Posted by Arthur on March 9, 2015, 7:55 pm, in reply to "Belgian tiara's"
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 9, 2015, 7:55 pm, in reply to "
