Today marks the bicentenary of the birth of Queen Amalia of Greece, born Duchess Amalia of Oldenburg on this day in 1818, who was the Queen Consort of King Otto I of Greece from 1836 to 1862, and spent the rest of her life in exile in the King’s native Bavaria. To mark the occasion, we are taking a look at the Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara, a piece not only worn by Queen Amalia but also one I’ve been wanting to feature for a long time.

Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara | Bavarian Amethyst Parure | Diamond and Pearl Tiara

Commissioned from the Bavarian Court Jeweller Caspar Rieländer by King Ludwig I of Bavaria for his wife, Queen Therese, the tiara features sixteen pearls in diamond arches, hanging from lover’s knot bows, mirrored by sixteen pear-shaped pearls on top, which were accompanied by pearl chandelier earrings and a large pearl necklace.

Queen Therese wore her Lover’s Knot Tiara for a plethora of portraits in the 1820s and 1830s, with varying degrees of artistic license taken on its representation, along with a variety of pearl jewels, though she wore the earrings of the parure in other portraits.

At some point, Queen Therese gave the Lover’s Knot Tiara to her daughter-in-law, Queen Amalia of Greece, wife of her second son, who wore the piece in a portrait. It remained with her during her exile, and since the Greek Royal Couple had no children, it returned to the main line of the Bavarian Royal Family after her death in 1875.

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While it was not pictured on subsequent Bavarian Queens, the Lover’s Knot Tiara was worn in the 1920s, after the fall of the Bavarian Monarchy, by Crown Princess Antonia, wife of the then Pretender Crown Prince Rupprecht and sister of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, in a series of portraits, along with the rest of Queen Therese’s Pearl Parure.

Crown Princess Antonia wore the Earrings from Queen Therese’s Pearl Parure on numerous occasions, including for the Wedding of her sister, Princess Hilda of Luxembourg, to the Prince of Schwarzenberg in 1930.

The Wittelsbach Family had a difficult time in exile and concentration camps during the Second World War, and the Crown Princess never returned to Germany, but the Lover’s Knot Tiara survived as was worn by Princess Irmingard of Bavaria, daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht and Crown Princess Antonia at one of her wedding ceremonies to Prince Ludwig of Bavaria in 1950, she wore the Bavarian Sapphire Floral Tiara at the other one.

Today, the Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara and Parure, as well as Queen Therese’s Ruby and Spinal Parure, is on display at Munich’s Residenz, the former Royal Palace that is now a Museum. However, the ladies of the Wittelsbach Family still have a variety of historic Tiaras at their disposal.

Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara | Bavarian Amethyst Parure | Diamond and Pearl Tiara

Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara

Bavarian Ruby Tiara

Diamond and Pearl Tiara

Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara

Douglas Floral Tiara

Diamond Rosette Tiara

Bavarian Sapphire Floral Tiara

Bavarian Sunburst Tiara

Bavarian Amethyst Parure

Prussian Meander Tiara

Prussian Sapphire Parure

Fabergé Tiara

Prussian Ruby Parure

Sapphire and Pearl Brooch

Hanoverian Floral Tiara

Brunswick Tiara

Hannover Diamond Necklace Tiara

Prussian Diamond Tiara

Queen Charlotte’s Nuptial Crown

Hanoverian Crown Pearls

Sapphire Tiara

Diamond Scroll Tiara

Württemberg Diamond Tiara

Ruby Tiara

Emerald Floral Tiara

Baden Sunburst Tiara

Baden Ruby Laurel Wreath Tiara

Thurn und Taxis Sapphire Tiara

Emerald Tiara

Emerald and Ruby Choker

Sapphire Bow Brooch

Princess Olga’s Emerald Earrings

Hesse Emerald Brooch

Thurn und Taxis Tiaras

Habsburg Fringe Tiara 

Kinsky Tiara

Douglas Floral Tiara

Sapphire Suite

Diamond Earrings

Liechtenstein Royal Tiaras 

For more information, check out:

Luxarazzi