The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: October 11-18

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October 11-18, 2018
It’s been an amazingly busy week for royal jewelry — we’ve got a super-sized roundup here, and there will be a separate review later this morning just for the jewels from the royal wedding! In the meantime, enjoy these non-wedding jewels, and remember to vote for your favorites in the poll!
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20. On Friday, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore her signature gold earrings to attend the 25th anniversary celebration of the Belgian Council for Durable Development in Brussels.

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Getty Images
19. For the opening of parliament in Amman on Sunday, Queen Rania of Jordan chose a pair of earrings with pendant drops.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images
18. The Duchess of Sussex paired a gold and diamond bangle from Shaun Leane with a beaded bracelet on South Melbourne Beach on Thursday.
Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images
17. Trendy geometric climber earrings were Queen Letizia of Spain’s choice for the inauguration of the exhibition of the World Food Day at FAO Headquarters in Rome on Tuesday.
KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Getty Images
16. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden wore earrings with coral-colored drops on Tuesday during a visit to the Baqa’a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan.
NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images
15. For the beginning of the royal visit to China on Tuesday, Queen Sonja of Norway wore the orange topaz earrings from her Modern Gold Parure. (More about that suite here!)
Antonio Quilez – Pool/Getty Images
14. For a National Day reception at the Royal Palace in Madrid on Friday, Queen Letizia of Spain chose her diamond feather earrings.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
13. Diamond hoop earrings were Queen Maxima of the Netherlands’s accessory of choice for a visit to Schouwen-Duiveland en Tholen in Zeeland on Tuesday.
FRANK VAN BEEK/AFP/Getty Images
12. Queen Maxima wore glittering earrings and her diamond wedding bracelet on Monday for an audience with the Chinese prime minister in The Hague.
SILAS STEIN/AFP/Getty Images
11. In Trier on October 11, Queen Maxima paired her hoop earrings and her wedding bracelet with her tennis-style sapphire and diamond bracelet and her diamond and ruby ring.
UWE ANSPACH/AFP/Getty Images
10. Statement earrings by Amrapali accompanied Queen Maxima to the Voelklinger Huette World Cultural Heritage Site on Friday. (More on the earrings here!)
Phil Noble – Pool/Getty Images
9. The Duchess of Sussex wore jewels that belonged to her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales, for the first day of her visit to Australia. (Much more here!)
FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
8. Queen Sofia of Spain wore pearls and gold jewels on Sunday at the Vatican for a canonization ceremony for Pope Paul VI and the martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.
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7. To announce the winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize on Tuesday, the Duchess of Cornwall wore her classic diamond and turquoise earrings.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
6. In New York on Tuesday, Princess Charlene of Monaco wore diamond earrings and a lariat-style necklace to attend the 2018 Princess Grace Awards Gala.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Princess Grace Foundation-USA
5. Pauline Ducruet, daughter of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, also wore diamonds — statement earrings and a large cuff bracelet — to attend the Princess Grace Awards Gala.
ANDERS WIKLUND/AFP/Getty Images
4. Queen Silvia of Sweden wore diamonds, pearls, and gold bangles to the Royal Opera in Stockholm on October 11.
HEATHCLIFF O’MALLEY/AFP/Getty Images
3. The magnificent Flame Lily Brooch helped Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom celebrate the centenary of the RAF Club in London on Wednesday. (More on the brooch here!)
Jonathan Brady- WPA Pool/Getty Images
2. For audiences at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II chose the Cambridge Emerald Cluster Brooch with its emerald pendant. (More on the brooch here!)
Casa de S.M. el Rey
1. Queen Letizia sparkled in the earrings and bracelets from the joyas de pasar in Oviedo on Thursday for the annual Princess of Asturias Awards. (More on the joyas over here!)

The Cartier Diamond Loop Tiara

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Queen Sofia wears the tiara for a gala dinner in honor of the King of Saudi Arabia, June 2007 (Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

For a royal family that has faced serious upheaval over the last century, the Borbons of Spain have managed to hang on to some serious heirloom tiaras. That’s been possible in part because the family has largely maintained personal possession of their jewels rather than consigning them to an official collection of crown jewels. It also means that many tiaras, like the Cartier Diamond Loop Tiara we’re discussing today, meandered a bit through the family before arriving in the hands of its current owners.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

The tiara, which is made of diamonds and pearls set in platinum, was originally made by Cartier for a nineteenth-century Spanish queen: Maria Cristina, the Austrian-born wife of King Alfonso XII. When Alfonso died, Maria Cristina was pregnant with the future King Alfonso XIII. Because of this, she was not only a queen consort but also a queen regent, as she effectively ruled the country from her husband’s death until their son turned sixteen.

Queen Maria Cristina wears the tiara in a portrait by Elías Salaverria Inchaurrandieta

Alfonso XIII received the Cartier tiara from his mother. In 1935, he gave the sparkler to his new daughter-in-law, Princess Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, when she married his third son, Infante Juan. Juan and Maria Mercedes would have been the king and queen of Spain had the monarchy not been abolished in the wake of the Spanish Civil War. When Franco decided to restore the monarchy on his death, he passed over Juan in favor of his son, Juan Carlos.

Juan eventually did formally relinquish his claim on the throne, but only two years after his son had become king; in turn, Juan Carlos made his father the Count of Barcelona, which was traditionally a title held by Spanish kings. (He also buried his father under the title of Juan III with the full honors of a king of Spain.)

