Archduchess Yolande’s Tiara

Happy Birthday toArchduchess Yolande of Austria, who turns 100 today! The Ligne Princess who married the fourth son and fifth child of Emperor Charles I and Empress Zita of Austria, and is the mother-in-law of the Luxembourg Princess, Archduchess Yolande has led a long an illustrious life, so today we are featuring her striking Tiara!

A striking jewel of various diamond elements set in gold on a gold and diamond base, with the central fan-shaped element containing a large pearl, this Tiara may be an heirloom of the House of Ligne or may have been acquired for Archduchess Yolande at some point in the 1950s.

Archduchess Yolande most notably wore her Tiara for the Wedding Ball of King Baudouin and Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón at the Royal Palace of Brussles in 1960. 

In 1976, Baroness Hélène de Villenfagne de Vogelsanck wore the Tiara when she married Archduke Rudolf, the eldest son of Archduke Carl Ludwig and Archduchess Yolande. In 1978,  Archduke Rudolf and his children were incorporated into the Belgian Nobility as ‘Prince/ss of Habsburg-Lorraine’.

Archduchess Yolande’s Tiara was also worn by Archduchess Alexandra, the elder daughter, when she married Héctor Riesle Contreras, the Chilean Ambassador to the Holy See, in 1984.

Ten years later, Archduchess Maria Constanza of Austria, the younger daughter of Archduke Carl Ludwig and Archduchess Yolande, wore the Tiara for her Wedding to Prince Franz Josef von Auersperg-Trautson in 1994.

More recently, Archduchess Yolande’s Tiara was worn by a new generation when Mathilde Vignon married Prince Franz-Ludwig of Habsburg-Lorraine, the fifth child of Archduke Rudolf and Archduchess Hélène, in 2018. Since the Tiara was not worn by the children of  Archduke Carl Christian at their weddings, who instead wore the Luxembourg Diamond Floral Tiara and the Grand Duchess Adélaïde Tiara, it is likely that the Tiara now belongs to Archduke Rudolf’s family. There is no doubt we will continue to see this striking heirloom for years to come!