The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: January 23-30

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January 23-30, 2014
It’s time again for our top ten royal jewel stories of the week!
10. Queen Sofia of Spain brought out her workhorse strand of multicolored pearls again this week, this time donning them to attend a performance of Tristan and Isolde at the Royal Theatre in Madrid.
9. Pearls were also the bauble of choice for the Duchess of Cornwall, who wore a pair of large pearl earrings for a visit to an Essex pub with Prince Charles.
8. The most fabulously bejeweled woman in the principality of Monaco, Princess Caroline, celebrated her 57th birthday on January 23. Here’s to many sparkling years to come!
7. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (still on crutches following a minor skiing accident) wore a statement necklace during a visit to Dusseldorf with her husband, Prince Daniel; the two traveled to Germany to promote trade relations.
6. Delicate gold jewelry and a whopper of a cake hat were on the menu for Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands during a visit to the University of Utrecht.
5. A series of rare photographic prints that belonged to Queen Victoria will go on display at the Getty Center in Los Angeles on February 4th. If you’re in southern California, be sure to stop in and see some of the portraits that include Victorian-era royal jewels!
4. Another day of her official visit to Germany, another statement necklace for Crown Princess Victoria. This one, which features enormous dark stones, was worn in Hamburg.
3. Here’s hoping for some jewelry surprises coming up from the Duchess of Cambridge; it was announced this week that she’ll be attending a gala event for the National Portrait Gallery on February 11.
2. This weekend might provide us with one of the best opportunities for Grimaldi jewel-spotting for some time. It’s been widely reported that Andrea Casiraghi, elder son of Princess Caroline, will marry Tatiana Santo Domingo in a Catholic ceremony in Switzerland over the weekend. It’s been announced that Valentino designed Tatiana’s wedding gown — here’s hoping that she pairs it with bridal jewelry, too!

1. While many of the Windsors are on vacation, Princess Eugenie wore a silver Fabergé Treillage egg pendant while attending the jeweler’s Big Egg Hunt Cocktail Countdown party in New York. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship between princess and jewelry house!

NOTES, PHOTO CREDITS, AND LINKS
1. Banner image: detail of The Marriage of George, Duke of York to Princess Mary of Teck (1894) by Laurits Tuxen. Image in the public domain; source here.

This Week in Royal Jewels: January 10-16

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January 10-16, 2014
Before we do a rundown of the sparkliest royal outings of the week, I thought I’d highlight my most bejeweled moment from last week. I was interviewed by author Deanna Raybourn for her blog. Deanna writes fabulous novels, including a set of Victorian-era mysteries that I absolutely love. We talked royal jewels, of course. Interested in my favorite royal pieces? Wonder what jewelry I wear on a regular basis? Pop over to Deanna’s blog for more! (And check out her books while you’re at it!)

Mediterranean Royals

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Spanish royal family, but Queen Sofia and Princess Letizia have managed to keep up appearances through the turmoil. Sofia wore a brooch to visit the “La Pasion del Prado” documentary exhibition in Madrid on January 8, and she selected a strand of multi-colored pearls for a film premiere the same day. At the palace, Letizia chose a simple pair of earrings for an audience on the 8th; she repeated the same earrings at another audience the following day. The two women also recycled some of the same jewels on January 14, when they attended the delivery of the decorations of the Civil Order Of Social Solidarity at the palace.

It was time for a more literal circus in Monaco, where Prince Albert, Princess Charlene, Princess Stephanie, and Pauline Ducruet opened the 38th annual Circus Festival on January 16. Charlene, as per usual, went without jewelry, but both Stephanie and Pauline wore bracelets. Charlotte Casiraghi made her first public appearance on Tuesday since the birth of her son, Raphael. She wore little jewelry herself, but as she was attending the Cartier exhibit at the Grand Palais in Paris (discussed at length on the blog on Wednesday), here’s hoping she was inspired by her surroundings. She’ll have a good reason to don some jewels soon — plans are underway for her big brother, Andrea Casiraghi, to wed Tatiana Santo Domingo again in a religious ceremony in Switzerland on February 1.

Scandinavian Royals

In Norway, Queen Sonja attended an event celebrating the Kiel Treaty of 1814 on Tuesday, one of the first events to mark the the bicentennial of the nation’s constitution. The plans for celebrating that milestone got a bit sparklier this week, when King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden announced that they will attend the celebrations after all. They’ll join the Norwegian royal family and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark at the event, which will be held on May 17.

Back in Stockholm, the king and queen held an audience of the county governors of Sweden on January 9, where Silvia wore a striking red necklace. Crown Princess Victoria demonstrated her dedication to her role on Wednesday, attending presenting an award wearing an elaborate necklace and a heavy brace on her ankle, which she sprained recently while skiing in the Alps. The Swedes also announced that their newest jewel-wearer, the daughter of Princess Madeleine, will be born in February in New York City.

