Posted by Maria Olivia on March 10, 2015, 7:59 am, in reply to "Re: Belgian tiaras"
Leopold II's youngest daughter Clementine is the only one who kept her jewels because She waited her Father's dead to marry the Prince Napoléon. He had 2 Children Louis who married the still alive Alix de Foresta and Marie Clotilde who married Count de Witt. Her jewels are still in the Family who never attend glittering Events anymore.
--Previous Message-- : 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, 7:59 am, in reply to "