Royal Jewels

[LadyMaria]

And a second picture of the ruby parure!

 

[LadyMaria]

A good picture of Queen Anne-Marie wearing the emerald tiara

 

[LadyMaria]

Funny story...

My husband tolerates my mania about royal jewels. I have a 7 year old son and 9 month old baby girl, both of whom have had a bit of a stomach bug and have been throwing up A LOT the past few days. My husband stopped and got me a cheap little tiara today and said I was the "Princess of Puke." He said I should wear my tiara when cleaning up the messes and maybe it would make things not so bad...

 

[LadyMaria]

Hey Lady A, how''s your mom doing?

 

[jewelerman]

Lady Maria,
the tiara story is really cute!

 

[LadyMaria]

A while back someone asked a question about the different royal orders. There are two different types of orders: family orders and “chivalry” orders.

The oldest chivalry order in England is the Order of the Garter (I posted history on this earlier). For the Order of the Garter, the collar is solid gold knots that circle the shoulders. They will also wear robes of dark blue and white plumed hats. For less formal (relatively speaking) events instead of wearing the heavy collar a Knight Companion will wear a dark blue sash from the left shoulder to the right hip and the Star of the order. The Star for the Order of the Garter is an 8-point star that is made silver and enameled on top.

Here is a picture from the annual ceremony for the Order of the Garter at Windsor Castle.

 

[LadyMaria]

Scotland also has an order, the Order of the Thistle. For the Order of the Thistle, the collar is made of golden thistles that circle the shoulders. From the collar a Knight or Lady Companion wears the Badge of the order, which is a golden cross with St. Andrew wearing a green robe. The Star for the Order of the Thistle is a smaller version of the badge. The sash is dark green and worn from the left shoulder to the right hip and the Star of the order. You don’t often see this sash worn though, because the Order of the Garter trumps it. If someone is a Knight or Lady companion of both the Order of the Thistle and Order of the Garter, the sash for the Order of the Garter is worn. The Stars for both orders can be worn together with the higher order being on top.

Just because someone is a Knight Companion of the Garter does not automatically mean he is a Knight Companion of the Thistle. Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are Knight Companions of the Garter, but not the Thistle.

 

[LadyMaria]

In Sweden the top chivalry order the Order of the Seraphim. For the Order of the Seraphim, the collar is made of 11 golden crosses. The Star for the Order of the Seraphim is an 8-point star with the center enameled in blue. The sash is light blue and worn from the left shoulder to the right hip and the Star of the order is worn on the left chest.

 

[LadyMaria]

In Norway we have the Order of St. Olav. For the Order of the St. Olav, the collar is made of gold with 6 “O” ‘s on them for Olav. The Badge for the order is a white enameled Maltese cross. The Star for the Order of the Seraphim is an 8-point star with the enameled Maltese cross on it. The sash is red with a white and blue stripe on either side and is worn from the left shoulder to the right hip and the Star of the order is worn on the left chest.

 

[LadyMaria]

Next we have the Danish Order of the Elephant. For the Order of the Elephant, the collar is made of gold and has alternating elephants and towers. The Badge for the order is a white enameled elephant. The sash is blue and is worn from the left shoulder to the right hip with the Badge (elephant) resting on the right.

 

[LadyMaria]

Family orders were only bestowed on females since they were not allowed to join the chivalry orders. In recent years, women have been allowed to join the chivalry orders, but the family orders remain.

A family order is usually a picture of the monarch panted on ivory. A woman will wear this on a ribbon pinned on her left shoulder. Often there will be a jewel or two on it as well. Sometimes diamonds surrounds the ivory portrait.

I have a picture of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the family orders of her father and grandfather, but it is being stubborn. I''ll try again later.

 

[LadyMaria]

In the picture I posted of Princess Theodora, the young man with her is her brother, Prince Phillippos. He''s quite dashing! Equally tasty is the middle brother, Prince Nikolaos.

 

[LadyMaria]

Okay, here''s that picture of Queen Elizabeth. She''s wearing the Collar and Star of the Order of the Garter along with the family orders of her father and grandfather.

 

[LadyMaria]

This thread begain with discussion about Marie Chevallier''s engagement ring. Now that she is Princess Marie of Denmark, she''s eligible for the tiara! The tiara she wore at her wedding was borrowed from Queen Margarthe.

On a side note, I think Marie went a little overboard with the fake tanner before the wedding...her skin looks orange!

 

[LadyMaria]

And a week off of that, Peter Phillips married Autumn Kelly. Sell-out magazine deals aside, it was a chance to see another great tiara. Autumn borrowed the Festoon tiara from her new mother-in-law, Princess Anne.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here''s a shot of Princess Anne in her younger days wearing the Festoon Tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

How about some royal tiaras from the Land of the Rising Sun? Here''s some background information...