It was a somber week in Denmark, where the funeral for Countess Anne-Dorte of Rosenborg was held on January 9th. Anne-Dorte was the widow of Count Christian of Rosenborg, who was a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II, Princess Benedikte, and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. Margrethe and Prince Henrik represented the Danish royal family at the funeral, and Anne-Dorte’s sister-in-law, Princess Elisabeth, was also in attendance. After making an official visit to Myanmar, Crown Princess Mary was back to work in Denmark this week. She wore a pair of delicate, dangling earrings and an impressive diamond ring to inaugurate the new head office of Royal Copenhagen on Wednesday, showing off the style that earned her Hello! readers’ votes for Most Elegant Woman of 2013.

Benelux Royals

The new sovereign couple in Belgium, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, attended a new year’s reception for European Union representatives on January 10. Mathilde accessorized an elegant gray dress with a pair of dangling diamond earrings and glittering bracelets on each wrist. Mathilde sparkled in another pair of beautiful earrings at a diplomatic reception on January 15.

New Year’s receptions were also on the docket in the Netherlands. On January 14, a reception was held at the palace in Amsterdam, and was attended by King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima (who wore an impressive suite of aquamarines, including a large brooch), Princess Beatrix, Princess Margriet, and Pieter van Vollenhoven. Beatrix also made several solo appearances, selecting pearls and sapphires for a jubilee concert on January 9, and wearing golden jewelry to an anniversary event for an equestrian organization on January 11. Maxima also made a bejeweled appearance on her own, wearing striking red earrings on January 9 in Haarlem. And the ladies of the family weren’t the only ones wearing bling: Willem-Alexander wore his military finery for an event in The Hague on January 9.

Happy news comes this week from one of the newest princesses in Luxembourg: Prince Felix and Princess Claire are expecting a baby this July. Here’s hoping that it’s yet another Nassau princess to delve into the family jewel vault!

British Royals

While the royals are still on vacation, the lists detailing the gifts they received while on official engagements in 2013 were released; you can read about the jewels they received in yesterday’s blog post. This week has also seen the identification of one of the sparkliest jewels in the Duchess of Cambridge‘s collection. Readers from the Duchess Kate blog noted that the diamond and ruby necklace worn by Kate to the 2011 Sun Military Awards resembled jewels made by Mouawad. Official confirmation came this week that the jewels were indeed made by the same company. We know now where the set came from, but we still haven’t been told who gave it to Kate — only that it was among her wedding presents.

NOTES, PHOTO CREDITS, AND LINKS
1. Banner image: detail of The Marriage of George, Duke of York to Princess Mary of Teck (1894) by Laurits Tuxen. Image in the public domain; source here.

This Week in Royal Jewels: January 3-9

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January 3-9, 2014

For the second week running, some of the sparkliest events have been those attended by the Danish royal family. On January 6, Queen Margrethe, Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik, and Crown Princess Mary attended the second of the annual New Year’s levees, this time for the diplomatic corps. Along with her glittering orders, Queen Margrethe wore the diamond and pearl brooch that once belonged to Princess Louise of the Netherlands (and which is often worn with the Pearl Poiré Tiara) and pearl earrings. Crown Princess Mary wore her orders with a pair of drop pearl earrings and the heirloom sapphire and diamond brooch that was given to her by the queen to mark the birth of Prince Christian. Both Henrik and Frederik wore military uniforms.

The last of the three New Year’s levees was held on Tuesday. Queen Margrethe repeated her jewels from the previous day, while Crown Princess Mary wore pearls: a single-stranded necklace of large pearls, pearl earrings, and a gold and pearl bracelet. Both princes again wore military uniforms.

In Spain, the royal family attended the annual New Year’s military parade at the palace on January 6. King Juan Carlos and Prince Felipe wore military uniforms, while Queen Sofia and Princess Letizia wore long gowns. Queen Sofia wore a three-stranded necklace of multi-colored pearls with pearl earrings and several bracelets. Princess Letizia wore much simpler jewelry; a pair of sparkling diamond stud earrings was the major adornment to her jacket and dress.

Over the channel in Britain, most of the royals are still on holiday, but Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attended church on Sunday near Sandringham. Queen Elizabeth wore her usual pearl earrings/pearl necklace/brooch combination for the service. It’s a bit difficult to see against her tweedy coat, but she appears to have worn her modern ruby brooch.

This week, the Serbian royal family released photos of their annual Christmas Eve celebrations. Crown Prince Alexander lit the traditional Yule log with two of his sons, Hereditary Prince Peter and Prince Philip. For the event, Crown Princess Katharine wore a sparkling necklace with her blue jacket and dress.

NOTES, PHOTO CREDITS, AND LINKS
1. Banner image: detail of The Marriage of George, Duke of York to Princess Mary of Teck (1894) by Laurits Tuxen. Image in the public domain; source here.