Bulgarian Royal Tiaras

~ Saad719

Happy Birthday to Tsaritsa (Queen) Margarita of Bulgaria! The consort of the exiled Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria, Queen Margarita is the daughter of Spanish aristocrats who were executed during the Spanish Civil War. She married Simeon in 1962, in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has five children. The Family finally returned to Bulgaria in 1996, and the former Tsar was even appointed Prime Minister from 2001 to 2005. Tsar Simeon and Tsaritsa Margarita currently reside in the grounds of his childhood home, Vrana Palace in Sofia. To celebrate her birthday, we will take a look at the tiaras worn by Tsaritsa Margarita!

Köchert Tiara

Composed of rubies and emeralds, representing the colours of the Bulgarian flag, set in a series of Diamond Fleur-de-Lys, the Köchert Tiara was a wedding gift from Prince (later Tsar) Ferdinand of Bulgaria to his bride, Princess Marie Louise of Parma, daughter of Robert I, Duke of Parma, in 1893, alongside several spectacular jewels which included a Fringe Tiara and Orléans Sapphire Earrings.

Princess Marie Louise wore the Tiara first on her Wedding Day and then frequently in official portraits and paintings, most notably at the Wedding of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1898.

Princess Marie Louise also wore the Fleur-de-Lys Tiara for her portrait by de Lazlo, shortly before her untimely death in 1899.

The Fleur-de-Lys Tiara was next worn by Princess Giovanna of Savoy, when she married Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, the son of Tsar Ferdinand and Princess Marie Louise, at her Orthodox Wedding Ceremony in Sofia in 1930 following the Catholic Ceremony at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

After the Bulgarian Monarchy was abolished in 1946, Queen Giovanna took her jewels into exile and wore the Fleur-de-Lys Tiara  for the Wedding Gala of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and her niece, Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, in 1955, as well as a Portrait that hangs in Tsar Simeon’s Madrid Home.

In 1957, Queen Giovanna loaned the Köchert Fleur-de-Lys Tiara to her only daughter, Princess Marie Louise, when she married Prince Karl of Leiningen in Cannes.

When Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela married Tsar Simeon in 1962, the Köchert Fleur-de-Lys Tiara passed to Queen Margarita, who first wore it on her Wedding Day in Switzerland.

Queen Margarita wore the Ruby Necklace and Earrings at the Wedding of King Constantine of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in 1964.

Queen Margarita also wore the Fleur-de-Lys Tiara for a Ball in Germany in the late 1960s.

Queen Giovanna wore the Fleur-de-Lys Tiara along with the Ruby Parure for a Gala in the 1970s, which was it’s last public appearance.

The Bulgarian Fleur-de-Lys Tiara remained with the Tsar and Tsaritsa, who returned to Bulgaria in the 2000s with the Tsar becoming the Bulgarian Prime Minister for a period, but was said to be in delicate condition, as it was unable to be loaned to a Bulgarian museum for display as few years ago. The Tsar and Tsaritsa offered it to one of their daughters-in-law to wear at their wedding, but they declined telling them to save the tiara for their daughter, Princess Kalina, who ultimately did not wear a Tiara at her wedding. Last year, it was revealed by Vincent Meylan that the Tiara is now in the Albion Art Collection, having been sold off like much of the Royal Jewel Collection.

Floral Tiara

When Princess Elena of Montenegro was marrying Crown Prince Victor Emmanuel of Italy in 1896, she received several spectacular jewels as wedding gifts. Among the jewels was this magnificent Stomacher/Devant de Corsage composed of pearls scattered across diamond ivy leaves, which Queen Elena wore for a portrait around the turn of the century.

In the 1950s, King Umberto II of Italy had his mother’s Devant de Corsage converted into a striking Tiara by his favourite jeweller Petochi, while it is believed that leftover Diamond Ivy elements were used to create the magnificent Diamond Ivy Wreath Tiara for his sister, Queen Giovanna of Bulgaria. Another possibility is that the Tiara is an old heirloom of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Kohary, which may have even originated from Queen Marie-Amélie of the French.

Queen Giovanna most notably wore the Diamond Ivy Wreath Tiara for a portrait with her son, Tsar Simeon II, in exile in Madrid in the 1950s, paired with the pieces of Queen Marie-Amélie’s Diamond Parure.

After Tsar Simeon’s marriage in 1962, the Diamond Parure came into the possession of Queen Margarita, often worn with the Necklaces and Earrings of Queen Marie-Amélie’s Diamond Parure, for a plethora of events through the 1960s, most notably the Wedding Ball of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne Marie of Denmark in 1964.

Queen Margarita also wore the Diamond Ivy Wreath Tiara for the Wedding Ball of Prince Karl of Hesse and Countess Yvonne Szapary von Muraszombath Széchysziget und Szapár in 1966, the Wedding Ball of the Margrave of Baden and Archduchess Valerie of Austria in 1966 or the Wedding Ball of Duchess Sophie of Württemberg in 1969.

In 1989, the Diamond Ivy Wreath Tiara was worn by Doña María del Rosario Nadal when she married the second son of Tsar Simeon and Queen Margarita, Kyril, Prince of Preslav.

In 2017, the Diamond Ivy Wreath Tiara along with Queen Marie-Amélie’s Diamond Parure, was on sale at the Bessel Art Fair, belonging to the Zebrak Gallery in London. It is unknown when the Royal Family decided to sell the Tiara, but they have faced years of legal battles in Bulgaria over restitution of their properties, which may have necessitated the sale of this historic jewel.

