Thursday, April 3, 2014

Luxarazzi 101: Princess Stéphanie's Diamonds

Photos: Getty Images / Daylife / Christian Aschman / Guy Wolff / Cour grand-ducale
Even if it sounds (and probably is) totally shallow, you know what one of the great things about nobles or rich people marrying royals is!? Right, the jewellery they get from their family. While what probably is their most important piece of jewellery, a heirloom tiara, has likely stayed with the Lannoy family even after the marriage of their now most famous family member, it seems that Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, a born countess de Lannoy, has gotten another few sparkly gifts.

Since her wedding in October 2012, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie has attended quite a few bejewelled events. There was the the investiture of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and of course Luxembourg's very own national day. While the Hereditary Grand Duchess stuck with her in-law's major bling (also known as tiaras) for those occasions, she did manage to sneak in a few often little noticed pieces that likely come from her own family.

For the private pre-wedding dinner of Princess Madeleine's 2013 wedding as well as the gala dinner of the Dutch investiture, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie wore a pair of diamond chandelier earrings that her older sister Isabelle de le Court had already worn of the eve of the Luxembourg wedding in 2012. On the same night, Nathalie Hamilton, the Hereditary Grand Duchess oldest sister, wore a diamond necklace with a dark gown. The same necklace was later worn by Stéphanie for the Dutch gala dinner together with the Grand Duchess Adélaide Tiara and the aforementioned earrings.

While there isn't anything known about the history and provenance of the diamond necklace and earrings, I'm rather certain that they were either gifts to Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie or at least a long-term loan. While the Grand Ducal Family could do with another pair or two of elaborate diamond-only earrings -- Maybe they have some that we never get to see? -- they are in no way short of diamond necklaces, so it seems rather unlikely that Stéphanie would have needed to ask her family for a necklace for just one event. Considering that the pieces were previously worn by two of her older sisters, a Lannoy provenance of the jewels seems rather likely. The only other option I can think of would be that the diamond pieces were a gift by the Hereditary Grand Duke to his future wife sometime prior to their wedding and she decided to loan them to her sisters for the pre-wedding event but I find the first theory to be more believable.

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