The current Emperor is Akihito and his wife is Empress Michiko. They have 3 children

1. Crown Prince Naurhito (married to Crown Princess Masako). They have one daughter, Princess Aiko

2. Prince Fumihito (also known as Prince Akishino...married to Princess Kiko). They have 3 children, Princess Mako, Princess Kako, and Prince Hisahito

3. The former Princess Sayako (according to Japanese law enacted after World War II, female members of the royal family give up their title and become commoners upon marriage.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here we have then then Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko with his parents, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako

 

[LadyMaria]

A very young Empress Michiko wearing a gorgeous diamond tiara. You''ll see this tiara a lot!

 

[LadyMaria]

Another shot of a young Empress wearing a different, but equally lovely diamond tiara

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is Empress Michiko in the first diamond tiara. It will later show up on the head of another crown princess.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is Empress Michiko wearing a tiara in a "sunburst" design.

 

[LadyMaria]

In 1990, Empress Michiko''s younger son, Prince Fumihito (his formal title is Prince Akishino, sort of like saying "Prince of Wales") married Kiko Kawashima. She became Princess Kiko upon her marriage. The ceremony was a traditional Shinto ceremony, but they changed into western style bridal attire later. Here they are after their wedding and she is wearing a diamond tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is Princess Kiko at a formal event wearing the same tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is Princess Kiko with her husband and in-laws with both ladies wearing tiaras.

Princess Kiko has two daughters, Princess Mako (17 years old) and Princess Kako (14 years old). When they marry someday, they will leave the royal family and lose their titles. They also have a 2 year old brother, Prince Hisahito.

"2 years old?" you think. "Oops!" Well, there''s a reason for that.

Only males can inherit the throne in Japan. As forementioned, females bascially get kicked out when they marry. With Kiko having 2 daughters, and her sister-in-law Masako having 1 daughter, there were no men in line after Crown Prince Naurhito and Prince Fumihito. This was a major crisis in Japan. Speculation is that Kiko and Fumihito were basically commanded by the Imperial Household Agency (also known as the IHA...they are the ones who run the royal family) to try to have another kid and hopefully, have a son.

Prince Hisahito was born 9 months later and the sucession crisis was averted...for now...

 

[LadyMaria]

And now we come to Crown Princess Masako. Here she is on her wedding day to Crown Prince Naurhito wearing the tiara that Empress Michiko wore a lot. Again, the ceremony was a traditional Shinto ceremony with the new Crown Prince couple changing into western style bridal attire for a ride through the streets of Tokyo.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is Crown Princess Masako shortly after her marriage. She looks so happy here...

 

[LadyMaria]

The Emperor and Empress with the Crown Prince Couple.

There is quite a story behind Masako and Naurhito. Masako Owada was educated at Harvard, speaks at least 5 languages, and was on track for a diplomatic career when she met Naurhito. She was a modern Japanese woman. Naurhito asked her 3 times to marry him. She turned him down the first 2 becuase she knew that marrying him would mean the end of her career. Supposedly on the third time, Naurhito vowed that he would "protect you my entire life." Finally, she agreed to marry him. The hope was that she would be a fresh face to the imperial family. Some even called her the Japanese Princess Diana.

Remember that group the Imperial Household Agency (IHA) I mentioned earlier? Let''s put it this way...what they''ve put Masako through make what Princess Diana went through look like a cakewalk. Imagine having to submit to a gynecology exam prior to your engagement to prove you were able to bear children...imagine being locked in a palace and now allowed to travel internationally until you produced a male heir...imagine having someone else write answers to the questions they knew you''d be asked at a press conference...imagine having to go through a ceremony every month bascially telling your father-in-law that yes, you got your period and you''re not pregnant.

Masako did get pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage. She got pregnant again , probably through IVF (there was an infertility specialist on staff with the IHA, but they''ve never officially come out and said she had IVF). In 2001 she gave birth to Princess Aiko. This was a happy event, but it also was a huge disappointment that it wasn''t a boy.

In the end, Masako had a nervous breakdown and hasn''t been seen much in public for the last several years. The Emperor and Empress will say in one breath they support Masako, but in another criticize her for not doing her duty. Prince Naurhito has stood by her side, and at a press conference (remember, the IHA scripts the questions and answers at these press conferences) he broke away from the script and attacked the IHA for "denying Masako her character."

We can only hope that there will eventually be a happy ending here so that Masako can enjoy her tiaras again!

 

[LadyMaria]

Oops, I forgot the picture!

 

[LadyMaria]

And a final picture of the Emperor and Empress with Queen Elizabeth II with lots of pretty sparklies all around!