Posted by Singa on March 10, 2015, 4:03 am, in reply to "Re: Belgian tiaras"
They used to have quite a dazzeling array of jewels. Why is it that the Belgian Monarchy never set up a trust to save at least the major jewels for future queens? Does anybody know or suspect?
--Previous Message-- : Thank you, Karlimagnus. : : It is difficult to give a list of the jewels : of the first two Belgian Queens, as most of : their jewel collection has been either : remodelled or lost in their descendance. : : Queen Louise (wife of King Leopold I) : probably owned several tiaras. She is also : reported to have owned several parures (of : diamonds, of pearls, of turquoises...), but : it is not clear if these parures included a : tiara or not. : : According to Christophe Vachaudez's book : Bijoux des reines et princesses de Belgique : , Queen Louise wore in her hair, on her : wedding day, a double row of diamond collets : (so not a "real" tiara), which was : a wedding gift from her paternal aunt, : Adélaïde of Orleans ('Madame Adélaïde'). But : the painting of the wedding does not give a : clear view of the bride's jewels: : : : : Queen Louise also regularly received jewels : from Paris (either commissionned by herself : or her husband, or gifts from her French : relatives). Vachaudez mentions that in 1841, : Louise received a tiara which, according to : a letter from Louise to her mother, was : " so dazzling that it will make these : good ladies of the court faint " - : unfortunately, we have no pictures of this : tiara! : : Vachaudez also publishes Queen Louise's last : will and the inventory of her jewels: : - her daughter Charlotte (later Archduchess : of Austria and Empress of Mexico) received a : parure of pearls and diamonds (wedding gift : from King Louis-Philippe of the French) and : a parure of turquoise and diamonds (wedding : gift from Louise's eldest brother, Prince : Ferdinand of Orleans). The turquoise parure, : on a vinegrape design, included a tiara : - her sister Marie of Orleans, Duchess of : Wurttemberg, received the two-row diamond : necklace that Louise had worn in her hair on : her wedding day, a " small diamond : diadem " and a " bracelet-crown of : aquamarines and rubies " (actually, : Princess Marie had died before Louise, so : Louise designated Marie's son, Philipp of : Wurttemberg, as heir in lieu of his mother) : (a lot of other jewels were mentioned, but I : have focused only on what could be or what : could include tiaras). : : The Inventory of Queen Louise's jewels also : mentions, besides dozens of brooches and : bracelets: : - a coral parure, made of a comb, two hair : pins, a brooch, two golden earrings, two : bracelets, a three-row necklace and a : corsage ornament : - two tortoiseshell combs ornated with gold : and turquoises : - a tortoiseshell comb (bequeathed to : Princess Charlotte) : - eleven wheat-ears of diamonds for wearing : in the hair (bequeathed to Princess : Marie/Prince Philipp of Wurttemberg) : - a tiara (part of a parure) made of six : large diamond-framed turquoises connected by : diamond vinegrape-motifs and turquoise : trefoiled ornaments. It is probably the : turquoise parure presented as a wedding gift : by Prince Ferdinand, and bequeathed to : Princess Charlotte. : : There was also a ruby parure (including a : tiara), which was considered by Louise as : the King's property; it was worn later by : Queen Marie-Henriette: : : : : : Still according to Vachaudez, Queen : Marie-Henriette (wife of King Leopold II) : also owned several tiaras: : - she wore, for her wedding day, a diamond : tiara, which was a gift from her mother, : Archduchess Marie-Dorothea : - in 1878, for her silver wedding, she : received a diamond tiara which had been made : by the jeweller Buls, and which had been : bought by a public subscription of the : Belgian citizens; this tiara, with dangling : feathers, included a 23-carat diamond : - it is also mentioned that Queen : Marie-Henriette owned several tiaras that : she had never worn. : : Queen Marie-Henriette bequathed several : jewels (including the Silver wedding tiara) : to her husband Leopold II " to be : joined to the jewels called 'Family jewels' : or 'Crown jewels' ". But Leopold II : ignored his wife's last will, and the jewels : were inherited by the royal couple's three : daughters; the silver wedding tiara went to : the eldest daughter, Princess Louise, but as : Louise had huge debts, her jewels were : seized by her creditors; the auction which : was scheduled was cancelled, but the jewels : have disappeared since then anyway. : : The silver wedding tiara can be seen on the : following picture, on the right: : : : :
on March 10, 2015, 4:03 am, in reply to "