Happy Birthday to Princess Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria, who turns 85 today! The illustrious Swedish Countess married to the Heir of the House of Wittelsbach, who is the mother of the Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, the Duchess in Bavaria has often worn the magnificent Bavarian Eglantine Tiara!
Bavarian Eglantine Tiara | Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara | Douglas Floral Tiara
One of the most important heirlooms of the House of Wittelsbach, the original Tiara with the briolette Diamonds was created by Jeweller Borgius in Paris using stones from the Wittelsbach Treasury in 1817 and was notably worn by Queen Therese of Bavaria for a portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler around 1826.
The original Tiara was reset by Munich Jeweller Kaspar Rieländer into this Eglantine Tiara for King Ludwig I In 1832.
The tiara is a diadem of rare interest, surmounted by trellis work, and containing 36 fine briolettes.
Forty-nine brilliants sparkled; floral sprays, exquisitely worked, a rose in the centre, and a drop brilliant forming a rosebud, made a pattern of lace in light.
In 1837, the upper portion of the Eglantine Tiara was was worn by Queen Amalia of Greece, a daughter-in-law of King Ludwig I and Queen Therese, for a portrait also by Joseph Karl Stieler. The Tiara must have returned to the main line of the Bavarian Royal Family after her death in 1875, like the Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara and her Amethyst Parure.
In 1931, the Eglantine Tiara was among the Jewels put on Auction by the House of Wittelsbach at Christie’s in London, selling for £7,000.
The Crown Jewels of Bavaria are to be sold by auction next month at Christie’s. The collection arrived from Munich.
A Diamond Tiara originally made in Paris by the Jeweller Borgius and reset for King Ludwig I In 1832 by the Munich Jeweller Kaspar Kielander.
The brilliant tiara, another Wittlesbach treasure, mounted by a Parisian jeweller in 1817, made women gasp when it was taken round the room. The Tiara was sold for £7,000.
However, by the mid-1950s, at least the bottom portion of the Tiara with the briolette Diamonds was back in the Bavarian Royal Family and topped with pear-shaped pearls, which now belongs to the Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds.
The new version of the Eglantine Tiara was worn by Princess Gabriele of Bavaria for the Ball held to celebrate her Wedding to the Prince of Waldburg-Zeil in 1957.
The Duchess of Bavaria, the mother of Princess Gabriele, notably wore the Eglantine Tiara for the Wedding Ball of King Baudouin of Belgium and Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón at the Royal Palace of Brussels in 1960 and also to a Ball at Schloss Nymphenburg in the 1950s.
Next, Princess Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria wore the Eglantine Tiara with her Diamond Bow Brooch for the Wedding Ball of Duke Philipp of Württemberg and her daughter, Duchess Marie-Caroline in Bavaria, at Schloss Nymphenburg in 1991.
The Duchess in Bavaria also notably wore the Eglantine Tiara for the Wedding Ball of her eldest daughter, Duchess Sophie, and Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein at Schloss Nymphenburg in 1993.
More recently, the Eglantine Tiara was worn by the Duchess for the Wedding Ball of her daughter, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, and Daniel Terberger in 2004, and since it has not been loaned to her daughters like the other heirloom Tiaras, we await a grand event where the Tiara will reappear.
While the historic Bavarian Lover’s Knot Tiara and Queen Therese’s Ruby and Spinal Parure remain in the possession of the House of Wittelsbach, they are on display at Munich’s Residenz, the former Royal Palace that is now a Museum, this makes the the Eglantine Tiara the most important heirloom that continues to be worn.
Bavarian Eglantine Tiara | Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara | Douglas Floral Tiara
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