Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Luxarazzi 101: Bulgarian Fringe Tiara

Princess Marie and Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein recently marked their silver wedding anniversary with a mass in the Lower Austrian village of St. Christophen celebrated by the auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, Andreas Laun. Here at Luxarazzi, we are going to have some celebrations of our own by having a look at the wedding tiara worn by Princess Marie on her big day.
Sophie of Württemberg, Marie of Liechtenstein, Maria Luisa of Bulgaria, Margarethe of Württemberg
Prince Gundakar, a second cousin of Prince Hans-Adam II, and his wife née Princess Marie of Orléans, oldest daughter of Prince Henri, Count of Paris and his first wife Duchess Marie Thérèse of Württemberg, tied the knot on July 29, 1989, in Friedrichhafen on the German side of Lake Constance. Their choice of wedding venue - the childhood home of Princess Marie's mother - caused quite a fuss with the bride's family - more on it here - and so it might not be the biggest surprise that she chose (or wasn't given the chance to chose) a tiara not traditionally associated with the Orléans family.

Instead, the wore a diamond fringe tiara that seems to have originated with Princess Maria Luisa of Bulgaria. Born as the eldest daughter of Duke Robert I of Parma, and thus an older half-sister of Empress Zita of Austria and Prince Felix of Luxembourg, she was the first wife of Prince Regnant Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who would go on to become the country's tsar after her death.

In 1924, Princess Maria Luisa's daughter Nadezhda married Duke Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg. Both the couple's daughters, Duchess Margarethe and Duchess Sophie of Württemberg, wore their grandmother's fringe tiara for their weddings, as apparently did their first cousin once removed Princess Marie of Orléans at her wedding to Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for visiting the casemat 4 Brigade Piron!

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