Today marks the 110th Anniversary of the Birth of the Princess Marie Elisabeth zu Wied, who was born on this day in 1913! The daughter of the Second World War German Ambassador to Sweden, who then settled in Sweden, becoming a children’s book author and a close friend of the Swedish Royal Family, Princess Marie Elisabeth zu Wied was often seen wearing this heirloom Diamond Tiara!
A striking jewel of geometric circles and loops in a Belle Époque design, this Tiara dates from the 1910s, and seem to have been made for when Countess Gisela of Solms-Wildenfels married Prince Viktor zu Wied in 1912, as it was worn on their wedding day.
Princess Gisela also wore the Tiara for an event at a later date, possibly after Prince Viktor was made the German Envoy to Sweden in 1933, a post which he held until 1943, passing away in 1946 in British captivity.
After the Second World War, the Diamond Tiara was usually seen on Princess Marie Elisabeth zu Wied, the elder daughter of Prince Viktor and Princess Gisela, who had settled in Sweden following her father’s death and become close to the Swedish Royal Family, with Princess Christina encouraging Princess ‘Malibeth’ as she was called by the family, to publish her stories in what became ten children’s books. Princess Marie Elisabeth zu Wied notably wore the Diamond Tiara during the British State Visit to Sweden in 1956 as well as for the Order of Amaranth Ball, alongside numerous Gala Events and Banquets, as well as a few portraits, like the one published on the cover of her autobiography: ‘En fläkt från det förgångna’
Princess Marie Elisabeth was a regular presence at various Banquets held at the Royal Palace of Stockholm through the 1960s and the 1970s, wearing the Diamond Tiara for Representation Dinners and Nobel Banquets, as well as for King Gustaf VI Adolf’s 90th Birthday Banquet in 1972, at the Wedding of Princess Christina of Sweden in 1974, and likely for King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Wedding Gala 1976.
Princess Marie Elisabeth continued to remain close the the Swedish Royal Family in old age, with her last appearance in the Diamond Tiara at a Representation Dinner at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in early March 1985, just a few weeks before she passed away that month. The Princess never married and had no children, but her only sister, Princess Benigna, Freiin von Schlotheim, had two daughters, and the Tiara could have been inherited by them, but its fate is unknown!
A huge thanks to our friend Jakob for his help in researching this article!
