From the Vault Friday--The Tiara of the Nine Provinces (Belgium)

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20 January 2023

The Tiara of the Nine Provinces

Belgium

I love studying the history of things. Tiaras, and jewels in general, are no exception. So, I thought I'd start a new series about royal jewels, both belonging to the crown and those in personal collections. And since today is the birthday of the lovely Queen Mathilde of Belgium (read more about her here), I thought we'd start with one of my favorite royal pieces, the Tiara of the Nine Provinces.

In 1926, Princess Astrid of Sweden married Leopold, Crown Prince of Belgium. The Tiara of the Nine Provinces was given to the newly married Duchess of Brabant as a wedding gift, commissioned on behalf of the Belgian people and made by Belgian jeweller Van Bever. In its original form, the tiara consisted of a flexible diamond bandeau in a Greek key motif topped by eleven large stones on spikes. The eleven diamonds, thought to total nearly 100 carats on their own, were from the Congo and were to represent the nine provinces of Belgium, the now former province of the Congo, and the Royal House. The bandeau and stones could be seperated and worn on their own.

Later on, Astrid had a series of interlocking diamond arches added to surround the independent diamonds, giving the diadem a more substantial look.

Upon Astrid's untimely death in 1935, the tiara passed to her husband. His second wife, Princess Lillian, wore pieces of it but no proof of her wearing it in its entirety has been found. She wore it in various forms though, using the diamond bandeau alone and as a bracelet and had the solitaires attached to a gold collar by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Leopold eventually abdicated the throne in favor of his son Baudouin in 1951. In 1960, Baudouin married Fabiola, who next received the tiara as queen consort and wore it in its entirety on their wedding day in 1960. She wore it in multiple ways, highlighting just how versatile this piece truly is. She wore the bandeau alone, the tiara as a complete piece, the complete minus the solitaires, and used the solitaires on a necklace.

Sadly, all five of Fabiola's pregnancies ended in miscarriage. When Baudouin passed away in 1993, his brother Albert became king and the tiara passed on to the new queen consort. Paola frequently wore the complete piece, but was also pictured wearing the bandeau as a choker.

In 2013, King Albert II abdicated in favor of his son Phillippe and tiara is now worn by his wife. Queen Mathilde has worn the piece in its complete form and the meander bandeau alone.

This piece has only been worn by the wife of the reigning monarch. Mathilde will have use of it until her daughter Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant ascends to the thone. It remains to be seen if she will wear it as Queen Regnant, but as it is known as the queen's tiara, many believe she will wear it as well. Do you have a piece of royal jewelry you'd like to know more about? Send me a message or comment for a future From the Vault Friday post! Next week, we'll talk about the Danish Ruby Parure Tiara.