Last week, the Princess of Prussia wore Empress Auguste Viktoria’s Diamond Bow Brooch at the Ball of the Order of the Amarante in Stockholm, which was once part of a grand Diamond Stomacher given by the Ottoman Sultan!
When Kaiser Wilhelm II made a landmark tour of the Ottoman Empire and was received by Sultan Abdul Hamid in 1898, he was given twenty-eight chests of gifts, which included a “magnificent necklace with large, expensive stones, intended for the Empress, one estimate being 23,000 pounds sterling, which is 373,000 francs”. It could be worn in various ways: as a choker close to the neck, or as a necklace, or as a devant de corsage – draped like a large brooch on the costume.
Large diamond brooch, with three loops. Two small bow brooches, with three loops – out of a total of four bow brooches, of which two are bows with two loops. Three brooches made of ribbons set with brilliants and tied into bows, each with a large central old-cut diamond.
Empress Augusta Victoria added Pearls from the family vaults to the Diamond devant-de-corsage and notably wore it with the Prussian Diamond Tiara for a series of portraits in 1899.
Empress Augusta Victoria continued to wear her magnificent Pearl and Diamond Stomacher on several occasions before the outbreak of the First World War. As personal property, the Stomacher was kept with the Royal Family when they went into exile but was publicly worn.
By the 1960s, Empress Augusta Victoria’s Diamond devant-de-corsage had been taken apart into various Brooches and a Pearl and Diamond Necklace, most notably worn by Princess Kira for the Wedding of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in 1964.
The following year, the central Diamond Bow Brooch with the Pearl Pendant was worn by Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia for a Gala held at Schloss Charlottenburg ahead of her Wedding to Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg.
Princess Kira also wore the large Diamond Bow Brooch with the Pearl Pendant, paired with the Diamond Meander Tiara for the Wedding of Queen Margrethe of Denmark in 1967.
In the 1970s, one of the smaller Diamond Bow Brooches from the devant-de-corsage was given to Princess Donata of Prussia, the daughter-in-law of Prince Louis Ferdinand, who notably wore it for the christening of her son, Prince Georg Friedrich, in 1976, as well as the 85th birthday of Prince Louis Ferdinand in 1992, and also the Wedding of Prince Georg Friedrich in 2011.
Now, the Princess of Prussia wore one of the Diamond Bow Brooches from the corners of the devant-de-corsage, which was paired with the Diamond Meander Tiara for the Ball of the Order of the Amarante in Stockholm last week. Let’s hope we see it worn again soon!
