Welcome to 2025, with the start of a brand new series on royal jewels for Style File Friday! Each month, we are going to explore some of the key jewels in the royal vaults- monarchy by monarchy. Each royal family has quite a different collection and treats them differently (in terms of who can wear what when). For January, we are beginning with one of the smaller royal collections. The Belgians may not have a massive collection in their vaults but they do have some incredible pieces. Let’s get into the history of the Belgian Crown Jewels.
The Belgian Crown Jewels
Interestingly, there are no actual Belgian Crown Jewels. Comparatively to the other royal families of Europe, their collection is strikingly small. (I do have to say, it’s still better than 99% of the world’s…) Because of this, there tends not to be pieces designated for a specific person to wear. (As Belgium does not have coronations, there also is not the same need for a crown.) Despite this, the Belgian royals have some gorgeous and historic pieces in their collection.
Nine Provinces Tiara
The Nine Provinces Tiara is arguably the tiara of the Belgian collection and historically has only been worn by the Queen of the Belgians. (Yes, you will notice that they are the King and Queen of the Belgians, not of Belgium.)
This tiara will be celebrating its 100th birthday in 2026, as it was created by André van Bever, a Belgian jeweller, in 1926. The Belgian people gave it Princess Astrid of Sweden as a gift for her wedding to Prince Leopold (the future King Leopold III).
The Nine Provinces Tiara was originally a meander base with nine diamond spikes (a round diamond atop a thin spike). However, Astrid put her own spin on the tiara, and removed the spikes to have interlocking diamond arches instead. The tiara is versatile, as the meander base can be worn as a necklace or as a smaller tiara. The complete tiara with base and arches is still worn only by the Queen of the Belgians.
Queen Elisabeth’s Art Deco Bandeau Tiara
This tiara holds a special place for Queen Mathilde, as she wore this tiara for her 1999 wedding to the-then Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant. As the name implies, this tiara first belonged to Queen Elisabeth. We do not know which jeweller created this diamond, Art-Deco piece. It features a diamond geometric pattern that is punctuated with a diamond laurel wreath running through the centre.
Now, I’ve taken a risk including it here, as we’ve not seen Mathilde wear this since. And the last recorded outing I’ve found (as of January 2025) is when Princess Astrid wore the piece for a 2016 State Banquet. It is thought that Queen Paola still owns it, and we do not know if she will be passing it on permanently to Mathilde. Hopefully this will have an update at some point!
The Wolfers Necklace/ Wolfers Tiara
By the title above, you will have already guessed that this is a versatile piece as it can be worn as a necklace or a tiara. When you’ve got a smaller collection, it is helpful to have pieces that can do double-duty.
Wedding gifts from the people of a country are quite common, but so are gifts from industries. Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón received this from the diamond brokers and jewellers in Belgium ahead of her wedding to King Baudoin of the Belgians in 1960. Wolfers, a Belgian firm that was founded in 1812, created the smaller piece.
This tiara has a base of two rows of diamonds, with several smaller diamond points above. Although it may be a smaller tiara, it does still feature over 200 diamonds.
Queen Mathilde has worn this tiara before but one of its most exciting appearances was on Princess Elisabeth for Prince Christian of Denmark’s birthday gala in 2023.
There are two other tiaras that I’ve not included here. Princess Elisabeth did receive her own antique tiara for her 18th birthday that we’ve seen; however, there is no information to share on it yet. The Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara is also incredible- Queen Fabiola received it as a wedding gift. We do not actually know if it is still held by the Belgian Royal Family, though. (Here is hoping I can make an update with information on both of them, too!)
Were you familiar with the jewels of the Belgian Royal Family?
Cheers,
The Historian
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I did not realize that the Belgian Royal Family had such a small jewel collection! Queen Elizabeth’s Art Deco Bandeau Tiara is my favorite! I find it interesting that national industries can give wedding presents to the royal couple, and wonder if there needs to be some sort of “agreement” with the Belgian Royal Family based on the free advertising given to the company if the gift is worn.
There tends not to be advertisements, I think because pieces were often given on behalf of an industry, a city, or a country, so there is no one company to highlight, if that makes sense! And yes, the Belgian collection is rather tiny comparatively! (Though they absolutely have me beat with zero tiaras ha!)