Savoy Ears of Wheat and Flower Tiara

Happy Birthday to Princess Maria Beatrice ‘Titi’ of Savoy, who turns 80 today! The youngest child of King Umberto II of Italy and Princess Marie Jose of Belgium, Princess Maria Beatrice has not worn many Heirlooms of the House of Savoy, but did prominently wear the Savoy Ears of Wheat and Flower Tiara!

Savoy Ears of Wheat and Flower Tiara | Savoy-Aosta Tiara | Pearl and Diamond Ivy Wreath Tiara

Created by the celebrated Italian Jeweller Musy, this Tiara is composed of Diamond Ears of Wheat which belonged to Queen Elisabeth of Prussia, with a detachable Diamond Flower in the centre. The Tiara was created for Princess Elisabeth of Saxony, the Duchess of Genoa, the mother of Queen Margherita, who inherited the Tiara and likely left it to her grandson, King Umberto II of Italy, though it was not worn, likely because it resembled Queen Margherita’s Diamond Wreath Tiara.

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The Ears of Wheat and Flower Tiara does not seem to have been photographed until it was worn by Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, the elder daughter of King Umberto II and Queen Marie José, for her Wedding to Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia in Portugal in 1955.

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A few years later, the Savoy Ears of Wheat and Flower Tiara was worn by Princess Maria Beatrice for the Wedding Ball of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece at the Royal Palace of Athens in 1962.

Two years later, Princess Maria Beatrice wore the Savoy Ears of Wheat and Flower Tiara again, at the Wedding Ball of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne Marie of Denmark at the Royal Palace of Athens in 1964.

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More recently, it appears that the central Diamond Flower of the Tiara is now worn as the clasp of a necklace of black and white pearls by the Princess of Naples, most prominently when the Savoy Royal Family arrived in Naples in March 2003, after decades in Exile.

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Later that year, the Princess of Naples wore that necklace for a concert on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, and it was then worn in March 2004, first when Pope John-Paul II beatified Emperor Karl of Austria, and then a few days later for a Mass marking the centenary of the birth of King Umberto II. Lets hope we see this spectacular Royal Heirloom worn again soon!