While the Dutch can draw from a well-stocked jewelery vault, the choice for the Belgians is certainly not great. But…. That is slowly but surely changing! Queen Mathilde has discovered the auction catalogues.
Jewelry is usually passed on from mother to daughters and/or sons. Because both Queen Emma and Queen Wilhelmina only had one daughter, Juliana inherited a lavish collection of diadems, necklaces, brooches, bracelets and rings in the 1930s. To prevent the collection from disintegrating upon her own death, Juliana set up a jewelry foundation. Every glimmer that was placed there could – and may not – be resold.
Things are very different among the Belgians. “Queen Marie-Henriette (1836-1902) had decided that her jewels should remain reserved for the future queen after her death,” says jewelry expert Benjamin Vaesen. “King Leopold 2 decided differently and divided everything among his daughters.” As a result, the royal collection was split up. “Afterwards, things went wrong again with Queen Elisabeth (1876-1965). She left her most important pieces to her son Leopold 3, while grandson Baldwin was already king at the time. Leopold’s wife Liliane sold important pieces of the royal collection after his death.” We then arrive at Fabiola, the wife of King Baudouin. It is not known exactly what happened to her collection. We do know that some pieces from her private collection were passed on to her Spanish family and then sold. Queen Mathilde has now also been spotted with several of Fabiola’s jewels, but she cannot count on a well-stocked safe like the Oranjes. So she only has four diadems at her disposal.
- Art Deco tiara, worn here by Lili Rosboch. This jewel is owned by Queen Paola and Mathilde wore it once, during her wedding in 1999.
- Wolfers tiara, wedding gift from Queen Fabiola and inherited by Queen Mathilde
- Laurel wreath tiara, wedding gift from the nobility association of Belgium
- Diadem of the Nine Provinces, wedding gift for Princess Astrid of Sweden.
When Princess Elisabeth approached adulthood, Filip and Mathilde realized it was time for a new diadem. With Leonore there would be only four diadems for three ladies in the future. Since it is not common for a queen to wear a smaller diadem than her daughters, Mathilde would even have had to rely on one or two diadems. Princess Elisabeth received a ‘new’ diadem as a gift from her parents for her eighteenth birthday. The word ‘new’ is deliberately placed between quotation marks, because it concerns an antique jewel that was previously worn by Lady Vestey.
Also from the auction: the sapphire brooch that Elisabeth wears on her dress. The early 20th century jewel was purchased through Sotheby’s in 2018. The Milanese jeweler G. Confalonieri is the creator.
During the final greeting to Queen Elizabeth, Mathilde was spotted wearing a diamond bow brooch. The jewel was purchased through Christie’s in 2019 for approximately 20,000 euros. According to the auction house, the brooch was made around 1910.
During the funeral of the Greek ex-king, Mathilde wore a butterfly brooch from 1900. The jewel was purchased in 2014 through Drouot’s auction house for 8,400 euros. (Source: https://queenmathilde.blogspot.com/)
In June 2018, a ring and earrings made of kunzite and diamonds were sold at the London branch of Sotheby’s. Jelka from Garderobe Royal discovered the final destination: Mathilde’s jewelry case.
In June 2018, a new pair of earrings was also purchased through Christie’s auction house. These are ebonite and diamond studs by René Boivin. Price tag: 9375 euros.
Also new is Graff’s diamond necklace, which was discussed extensively in this blog.
Jewelry expert Benjamin Vaesen discovered the origin of the necklace above and the new bracelet that Mathilde wore in Germany. This is a jewel from 1915 (belle époque) by Marcus & Co, sold through Bonhams auction house. Here too, a hefty price tag: 18,000 euros.
