The Brunswick Tiara

Happy Tiara Tuesday!  This week we're bringing you a tiara with fabulous design and lots of history, the Brunswick Tiara.  This tiara was originally part of Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife Josephine’s jewel collection.  It features diamonds set in scrolls and laurel-wreath motifs.

This tiara managed to escape France for Germany, and in 1913 was in the hands of Saxon court jeweler, Moritz Elimeyer.  The tiara was not in pristine condition, as it was missing some of its larger diamonds, but it made a good choice for a wedding present from the people of Brunswick for Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, who was marrying the future Duke of Brunswick, Prince Ernst August of Hanover.  It was refurbished by the Brunswick court jeweler, Hermann Jürgens, and was very well received by Victoria on the day before her wedding!  She wore her beloved tiara often, even after the monarchy in Germany had been abolished.  When she died in 1980 the tiara passed to her grandson, Ernst August.

The tiara seemed to be missing for years, but in 2004 it reappeared on Ernst August's second wife, Princess Caroline of Monaco, for the Danish royal wedding.  We have not seen it since, but hopefully it will make a new, dazzling appearance soon!

Thank you for reading, and as always, have a happy Tiara Tuesday!