have been appropriate, as the couple were visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.

5. More glamorous and splendid was the installation service for the Order of the Bath, held on Friday in the Henry VII Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey. Along with her robes, Queen Elizabeth II wore two items that belonged to our Magpie of the Month: the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and Queen Mary’s Floret Earrings. For more on the Order of the Bath, check out my recent “Royalty by Numbers” post at The Royal Roundup.

4. After failing to sell during its first trip to the auction block, the garnet, diamond, and pearl kokoshnik tiara that belonged to the Rosenborgs (a junior noble branch of the Danish royal family) sold at Sotheby’s on Tuesday for just over $275,000. Here’s a link to my post on the rest of the royal jewels that were included in the auction.

3. A descendent of German royalty married the son of a British baron this weekend. Florence von Preussen wed the Hon. James Tollemache in Somerset. Marlene Eilers Koenig reports that the bride wore a tiara that belonged to her grandmother, Lady Brigid Guinness. Photos of the wedding (and especially of one guest in particular) are available here.

2. The Norwegian royals hosted the president of Israel this week, and the state banquet gave Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Astrid opportunities to don tiaras. Mette-Marit wore her wedding tiara, while Astrid wore her fabulously loony aigrette (which ranked high on our recent list of the top ten maddest tiaras!). Queen Sonja didn’t attend, reportedly because of a conflicting trip.

1. On Wednesday, the Dutch king and queen hosted the diplomatic corps for a gala dinner at the palace in Amsterdam. For the event, Queen Maxima brought out major jewels: the ruby parure made by Mellerio for Queen Emma in 1889.