The Countess of Barcelona wears the tiara at a pre-wedding ball for Infanta Pilar in Portugal, 1967 (Image licensed to The Court Jeweller; do not reproduce)

Although she loaned the piece to her daughter-in-law, Sofia, for the ’70s-era Persepolis celebrations in Tehran, Maria Mercedes retained the tiara even after the monarchy was restored in 1975. In 1967, she had loaned the piece to her daughter, Infanta Pilar, to wear at her wedding; she also loaned the tiara to her granddaughter, Pilar’s daughter Simoneta, when she married in 1990.

Queen Sofia wears the tiara for a gala dinner in honor of the King of Saudi Arabia, June 2007 (Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

When Maria Mercedes died in 2000, Juan Carlos was able to obtain the tiara. Whether he inherited it or purchased it from another member of the family, perhaps Pilar, hasn’t really been made clear. Given the six years that elapsed between the Countess of Barcelona’s death and Queen Sofia’s first appearance in the tiara afterward (at a 2006 state banquet in Norway), it wouldn’t surprise me if some sort of deal had indeed been done.

Today, the tiara is worn by Queen Sofia, returning it to the main line of the royal family. Queen Letizia has slowly begun wearing many of the grand Spanish royal jewels, but we haven’t seen her take this one out for a spin yet. Let’s hope that she borrows it from her mother-in-law’s jewelry box soon!

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

UPDATE! That didn’t take long! Queen Letizia wore the tiara in public for the first time at the Chinese state banquet in Madrid in November 2018!

Note: This is an expanded and updated version of an earlier post.

This Week in Royal Jewels: October 5-10

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October 5-10, 2018
Surprise! Because we’re going to be in royal wedding mode tomorrow, I’m bringing you an early (and supersized!) version of our weekly royal jewel roundup today. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP/Getty Images
20. On Tuesday, the Duchess of Cambridge wore her Empress earrings and necklace from Mappin and Webb for the first Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit in London. (More on the suite here!)

JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images
19. The Princess Royal was in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, wearing gold and diamonds as she addressed the 133rd International Olympic Committee session.
Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
18. Queen Letizia of Spain chose a trendy pair of geometric climber earrings to welcome President Pinera of Chile to Zarzuela Palace in Madrid on Tuesday.
Koji Watanabe/Getty Images
17. For Saturday’s the Rakuten Open in Chofu, Princess Mako of Akishino wore a delicate pair of earrings with metallic drops.
PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty Images
16. On Wednesday, the Countess of Wessex wore pink drop earrings, a delicate bracelet, and a necklace with a leaf pendant for a meeting with the President of Lithuania in Vilnius.
Olivier Matthys/Getty Images
15. Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore her signature golden jewelry for the Global Girls Summit by Plan International in Brussels on Wednesday.
PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images
14. Diamond studs were Princess Charlene of Monaco’s singular bejeweled accessory for a rugby match in Montpellier, France on Sunday.
NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/Getty Images
13. To celebrate the bicentennial of the Bernadotte dynasty’s reign in Sweden, Queen Silvia wore gold jewelry and stacked rings for a visit to the family’s original French home, Pau, on Monday.
NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/Getty Images
12. For Monday’s visit to Pau, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden wore an exuberant pair of earrings set with multi-colored gems and pearl drops.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
11. The Duchess of Cambridge dazzled in a pair of earrings (and a dress) by Erdem as she attended the opening of the new Photography Centre at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on Wednesday.
10. Crown Princess Masako of Japan wore a lovely suite of pearls as she waved to well-wishers on arrival at Oita Airport on Saturday.
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9. Tessa of Bavaria, a daughter of Prince José Eugenio of Bavaria, Infante of Spain, wore a gorgeous diamond floral brooch on Saturday for the wedding of Fernando Fitz-James Stuart (the future Duke of Alba) and Sofia Palazuelo at Liria Palace in Madrid.
Pool via Getty Images
8. For Saturday’s Fitz James-Stuart wedding in Madrid, Princess Anne of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Dowager Duchess of Calabria wore a suite of silvery pearls.
Pool via Getty Images
7. Also at Saturday’s wedding in Madrid were the heads of the former royal family of Bulgaria. Margarita, who was born into a Spanish noble family as Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela, wore classic pearls for the occasion.
Pool via Getty Images
6. Queen Sofia of Spain represented the royal family at Saturday’s wedding, wearing pearls and a delicate bar brooch.
LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images
5. Queen Sofia wore multi-colored pearls and a modern brooch to represent the royal family at the funeral of Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe in Barcelona on Monday. 
MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/AFP/Getty Images
4. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wore turquoises, including the Devonshire Turquoise Brooch, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Rescue of the Danish Jews in Copenhagen alongside President Rivlin of Israel on Wednesday. (More on the brooch here!)
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
3. Gray and gold pearls, including the family’s lovely gray pearl and diamond brooch, accompanied Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on a visit to Bernkastel-Kues, Germany on Wednesday.
Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images
2. Queen Letizia dazzled in her diamond wedding earrings during Friday’s official visit to Paris.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
1. My top vote of the week goes to the dramatic, glittering diamonds and emeralds worn by Queen Maxima as she celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Leidsche Rijn area in Utrecht on Friday.