Happy Birthday to the Duchess of Oldenburg, who turns 60 today! Born Countess Caroline zu Rantzau, she married the Duke of Oldenburg, Head of the House of Oldenburg, in 1987. The couple have four children and reside at Güldenstein Manor and at Schloss Rastede, so to mark the day, we are featuring the splendid Oldenburg Star Tiara!
Composed of thirteen diamond stars, the Tiara was originally a Star Tiara given as a Wedding Gift from the Emperor and Empress of Germany to their cousin, Princess Elisabeth Anna, when she married the Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg in 1878. The Stars could be worn as a necklace or brooches, like when Princess Elisabeth Anna wore the stars suspended from a Diamond Riviere.
The Diamond Stars remained an Heirloom of the Grand Ducal Family after the death of Hereditary Grand Duchess Elisabeth Anna in 1895, being worn by Princess Helena, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, wife of Grand Duke Frederick Augustus II’s son from his second wife, for a series of portraits taken in the 1930s, in a two-row configuration.
The Tiara was also worn by her husband’s second wife, Hereditary Grand Duchess Anne Marie, for a portrait in the 1950s and for a Ball when Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg, married Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia in 1965.
The Oldenburg Star Tiara was worn by Altburg, Duchess of Oldenburg, when she married Baron Rüdiger von Erffa in 1967, and was also worn by Countess Felicitas-Anita Schwerin von Krosigk to marry Duke Huno of Oldenburg in 1970.
In 2010, the Oldenburg Star Tiara was worn by Duchess Tatjana of Oldenburg for her Wedding to Count Axel de Chavagnac at Schloss Eutin.
The current Duchess of Oldenburg has been pictured wearing the Star Tiara on at least two occasions in recent years, first for the Wedding Ball of the Prince of Prussia and Princess Sophie of Isenburg in Potsdam in 2011.
The Oldenburg Star Tiara was also worn by the Duchess for the Wedding Ball of Count Constantin Fugger von Babenhausen and Princess Sophie zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg in Wertheim in 2017. There is no doubt we will continue to see this splendid Heirloom for years to come!
When Duchess Katharina of Oldenburg, the only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Oldenburg, married Count Clemens Moy de Sons in Rastede in 2024, the bride wore a striking Diamond Loop Tiara which is likely another family heirloom, though the Duchess no doubt wore the Star Tiara for the Ball held that evening.
The same Diamond Loop Tiara was worn by Countess Fiona Khuen-Lützow to marry Duke Philipp of Oldenburg in 2025.
Sofia Svanholm
The Duchess of Oldenburg wearing the Oldenburg Star Tiara at the Wedding of Count Constantin Fugger von Babenhausen and Princess Sophie zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg in Wertheim in 2017!
📷@RoyalTravel
Learn More: https://t.co/QrCWkmcvho pic.twitter.com/iywWuyraiA
— The Royal Watcher (@saadsalman719) April 10, 2022
RoyalTravel
The Duchess of Oldenburg wearing the Oldenburg Star Tiara at the Wedding of Count Constantin Fugger von Babenhausen and Princess Sophie zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg in Wertheim in 2017!
📷@RoyalTravel
Learn More: https://t.co/QrCWkmcvho pic.twitter.com/iywWuyraiA
