The Turquoise Daisy Bandeau Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Queen Margrethe II of Denmark; Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark; Queen Margrethe II of Denmark; Queen Margrethe II of Denmark




It's always perfect when you can wear a tiara that shares your name, isn't it? Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is nicknamed "Daisy," and she often sports this turquoise and diamond bandeau tiara featuring a row of tiny bejeweled

The Swedish Diamond Bandeau Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Princess Madeleine of Sweden; Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden; Princess Madeleine of Sweden; Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden




The diamond bandeau often worn by the Swedish princesses at events like the Nobel Prize dinner is a bit of a mystery. The piece looks to be made of two matching diamond necklaces arranged on a basic frame, but there's never been

The Dutch Diamond Bandeau Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Princess Margriet of the Netherlands; Princess Máxima of the Netherlands; Princess Máxima of the Netherlands; Queen Juliana of the Netherlands; Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands




One of the most stunning bandeaux in a royal collection today, the diamond bandeau belonging to the Dutch royals wasn't always a tiara.


The giant diamonds that make up this bandeau

The Sapphire Oak Leaf Bandeau Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; tiara detail; Princess Margarete of Thurn and Taxis




Fellow magpies, you've all just barely missed your chance to be the owner of this unusual tiara: the sapphire bandeau once owned by the German princely family of Thurn and Taxis. (Well, unless the buyer just happens to be reading this blog, in which case -- congrats!)



The tiara, which

The Marie Feodorovna Sapphire Bandeau Tiara

Photos: Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon; tiara detail; Queen Mary of the United Kingdom; Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon




Here's one of the long-lost British tiaras that's probably simply gathering dust somewhere deep in the royal vaults: the Marie Feodorovna Sapphire Bandeau.



The name of the tiara suggests that it comes from the Romanovs -- Marie Feodorovna was, after all,

The Romanov Ruby Lotus Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; tiara detail; Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; tiara detail; Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg




Let's round out the birthday week of the future Duchess of Edinburgh with a look back at a tiara once worn by an earlier holder of that title. This is the Romanov Ruby Lotus Tiara, a nineteenth-century piece once owned by Grand

The Canadian Aquamarine Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): the Countess of Wessex; tiara detail; Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom; Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom




Last autumn, the Countess of Wessex opened up yet another tiara can of worms when she donned a long-lost British aquamarine tiara at the wedding of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg. It's

The Aquamarine Necklace Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; the Countess of Wessex; the Countess of Wessex; the Countess of Wessex; the Countess of Wessex (as a necklace)




With its wave-like diamond pattern and its seafoam-colored central aquamarine, the Countess of Wessex's convertible tiara is a striking piece. The tiara made its debut during the coronation festivities for Prince Albert II of Monaco

The Battenberg Button Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): the Countess of Wessex; the Countess of Wessex; Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark; the Countess of Wessex; Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark




Although the Countess of Wessex usually wears her own wedding tiara when attending foreign events, in 2004 she debuted a new sparkler at the pre-wedding gala in honor of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess

The Wessex Wedding Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; the Countess of Wessex; the Countess of Wessex; the Countess of Wessex




Some royal brides wear historical tiaras, some get new tiaras on their wedding days, and others, like Sophie Rhys-Jones, get a combination of the two. For her 1999 wedding to the Earl of Wessex, Sophie (who celebrates her birthday this week) was gifted a new tiara made from

The Boucheron Honeycomb Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): the Duchess of Cornwall; Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother; tiara detail; the Duchess of Cornwall; the Duchess of Cornwall




It takes a lady with serious tiara hair to pull off one of the biggest sparklers in Britain: the Boucheron Honeycomb Tiara, which was a favorite of the late Queen Mother.



