Today marks the Anniversary of the Death of Princess Marie Bonaparte, Princess George of Greece and Denmark, who passed away on this day in 1962! The Bonaparte Princess who married a Greek Prince (an uncle of 3 Kings, 2 Queens and the Duke of Edinburgh among others), became a psychoanalyst, and rescued Freud from the Nazis, Princess Marie was a fascinating figure and today we are going to be featuring her Diamond Star Tiara!
Cartier Olive Wreath Tiara | Diamond Star Tiara | Pearl Brooch
A set of five antique Diamond Stars of unknown Provenance, these Stars were first worn by Princess Marie with her Cartier Olive Wreath Tiara for the Wedding Gala of Crown Prince Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover in 1938, with one of the Stars being worn on her hat for the Wedding Ceremony the following day.
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In 1953, Prince George and Princess Marie were joined by their daughter, Princess Eugenie, and son-in-law, the Duke of Castel Duino, as they represented Greece at the the Coronation of their niece-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, when the Princess, wearing the largest Star as the center of her Olive Wreath Tiara along with four of the Diamond Stars on her Sash of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia, spent the ceremony psychoanalyzing her seatmate, the future French President François Mitterrand.
Three years later, Princess Marie wore the same version of the Olive Wreath Tiara along with several Diamond Stars on her bodice, as she joined her daughter, Princess Eugenie, and granddaughter, Princess Tatiana Radziwiłł, for a Banquet during the Greek State Visit to France.
When Royal Guests and Relatives gathered in Athens for King Paul’s 60th Birthday Banquet at the Royal Palace of Athens in 1961, Princess Marie wore three of the Diamond Stars as a Tiara, which was likely a lighter option than the Olive Wreath Tiara.
That same version of the Diamond Star Tiara was worn the following year, at the spectacular Wedding Ball of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece at the Royal Palace of Athens, which came just a few months before Princess Marie’s death.
The Diamond Stars was inherited by her only daughter, Princess Eugenie of Greece, after Princess Marie’s death in 1962, who has worn a similar Tiara at some point in the 1950s, for an unidentified event at the Royal Palace of Athens. Unlike the Olive Wreath Tiara, the Diamonds Stars were not publicly worn before Princess Eugenie’s own death in 1989.
Milstein
The jewels were was inherited by Princess Eugenie’s children, including Princess Tatiana Radziwiłł, and in 1999, the Diamond Stars, with three mounted as Tiaras, while two others were worn as Brooches, as well as the Olive Wreath Tiara, were sold at the Beaussant Lefèvre Auction House. The current location of the Diamond Stars is unknown.
Cartier Olive Wreath Tiara | Diamond Star Tiara | Pearl Brooch
