Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Marie-José of Italy, who passed away on this day in 2001. The Belgian Princess who became the last Queen of Italy, Queen Marie-José possessed the vast jewellery collection of the House of Savoy, which was highlighted by Queen Margherita’s Musy Tiara!
Created from a few pieces of existing jewellery sent by Queen Margherita to the jeweller Musy, the spectacular Tiara is composed of buttons of pearls in an elaborate scrolled diamond frame that are set en tremblant. The buttons can be replaced with diamond shells or large collet diamonds, worn with or without the arches, or just the arches can be worn as a bandeau, with over a dozen possible configurations making this one of the most flexible Tiaras in any collection.
Dowager Queen Margherita of Italy commissioned the Musy Tiara in 1904 to mark the birth of her grandson, Crown Prince Umberto, and first wore the Tiara at his Christening. Known as the ‘Queen of Pearls’ for the dozens of pearl necklaces she always wore, Queen Margherita also wore the Tiara for a series of portraits and a painting by Vittorio Matteo Corcos in 1905.
After Queen Margherita’s death in 1926, the Tiara was inherited by her beloved grandson, Crown Prince Umberto, who gave it a few years later as a wedding gift to his bride, Princess Marie José of Belgium. The Musy Tiara was thus worn for their Wedding in the Cappella Paolina (Pauline Chapel) of the Palazzo del Quirinal followed by an Audience with Pope Pius XI at the Vatican.
Crown Princess Marie-José wore the Musy Tiara in its many configurations for several portraits in the 1930s, usually paired with the Diamond Earrings and Savoy Knot Necklace she had received as a Wedding Gift from her husband.
Queen Margherita’s Musy Tiara was also notably worn by Crown Princess Marie-José for the Christening of the Prince of Naples in 1937, the Coronation of Pope Pius XII in 1939, and a Gala Performance at the Florence Opera House in 1939.
After the Italian Monarchy was abolished in 1946 and the Royal Family went into exile, Queen Marie-José continued wearing Queen Margherita’s Musy Tiara, with notable appearances at the two Wedding Balls of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and her daughter, Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, in 1955, as well as the Wedding Ball of her nephew, King Baudouin of Belgium, and Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón at the Royal Palace of Brussles in 1960.
Queen Marie-José also wore the Musy Tiara for one of the Wedding Balls of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece in 1962 as well as the Wedding Ball of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne Marie of Denmark in 1964, following which Queen Marie Jose attended relatively few Gala events and was not publicly pictured in a Tiara from the late 1960s to the time of her death in 2001, with the exception of a Diamond Bandeau.
By the 1990s, Queen Marie-José had given Queen Margherita’s Musy Tiara to her daughter-in-law, the Princess of Naples, who notably wore it at the Wedding Ball of Duke Friedrich of Württemberg and Princess Marie of Wied in 1993 as well as for another Gala in the 1990s.
The Princess of Naples also wore Queen Margherita’s Musy Tiara for the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in Copenhagen in 2004, as well as an official portrait.
The Musy Tiara has also been photographed and exhibited a handful of times in recent years and there is no doubt it will continue to be worn for generations to come, hopefully by her granddaughter, Princess Vittoria Chiara, who will one day succeed as the Head of the House of Savoy!
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