Infanta Pilar’s Emerald Necklace

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Infanta Pilar of Spain, Duchess of Badajoz, who was born on this day in 1936! The eldest daughter of the future Count and Countess of Barcelona, Don Juan and Doña María de las Mercedes, pretenders to the Spanish throne, and the elder sister of King Juan Carlos I, Infanta Pilar possessed a collection packed with both fascinating family heirloom jewels and modern acquisitions, such as the Emerald Necklace, which we are featuring today!

The demi-parure comprises a necklace and a pair of earrings set with emeralds, diamonds, and pearls. The necklace has a distinctive V-shape, with an elaborate front section punctuated by emeralds and diamonds, as well as small round pearls arranged in floral motifs. The jewel is completed by a discreet diamond-set chain at the back. The earrings appear to share the same design and have an elongated form composed by two sections.

Although the origins of the Demi-Parure are not officially known, it is highly probable that the jewels were given to Infanta Pilar by her husband, Don Luis Gómez-Acebo, Viscount de la Torre, to mark a special occasion early in their marriage.

The Infanta began wearing the Demi-Parure more frequently in the 1970s, sometimes wearing the complete set and on other occasions choosing to wear only individual pieces. She wore the jewels in 1978 for one of the first state visits hosted by her brother, King Juan Carlos I, shortly after his proclamation as King the previous year, in honour of French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.

Over the following decades, Doña Pilar continued to wear her emerald demi-parure, often pairing it with other jewels from her collection. Among them was the magnificent emerald brooch she received as a wedding gift from her grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie, as well as historic family jewels borrowed from her mother, the Countess of Barcelona. These included the Emerald Suite that had belonged to Queen Isabella II, which Infanta Pilar would eventually inherit.

In 2004, on the occasion of the engagement of her youngest son, Fernando Gómez-Acebo, Infanta Pilar decided to offer her emerald demi-parure to her future daughter-in-law, Mónica Martín Luque. In May 2004, six months before her own wedding, Mónica wore the necklace and earrings for the pre-wedding banquet hosted by King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía on the eve of the wedding of the then Prince of Asturias and Doña Letizia Ortiz.

In November 2004, Mónica transformed the Emerald Necklace into a tiara to complete her bridal look and secure her veil for her wedding to Fernando Gómez-Acebo at the Church of the Encarnación in Madrid. Unlike her sister-in-law Simoneta, who wore Queen María Cristina’s Pearl Tiara, or Bárbara Cano and Laura Ponte, who both wore the Orléans Sapphire Tiara.

Mónica does not appear to have worn Infanta Pilar’s emerald Demi-Parure frequently in public following her marriage. Little is known about the subsequent fate of the jewels, and it remains unclear whether Mónica retained the demi-parure after her divorce from Fernando Gómez-Acebo.

This article was written by assistant editor, David Rato, who runs the Spanish Royal Jewels account on Instagram!