The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

One Sparkling Moment: The Tiara Tournament!

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It’s been an interesting few weeks around the world, to say the very least. As we all hunker down to try to flatten the COVID-19 curve, I’m excited to be able to continue to bring a little happy sparkle to all our days. But because many of the royals are also taking precautions and canceling events, the daily content here at The Court Jeweller will also be a little bit different over the next few weeks…

Those of you who know me in real life know that I’m a big sports fan, and the March Madness basketball tournament is one of my favorite annual events. Since there won’t be basketball brackets to fill out this year, I’ve got a bit of a sparkling surprise: a Tiara Tournament!
Our tournament’s top seeds: The Vladimir, Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Greville (DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images, ARTHUR EDWARDS/AFP via Getty Images, Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
I’m not the first one to run one of these tourneys — our pals over at Luxarazzi did one years ago, and the ladies at GFY put on their spectacular Fug Madness festivities every March — but I’m hoping this will provide us a little extra fun while we wait for the royals to resume regular service.
Click for a larger version of the tournament bracket!
So, for the next few weeks, we’re going to be enjoying some head-to-head match-ups featuring the most sparkling British royal tiaras! (We’re sticking with the Brits this time, though if we have enough fun, we may expand the field to include other collections next year!) Here’s how it will work: every day, you’ll get to vote for several of your favorite tiaras in individual matches, and we’ll eventually end up with a battle between our top two contenders!
The tournament features 32 tiaras presently owned by members of the British royal family, all ranked and ready to compete for the top spot. Which British royal tiara will take the title? Will we see a Cinderella emerge in this Big Dance? I can’t wait to see your votes to crown our champion! The first match-up will be posted in a few hours…
While you wait for tip-off, tell me: which tiara do you think will be our tournament champion?

Royal Shamrock Brooches

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With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I think it’s the perfect time to enjoy a look at a few shamrock brooches in royal jewelry boxes, don’t you agree?

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Perhaps the most talked-about royal shamrock brooch today is the Irish Guards Brooch, currently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. The textured gold brooch features a single emerald set in the center of its leaves. Kate wears it regularly to distribute shamrocks to the Irish Guards on St. Patrick’s Day. Above, she’s pictured wearing the brooch at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow on St. Patrick’s Day 2019.

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The Duchess of Cornwall can frequently be spotted wearing a lovely Diamond and Turquoise Shamrock Brooch. The petite bauble may have been one of the Queen’s wedding gifts, but Camilla has been the piece’s most frequent wearer. Above, she sports the brooch at the official opening of Lichfield Street Hub in Walsall in January 2020.

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The Queen’s bottomless jewelry box certainly contains more than one brooch with shamrocks in the design, but perhaps the most striking is this Diamond Shamrock Brooch. Many believe that it was part of a set of national emblem brooches presented to her as a Diamond Jubilee Gift by the late Sultan of Oman. The brooch features a small bouquet of diamond shamrocks secured by an emerald ribbon. Above, she wears the brooch for a visit to St Paul’s Church in Frankfurt am Main during the June 2015 state visit to Germany.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

One of my favorite royal shamrock jewels, Queen Mary’s Emerald Shamrock Brooch, now belongs to Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The jewel was likely one of Mary’s wedding gifts, perhaps the trefoil brooch offered to her by the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dublin. The brooch was later passed along to Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, and then to her younger son. Above, Princess Michael wears the brooch at Royal Ascot in June 2011.

Christie’s

Queen Mary’s collection also included this unique Conch Pearl Clover Brooch. This piece, which Mary usually wore with the point facing upward, is set with diamonds, a white pearl, a gray pearl, a golden pearl, and a pink conch pearl. Mary often pinned the jewel, which was made around 1865, to her hat. It was later given to her daughter, Princess Mary, whose descendants sold it at Christie’s in Geneva in 1999.

ROBIN UTRECHT/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

The Brits aren’t the only royals with shamrocks in their jewelry boxes. Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands wore this lovely Diamond and Sapphire Shamrock Brooch in November 2019 for a visit to the Foundation for Grandparents in Alkmaar.