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    Re: Queen Mathilde Archived Message

    Posted by Henri M on July 6, 2013, 2:02 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Mathilde"


    I think this most valuable diadem of the Belgian royal family is at the disposal of the King, to be worn by his spouse. The King was Leopold III and his spouse was Princess Lilian, Princess of Réthy. For so far Belgium has not had a reigning Queen, so the expression "to be worn by the reigning Queen" can not have been used. Princess Lilian for sure had access to the diadem, as pictures prove, she never wore it in the assembled form as we know best today.


    --Previous Message--
    : Princess Lillian obviously had easy access to
    : the Nine Provinces, as she wore it broken
    : down on a few occasions. The concept that
    : only the queen may wear it seems a little
    : thin. What was to keep her from wearing it,
    : perhaps as a last minute idea? What could
    : happen? An arrest?
    :
    : --Previous Message--
    :
    : In 1993 queen Fabiola gave the nine
    : provinces tiara to the new queen Paola as
    : far as I remember. She could have kept it
    : for her.
    :
    :
    : --Previous Message--
    : Mathilde and Claire are ladies whom happen
    : to
    : be married to sons from Fabiola's late
    : husband's brother. With other words, there
    : is no any blood relationship and at best a
    : remote in-law relationship.
    :
    : This does not prevent Queen Fabiola to make
    : arrangements for her jewels, if she wants.
    : The relationship of the late Princess
    : Lilian, Duchess of Halland, to Crown
    : Princess Victoria of Sweden is even more
    : distant (Victoria is a daughter to her late
    : husband's nephew) and this did not prevent
    : the transfer of beautiful jewels to her.
    :
    : Sweden has the luck that there are no (or
    : very moderate) succession taxes. In Belgium
    : these taxes are hefty, for sure in a
    : situation where there is no blood
    : relationship. Queen Fabiola is busy with
    : Foundations (and undeservedly criticized for
    : that, she does nothing illegal) and we need
    : to see how this all works out. Mathilde has
    : nothing to 'win' with a bequest which cost
    : her an enormous sum in succession taxes. The
    : best hope is that Queen Fabiola will give
    : jewels as a cadeau to the new Queen, but she
    : could have done so to Queen Paola, her
    : sister-in-law, and never did.
    :
    :
    :
    :
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