The tiara was originally not a royal piece at all. It was made

The Queen Josefina Diamond Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Queen Sonja of Norway; Queen Sonja of Norway; Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway; tiara detail




There are lots of royal Josephines floating around with tiaras, but this lovely diamond tiara comes from Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway (née Princess Joséphine of Leuchtenberg), the wife of King Oscar I and the granddaughter of another famous Josephine (that

The Luxembourg Empire Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg; tiara detail; Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg; Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg




If there were a contest for "biggest tiara in Europe," I'd be hard pressed to think of another sparkler that could best this one. The Empire Tiara owned by the grand ducal family of Luxembourg is a massive diamond

The Braganza Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; Queen Louise of Sweden; Queen Victoria of Sweden; Queen Silvia of Sweden; Queen Silvia of Sweden




One of the most impressive tiaras in the Swedish royal vault, the Braganza Tiara is another sparkler whose name doesn't quite match with its current geographical home. The Duke of Braganza, after all, is Portuguese -- but this tiara doesn't come

The Württemberg Empire Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; tiara detail; Queen Pauline of Württemberg; tiara detail



Today's tiara is the first strictly historical sparkler of the year: a nineteenth-century piece from the crown jewels of the former kingdom of Württemberg. In German, it's called the "Reiches Diadem," which we'll translate here roughly as the Empire Tiara.

In 1820, the widowed King

The Thai Fringe Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Queen Sirikit  of Thailand; Queen Sirikit of Thailand; Queen Sirikit of Thailand; Queen Sirikit of Thailand




I love when royals are inventive with their jewels, and Queen Sirikit of Thailand's use of her gorgeous diamond fringe tiara definitely fits that bill. Over the years, the queen has worn the fringe both in halo form, stretching around her head, and

The Princess Charlotte Fringe Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Princess Charlotte of Monaco; Princess Caroline of Monaco; Princess Caroline of Monaco; tiara detail (as necklace)




Sometimes called the "Russian Tiara" (or, because the Grimaldis speak French, the "Tiara Russe"), this fringe tiara has only been photographed on the head of one Monegasque princess: Charlotte, mother of the late Prince Rainier and grandmother

The City of London Fringe Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent; Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy; Princess Michael of Kent




When Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark popped across the channel to marry the Duke of Kent in 1934, the wedding gifts were plentiful -- after all, it wasn't every day that a British prince married an actual, honest-to-goodness princess. One

The Habsburg Fringe Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein; Princess Gina of Liechtenstein; tiara detail; Princess Gina of Liechtenstein; Princess Gina of Liechtenstein




With a name like "the Habsburg Fringe Tiara," you'd be forgiven for thinking that this tiara was a part of the collection of the former imperial family of Austria. But ... you'd be wrong. This particular

The Baden Fringe Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden; Queen Silvia of Sweden; Queen Louise of Sweden; Queen Victoria of Sweden




One of the sparkliest fringe tiaras in the business, the Baden Fringe Tiara is primarily associated with two Victorias. The first is Princess Victoria of Baden, who received the tiara from her parents, Grand Duke Frederick I and Grand

The Akishino Wedding Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): the Princess Akishino; the Princess Akishino; the Princess Akishino




If you've seen photos from the Japanese imperial family's New Year's celebrations, you'll recognize the tiara worn here by the Princess Akishino. This was Kiko's wedding tiara, but she wears it regularly for other tiara events held by her in-laws, the emperor and empress.



We don't know

The Danish Ruby Parure Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Queen Ingrid of Denmark; tiara detail; Princess Benedikte of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg; Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; Queen Alexandrine of Denmark



The story goes that the rubies that make up the Danish Ruby Parure Tiara were first worn at the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. The wearer in question was one Désirée Clary, who (drama alert!) had

The Imperial Chrysanthemum Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): tiara detail; Empress Michiko of Japan; Empress Kōjun of Japan; Empress Michiko of Japan



This whopper of a diamond tiara is worn by Empress Michiko of Japan (ironically, one of the daintier royal ladies around, but she makes it work). It's difficult to say exactly when the tiara was made, but we know that it was previously worn by Michiko's late

The Pearl Poiré Tiara

Photos (clockwise from top left): Queen Margrethe II of Denmark; tiara detail; Queen Alexandrine of Denmark; Queen Margrethe II of Denmark





It took one of the fanciest tiaras in the Danish royal collection, the Pearl Poiré Tiara (which takes its named from the pear-shaped pearls that are suspended en tremblant from the diamond arches), three Louises and three weddings before it arrived on