In 1925 King Albert I & Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. On this occasion, King Albert gave his wife an art deco design tiara, (probably) ordered from Cartier.
In 1930, Queen Elisabeth wore the tiara for the first time, at the visit of Japanese Prince Takamatsu and his wife to Brussels.
Also in 1930.
Four years later, she passed the tiara on to her daughter-in-law, Queen Astrid, at the birth of grandson Albert. The baby was named after Elisabeth’s husband who had died earlier the same year.
After Queen Astrid’s death, barely one year later, the art deco tiara was worn with great creativity by King Leopold III’s second wife, Princess Lilian. On one occasion she added stones to top of tiara for the visit of American President Hoover. These were probably the solitaires from the tiara of the nine provinces.
When Leopold & Astrid’s youngest son, Prince Albert married, the tiara was given to his bride, Princess Paola who wore it often and in many different positions.
The only time Queen Mathilde has worn this tiara was on her wedding day, 4 December 1999, as her personal "laurel wreath" tiara, a gift from the Belgian nobility wasn't ready to be used yet.
15 years later it was worn by another bride: Lili Rosboch von Wolkenstein, who married Prince Amedeo of Belgium in Rome in July 2014.
Its last appearance was in 2016, when Princess Astrid wore the tiara to a banquet in honour of German President Joachim Gauck.
This tiara is it the only piece of Belgian royal jewellery that has survived to be worn by 5 generations of the Royal Family. Will we ever see it on Queen Mathilde again, or on her daughters, Crown Princess Elisabeth and Princess Eléonore?
We can only hope Queen Paola does not regard this important piece of jewellery as a personal possession and that instead, she will leave it to the use of the wider Royal Family.
Imagine Albert and Paola had followed Queen Elisabeth*s example and had given tiaras or other jewellery to the mothers of their grandchildren. Instead of that Albert once showed up at the hospital with a book on his economic missions - and of course he made sure it wasn*t wrapped. https://3.t.cdn.belga.be/belgaimage:3470503:1800x650:w?v=5b6ff8d3&m=mhjjlick
BeantwoordenVerwijderenNow that*s the spirit. :o So given Albert and Paola*s mindset and their inability to get over their egoism once in a while I fear the tiara is gone - which would be a real shame. I still hope they give it to Elisabeth though.
This is one of my favorite tiaras in the world. The craftsmanship is excellent, it is indeed a masterpiece. The simple geometric motif is very pleasing to the eye and one of my favorite examples of art deco jewelry design. The all diamond design makes it very versatile. Very delicate and almost kokoshnik shaped it flatters every wearer no matter how different their style, hairstyle and face shape. It is substantial enough to say "I am a leading royal lady" but isn't too ostentatious. This would suit any tiara wearing occasion. It's dare I say perfect. Lili Rosbach von Wolkenstein's wedding was the perfect showing of this tiara. She looks like the quintessential princess bride in this amazing jewel and I am here for it. I hope to start seeing this tiara more often!! It deserves to be worn every chance it gets. This tiara is in my top 5 royal tiara fantasy jewel box
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI just love looking at the Royal Tiaras......these magnificent works of art!
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