My Top 15 Tiaras: #9: The Baden Fringe Tiara

This Tiara has made a appearance on my blog before.

My Top 15 Tiaras: #10: The Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure Tiara

This gem has a provenance similar to another huge Scandinavian diadem: Empress Joséphine's Emerald Tiara, now in the possession of Norway's royal family. The sapphires are thought to have been a wedding gift from Napoléon to Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg, when she married Eugène de Beauharnais (Empress Joséphine's son).

  

Left to Right: Queen Victoria, Queen Louise, Princess Sibylla, Princess Birgitta

It makes the journey to Sweden with Augusta's daughter, Josephine, who was the Queen consort of Oscar I of Sweden and Norway. The parure is now in the family foundation in Sweden, and has been worn mostly by queens and those acting as first ladies of the country, though there are exceptions to that rule: one being when King Carl Gustaf's sister, Princess Birgitta, wore it for Carl Gustaf and Silvia's pre-wedding ball in 1976.

Birgitta's outing of the sapphires was the last time they were worn by anyone other than Queen Silvia (to date). She's made this one of her staples, and has explored all sorts of color combinations with the luscious blue sapphires.

It's also flexible in form: the tiara is comprised of 11 separate sections, meaning you can adjust the circumference to suit your needs (it even stores flat in its case, which is quite interesting). This tiara is large and surely has a significant weight to it - but it is still a favorite, and I wonder if the flexibility factors into that. Surely the ability to form it to suit your head shape makes for a more comfortable tiara-wearing experience.

The tiara is the headliner in a full parure of jewellery. Today, that parure is composed of the tiara, earrings, a necklace, a brooch, and two hairpins. The earrings are relatively new to the set: Queen Victoria didn't wear earrings, so she either gave the originals away or had them remade into something else. Queen Louise (as Crown Princess) converted two of the four original hairpins into a set of earrings to complete the parure once again.

My Top 15 Tiaras: #11: Grace’s Small Diamond Tiara

This small diamond setting was perhaps Grace's most worn tiara, which isn't really a surprise given that her taste tilted more towards elaborate hairstyles than elaborate jewels.

My Top 15 Tiaras: #12: The Diamond Daisy Tiara

This Tiara has made a appearance on my blog before.

My Top 15 Tiaras: #13: The Laurel Wreath Tiara*

This tiara was made by London jewelers, Hannel & Sons in 1912. The tiara has 631 diamonds in the tiara. The frame can be removed and be worn as a necklace. The tiara was given to Mathilde after her marriage to Prince Philippe in 1999.

Mathilde wearing the tiara as a tiara and as a necklace

This is Mathilde's tiara. This is the only tiara she wear most often. She's only sported one other tiara and that was a borrowed tiara from her mother-in-law.
Photos: Google Search (Key Words: Laurel Wreath Tiara)
Information: The Royal Order of

My Top 15 Tiaras: #14: The Cartier Halo Tiara

  

Prior to the wedding of William and Kate, this tiara was commonly known as the Scroll Tiara. In the official information released about the bride's attire, the Palace referred to it as a 'halo' tiara, so I'll go with: the Halo Scroll Tiara. This delicate diamond piece has served as something of a starter tiara for royal ladies throughout the years, beginning with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The tiara was made by Cartier in 1936 and was purchased by the Duke of York for his Duchess three weeks before he became King George VI, and she became Queen Elizabeth (the future Queen Mother). The only picture of her wearing it was taken after she received it and before she became Queen Consort. Apparently it wasn't a favorite, as she switched to other, grander pieces once her tiara access increased.

She soon passed the tiara on to her daughter, Princess Elizabeth (the current Queen), as an 18th birthday present (1944). This Queen must not have been terribly fond of it either, as she's never worn it publicly.
The Queen has made a practice of lending it out, however. The first loan was to Princess Margaret, and it became a go-to tiara in her early years. She stopped wearing it as her own tiara collection grew, especially after the Queen Mother gave Margaret the papyrus or lotus flower tiara.

And it served the very same purpose for Princess Anne, who also borrowed this tiara. She last wore the Halo Scroll Tiara publicly in the early 1970s, at which point the Queen had given her the Meander Tiara and she had received the Festoon Tiara as a gift for a ship christening.

After a few decades' rest, the tiara made its most famous appearance to date: anchoring the bridal veil of Catherine Middleton.

 

And as a bonus for the new Duchess, she already has matching earrings: a gift from her parents for her wedding day, these specially commissioned pieces from Robinson Pelham perfectly echo the scroll elements in addition to including acorns to echo her family's crest.

My Top 15 Tiaras: #15: The Prussian Diamond Tiara

This Tiara has made a appearance of on my blog before.

I am in love with this tiara. Why? Who knows. Just the design I guess. I think the leaves on the top stands for the Greek Royal Family because, that’s where she she was from.