My final post before vacation focused on the royal jewels that might be seen at Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding. The royal women certainly did not disappoint; everything sparkled and looked magnificent.

I saw some tiaras that were amazing as well as amazingly out of place. Let’s check it out, but a word to the wise: this post is picture-laden. It may take a moment to load.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg

The Cuban-born lovely usually wears beautiful jewels that fit her appearance, but in this instance, the tiara was too big. It seemed to weigh too heavily for someone as petite as Maria Teresa.

According to Royal Magazin, the origin of this Empire Diamant tiara is not known. The tiara’s design of laurel leaves dates to around the mid of the 19th century. It had been worn by Grand Duke Henri’s mother, Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte.

Princess Birgitta of Sweden

Crown Princess Victoria’s aunt Birgitta was seen wearing the Nine-Prong Diamond tiara, also known as Queen Sophie’s Diamond Tiara.

Queen Sophie’s tiara was put forward as a possibility for Queen Silvia, the mother of the bride (below).

Instead, Her Majesty opted for the Braganca Diamond Tiara. This tiara once belonged to Empress Amalie of Brazil, whose sister was Queen Josephine of Sweden. After her death, it was inherited by Josephine and became a fixture among the jewels of the Swedish Royal Family. Interestingly, Queen Silvia’s mother Alice was Brazilian.

This easily rivals the Luxembourg Empire Diamant tiara above, but because Silvia’s hair has more body, it seems to compliment the tiara rather than allow it to overshadow her.

Her suite of jewelry was the Pink Topaz set worn by Queen Louise of Sweden (Lord Mountbatten’s sister). It was originally the wedding gift of the Russian Tsar Paul to his daughter, who married a German Grand Duke. Their daughter, Augusta, married the infamous Kaiser. It was Augusta’s granddaughter, Victoria, who would bring the suite into the Bernadotte dynasty when she married Prince Gustav of Sweden.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden

The sister of the bride sported the Connaught Diamond Tiara, a delicate looped headpiece that was simple and elegant.

The Connaught once belonged to Princess Margaret of Connaught. It was a wedding gift from her parents, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Duchess Louise Margarete (formerly of Prussia). Margaret, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, married the future King Gustav Adolf in 1905.

Crown Princess Maxima of the Netherlands

Maxima wore a very sparkly yet subtle tiara to the nuptials.

The Diamond Bandeau Tiara has adorned the heads of Dutch queens and princesses for generations. It is made up of twenty-seven large diamonds set on a platinum band.

Princess Mabel of the Netherlands

Mabel’s nutty “trouser gown” detracted from her headpiece, but if you did happen to notice it, you’ll recognize that it is the very same tiara she wore on her wedding day to Queen Beatrix’s son Prince Friso.

Thanks to Mad Hattery, I discovered that Mabel’s tiara is the second setting of the Mellerio Sapphire Tiara. It is topped with 11 large diamonds that look like lollipops.

I don’t know what possessed her to wear the outfit that she did, but the color was nice anyway!

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway

Mette Marit chose to wear Queen Maud’s Pearl tiara to highlight her elegant bone structure and eye-catching platinum locks. This tiara was also worn by Mette Marit’s sister-in-law, Princess Martha-Louise for her wedding to Ari Behn.

While Martha-Louise wore the tiara high on her head, the Crown Princess (above) tilted the prongs back, creating the illusion of a smaller headpiece.

This tiara came down from Queen Maud of Norway, a sister of King George V of Great Britain. She had married Prince Charles of Denmark, who had been presented with the opportunity to become King of Norway. He accepted, and they became Queen Maud and King Haakon.

Princess Martha-Louise wore the Norwegian Amethyst Necklace Tiara. Like many royal tiaras, it is easily converted into a necklace and has matching earrings. The tiara was a gift to her mother Queen Sonja from King Harald.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

The Danish Crown Princess wore Queen Ingrid’s Ruby Parure Tiara. It is a tiara frequently worn by Mary, and completely apropos for this wedding: inherited by Queen Luise of Sweden, she eventually passed it to her daughter, the future Queen Louise of Denmark, as a wedding present.

Many thanks to The Immense Glitter of Two Danish Royal Weddings, Royal Jewels and Royal Magazin (again)!

Queen Rania of Jordan

Queen Rania wore a converted bracelet as her headpiece. Her gown was elegant but her hair was slightly messy. The small tiara gets lost in Rania’s beehive.

The system of monarchy will never die, but some royals are treading dangerously close to extinction.

Without your title and dynasty, you’re Victoria Beckham and you rely on the pages of Hello! magazine for your publicity. Some royals, unfortunately, don’t seem to mind that eventuality.

Princes William and Harry and their cousin Princess Beatrice seem content to live a socialite’s life with scads of money, but want none of the responsibility that comes with being royal. Hence Beatrice’s casual request, “Just call me plain Beatrice” when referred to as Her Royal Highness. God forbid you’re associated with an institution or idea that puts country before self…
Read more…

Queen Rania with two of her four children:

Queen Rania of Jordan recently donated her blood to help victims of the conflict in Gaza.

The Queen, who is Palestinian, decided to help her homeland in the most personal way she could think of by donating blood on Tuesday. More than 350 people have already been killed in the besieged region.

Rania’s husband, H.M. King Abdullah II, also donated blood at the same hospital the previous day.

Queen Rania visited the Al-Hussein Medical Centre today to take part in a nationwide campaign to donate blood and support the citizens of Gaza.
- Palace Statement

Queen Rania wrote of the tragedy: “To be limited to expressing sympathies with the people of Gaza is shameful because they don’t need to be felt sorry for, they need us to act and help, and I know that we can do more.”

This video, Jordan’s Queen Rania on Arab women, is quite refreshing. Her Majesty acknowledges that there are issues in Arab culture regarding women that need to be addressed, and it will take time for change. A lot of Arab countries are, however, moving in the right direction.

I think Queen Rania is right. It will take time to change some of the aspects of Muslim culture in regards to women. We in the western world are full of feminism, ‘girl power’, and the working woman, and we think that other cultures in the world should be just like us and at the same point we are in our progression. This is not possible, and we need to remember that things do take time. Not to mention the fact that a lot of our own cultures still have sexism issues.

Take a look, it’s very interesting.

King Abdullah & Queen Rania visit Holland.