Braganza jewels – necklaces and sets (edited)Archived Message
Posted by Jorge on June 29, 2014, 11:34 am
King Hassan II of Moroccos set
One of the favorite jewels of HRH D.Isabel, Duchess of Braganza is a diamond set comprising necklace and matching earrings. I read somewhere that this set was a wedding gift of King Hassan II of Moroccos with whom D.Duarte had excellent relations. Does anyone can confirm this?
HRH wore this set, for example, at the wedding of King D.Filipe of Spain (at the time Prince of Asturias) as can be seen in the following picture.
D.Isabel also wore this set at the wedding of the Duchess of Cadaval with Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou:
And since we are talking about diamonds, note at the left wrist of the Duchess in the following picture. Doesn’t it look a double diamond rivière bracelet? Now, we know that HRH already wore a necklace of pearls as a bracelet so, is it possible that this bracelet can be used as a necklace? I believe this piece is a Braganza heirloom and was used by D.Isabel mother-in-law at the wedding of Prince D.Juan Carlos of Spain with Princess Sofia of Greece.
Rigid Diamond necklace/tiara
Another important jewel in the Braganza vaults and used by D.Isabel is a rigid diamond necklace. This jewel made its appearance at important international royal events as 25th wedding anniversary of the Luxembourg Grand-Dukes.
However, in 2008, the Duchess surprised everyone by using this necklace as a tiara at the State Banquet that the Kings of Sweden offered when visiting Portugal. To be honest the Duchess surprised many people appearing completely bejeweled wearing not only a tiara but also the imposing Ladies of Rio Aquamarine necklace, the Infanta D.Filipa brooch, Prince of Beira ring and diamond earrings. A little off topic I must say that this state visit had a little scandal. The first state banquet was offered by the President of Portuguese Republic and, apparently the Portuguese authorities did not invited the Portuguese Royal Family as tradition and protocol dictates. As far as I know, no credible justification was made for that protocol failure. When The King and Queen of Sweden reattributed the banquet, the Dukes were invited and appeared as you can see in the picture.
Infanta D.Maria Francisca set
The final set that I have to show you today is said to be a present to D.Isabel from her husband on the occasion of the birth of their daughter, Infanta D.Maria Francisca. Anyone can confirm? This set comprises a necklace and matching earrings and appears to be silver with pearls of different sizes. Apparently it has no diamonds.