THE PRUSSIAN TIARA
The Spanish Royal Family
Maker : Koch, the German Court Jeweller
Diamonds and Platinum

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and his wife presented this tiara to their only daughter and youngest child, Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia. Her parents are on the throne in Germany and her great grandmother? None other than Queen Victorian. Once she and Prince Ernst August, the grandson of the last king of Hanover, announce their engagement, tiara preparations began.
Little did they know at the time, but it would be one of the last great gatherings of royals before the outbreak of WWI. There were over 1000 people in attendance, including George the V and Mary, who were both cousins of both the bride and the groom.
The court jeweller, Koch, was commissioned to make a tiara in the kokoshnik style, incorporating many of the popular tiara themes of the time: laurel wreaths, a meander, an en tremblant pendant drop. The standard stuff of tiaras. In honour of Victoria Louise’s family (and to take some Prussian heritage with her), the tiara is called the Prussian Tiara. And even though the Duke can’t reign in Hanover, he does still hold a dukedom from each side of his family. So, a few months after the wedding, Ernst August succeeds to the Brunswick dukedom, and Victoria Louise, now the Duchess of Brunswick, takes the tiara with her.
Victoria Louise and Ernst August have a daughter, Princess Friederike. Who just happens to fall in love with Prince Paul of Greece. He’s set to become the heir to the Greek throne and as luck would have it, the tiara given to Friderike’s mother has some Hellenic style to it. And it doesn’t hurt that Friederike is their only daughter, so of course this tiara will become hers. Her mother gives it to her as a wedding gift when she marries Paul in Athens.
Ten months later…. Friederike has a daughter, Sophie. And then Friederike and Paul become the king and queen of the Hellenes and that meander motif (also known as a “Greek Key”) comes in quite handy. Apparently the Queen was quite the match maker and organised a cruise through the Greek Isles in 1954, inviting a number of young royals. Her daughter is of marrying age and happens to meet Infante Juan Carlos of Spain. His family is in exile, but he’s still the son of potential king. Their engagement is announced but did her parents realise that she was going to make some big changes: she converts to Roman Catholicism AND she switches the spelling of her name to the Spanish version: Sofia
They marry in Athens and, as had become the tradition, her mother gifts Sofia with the Prussian Tiara as a wedding present. Eventually Sofia and Juan Carlos become the Prince and Princess of Spain and then still further down the line, the King and Queen of Spain. Sofia is generous with the loaning of the tiara – both of her daughters wore it to various state banquets.
But the tiara has yet another life. Sofia and Juan Carlos’ only son, Prince Felipe, marries Spanish journalist, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in 2004, and Sofia loans Letizia the tiara for their nuptials. She borrows the tiara on a number of occasions each year, until her father-in-law abdicates the throne and Juan Carlos becomes King. Now the tiara is passed on to her and it seems to be one of her favourites, as she’s worn it often.

With great thanks to Kate Callahan and Co for the outstanding article about this sparkler. Do pay her site a visit for the full story.
https://www.katiecallahanandco.com/

As always this copy comes from our good friends in China at aliexpress. It is a close copy but I notice the top foliage section gives way towards the ends, into brilliant cut single diamonds and of course the centre has a higher point. Also in the copy, only the centre pear shaped diamond moves, in the original the whole section moves. Cost as of April 2020 was £62.00. and it is cubic zirconia. For once i have shown the back of the tiara to show how the open setting allows the light to sparkle through.