Queen Victoria Eugenie’s Cartier Stomacher

~ Saad719

Today marks the Anniversary of the Death of Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, who died on this day in 1969! While many of her jewels remain with the Spanish Royal Family, and are now worn by Queen Sofia and Queen Letizia, today we are featuring a striking jewel which ended up with her daughter-in-law and has been sold at auction!

The Spanish Royal Tiaras | Empress Eugenie’s Emeralds | Queen Ena’s Aquamarine Parure | Strawberry Leaf Tiara

In the 1920s, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain ordered this splendid Art Deco Stomacher from Cartier, made of diamonds mounted in platinum in a distinctive hexagonal motif with surrounding scrolls on each side, as well as a long detachable diamond pendant.

In the early 1920s, Queen Victoria Eugenie wore her Cartier Diamond Stomacher with her many diamond rivieres and diamond scroll tiara at a State Opening of Parliament, as well as with her Chaumet Tiara and with her Aquamarine Tiara and Parure for a series of Official Portraits.

Unlike many other pieces which were passed to her children or sold, Queen Victoria Eugenie retained her Cartier Diamond Stomacher through years of exile until the end of her life, wearing it for Official Portraits with her Cartier Diamond Tiara and Empress Eugenie’s Emeralds, as well as a variety of events, including the Wedding Ball of Prince Phillip of Greece to Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth in 1947, when she paired the stomacher with her Fleur-de-Lys Tiara.

After Queen Victoria Eugenie’s death in 1969, only the ‘Joyas de Pasar’ went to her third son and heir, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona while all of her remaining jewels were willed to her two daughters, Infanta Beatriz, Princess of Civitella-Cesi and Infanta María Cristina, though her wishes were not carried out, and the Cartier Diamond Stomacher was eventually inherited by her second son, Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia. The stomacher was worn by his wife, Charlotte Tiedemann, Duchess of Segovia and Anjou, in an official portrait in the early 1970s, though after the Duke’s death in 1975, she faced financial difficulties and auctioned the Cartier Stomacher at Christie’s in Geneva in 1977. The current location of the Stomacher, and if it remains intact, is unknown.

15

Leave a Reply