Princess Takamatsu’s Tiara

~ Saad719

Today marks the 110th Anniversary of the Birth of Princess Takamatsu of Japan, who was born on this day in 1911! The aristocratic bride who became the popular and progressive eldest member of the Imperial Family, the Princess possessed a splendid Jewellery Collection, the most spectacular piece of which was her Mikimoto Diamond Tiara!

Made by Mikimoto around 1930, the Diamond Tiara featuring a dense diamond design in arches was created for Kikuko Tokugawa when she married Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu, the third son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei and a younger brother of Emperor Hirohito. While Princess Takamatsu had other Tiaras, the Mikimoto Tiara remained a favourite throughout her long life, worn for the first time on her Wedding Day in 1930.

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Princess Takamatsu continued to wear her Mikimoto Tiara for a variety of Gala Events over the following decades, including Banquets for the Afghanistan State Visit to Japan in 1969, the British State Visit to Japan in 1975, the Jordanian State Visit to Japan in 1976, the Spanish State Visit to Japan in 1980, the Danish State Visit to Japan in 1981, the Prince and Princess of Wales’s visit to Japan in 1986, and Emperor Akihito’s Enthronement Banquet 1990. The Tiara also made annual appearences at the New Year’s Reception, the last of which came in 1996, around which time Princess Takamatsu retired from gala appearences. After her death in 2004, as the oldest member of the Imperial Family, the Mikimoto Tiara entered the collection of the Imperial Household Agency, and has not yet been publicly worn by any other lady in the Imperial Family.

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Modern Life | Tiara Mania

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