Queen Giovanna’s Pearl Tiara

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Queen Giovanna’s Pearl and Diamond Tiara was given as a wedding gift from her parents, King Victor Emanuel III and Queen Elena of Italy, in 1930, was worn by her in a portrait. Queen Margarita wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara at the Wedding Ball of Duke Friedrich of Württemberg and Princess Marie of Wied in 1993. It was also worn by Doña Carla María de la Soledad Royo-Villanova y Urrestarazu when she married Kubrat, Prince of Panagyurishte in 1996, Doña Miriam de Ungría y López when she married Kardam, Prince of Tarnovo, the eldest son of the Tsar, in 1996, and Princess Alexandra von Kohary, daughter of Princess Marie Louise, in 1999. The current location of the Tiara is unknown, but it probably no longer belongs to the Royal Family.

Diamond Scroll Tiara

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One of the pieces from a massive Diamond Parure that originates from Queen Marie Amelie of The French, the Bulgarian Diamond Scroll Tiara was worn by Queen Margarita to an event in the 1960s before being worn by Doña María García de la Rasilla y Gortázar when she married Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin, the fourth son of Tsar Simeon and Tsaritsa Margarita, in 1994. UPDATE- The Diamond Scroll Tiara, along with other jewels, including the Floral Tiara, was on sale at the Bessel Fair in 2017. (h/t to Ursula)

Crown Princess Miriam’s Tiara

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For the Wedding Gala of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Countess Stephanie de Lannoy in 2012, Crown Princess Miriam wore a Tiara composed of an Art Deco Diamond Bracelet, a pair of diamond flower earrings, a pair of pearl earrings, and a diamond fleur-de-lys brooch which all belonged to her. It has not been seen since.

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Royal Magazin | Jenni Wiltz | Old Version

Bulgarian Fleur-de-Lys Tiara

Diamond Ivy Wreath Tiara

Queen Giovanna’s Pearl Tiara

Queen Marie-Amélie’s Diamond Parure

Queen Giovanna’s Bracelet Bandeau

Bulgarian Fleur-de-Lys Tiara

Queen Giovanna’s Pearl Tiara

Queen Marie-Amélie’s Diamond Parure

Queen Giovanna’s Bracelet Bandeau

Bulgarian Fleur-de-Lys Tiara

Queen Marie-Amélie’s Diamond Parure

Queen Giovanna’s Pearl Tiara

Queen Giovanna’s Bracelet Bandeau

The Bulgarian Royal Tiaras

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Composed of sapphires, rubies and emeralds set in diamonds, the Bulgarian Köchert Tiara was a wedding gift from Prince (later Tsar) Ferdinand of Bulgaria to Princess Marie Louise of Parma in 1893, who wore the Tiara frequently in official portraits and a painting until her early death in 1899. The Köchert Tiara was next worn by Princess Giovanna of Italy, when she married Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, son of Tsar Ferdinand and Princess Marie Louise, in 1930. Queen Giovanna wore the Tiara at her wedding, for official events throughout her husband’s reign (which ended at his mysterious death days after meeting with Hitler in 1943), as well as events after the her son’s exile in 1946.

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Queen Giovanna loaned the Tiara to her daughter, Princess Marie Louise, when she married Prince Karl of Leiningen in 1957, before passing it on to Queen Margarita, who wore the Köchert Tiara at her Wedding to Tsar Simeon in 1962 as well as a Ball in the 1960s. The Bulgarian Köchert Tiara is still owned by the Tsar and Tsaritsa, but is said to be in delicate condition, as it was unable to be loaned to a Bulgarian museum for display as few years ago.

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Said to come from a stomacher of Queen Elena of Italy, the diamond diadem of leaves and flowers was a wedding gift to Queen Giovanna, who wore it for her wedding celebrations and in an official portrait during her exile. The Floral Tiara was worn quite often by Queen Margarita in the 1960s, most notably for the Wedding Ball of King Constantine of Greece and Princess Anne Marie of Denmark in 1964. The Tiara was worn by Doña María del Rosario Nadal when she married the second son of Simeon and Margarita, Kyril, Prince of Preslav in 1989, but it appears to no longer be in the Royal Family’s possession as it was on display at the Bessel Fair in 2017/18.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_9Unnrjhva/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCIQkhSnRGn/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE3QJ0fnweM/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_9TjWcDMyr/

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1346666862474477568

Queen Giovanna’s Pearl and Diamond Tiara was given as a wedding gift from her parents, King Victor Emanuel III and Queen Elena of Italy, in 1930, was worn by her in a portrait. Queen Margarita wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara at the Wedding Ball of Duke Friedrich of Württemberg and Princess Marie of Wied in 1993. It was also worn by Doña Carla María de la Soledad Royo-Villanova y Urrestarazu when she married Kubrat, Prince of Panagyurishte in 1996, Doña Miriam de Ungría y López when she married Kardam, Prince of Tarnovo, the eldest son of the Tsar, in 1996, and Princess Alexandra von Kohary, daughter of Princess Marie Louise, in 1999. The current location of the Tiara is unknown, but it probably no longer belongs to the Royal Family.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1346666813539532801

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_9Q6mPDYoy/

One of the pieces from a massive Diamond Parure that originates from Queen Marie Amelie of The French, the Bulgarian Diamond Scroll Tiara was worn by Queen Margarita to an event in the 1960s before being worn by Doña María García de la Rasilla y Gortázar when she married Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin, the fourth son of Tsar Simeon and Tsaritsa Margarita, in 1994. UPDATE- The Diamond Scroll Tiara, along with other jewels, including the Floral Tiara, was on sale at the Bessel Fair in 2017. (h/t to Ursula)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDGQ3NyHEmL/

Embed from Getty Images

For the Wedding Gala of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Countess Stephanie de Lannoy in 2012, Crown Princess Miriam wore a Tiara composed of an Art Deco Diamond Bracelet, a pair of diamond flower earrings, a pair of pearl earrings, and a diamond fleur-de-lys brooch which all belonged to her. It has not been seen since.

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