Today marks the 80th Anniversary of the Death of Princess Mafalda of Savoy, Landgravine of Hesse, who passed away in a Concentration Camp on this day in 1944! The Italian Princess who married a German Prince and died in a Nazi Concentration Camp, Princess Mafalda possessed some spectacular Jewels, the highlight of the collection being the splendid Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara!
Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara | Hesse Amethyst Tiara | Hesse Emerald Tiara | Hesse Fleur-de-Lys Tiara | Hesse Strawberry Leaf Tiara | Hesse Star Tiara | Hesse Turquoise and Moonstone Tiara | Hesse Medieval Emerald Tiara
The spectacular Diamond Tiara, composed of ten ears of wheat of varying lengths arranged in a wreath style, was made in the early 19th century.
The Diamond Ears of Wheat reportedly originate from the trousseau of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna when she married Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel in 1844. After her untimely death, the Ears of Wheat were created into a Tiara by her husband’s second wife and her first cousin, Princess Anna of Prussia.
In 1925, the Diamond Ears of Wheat Tiara was given as a wedding present by Prince Phillip of Hesse to his bride, Princess Mafalda of Savoy, with Princess Mafalda wearing the Tiara for the wedding at Racconigi Castle.
Princess Mafalda also received a Petochi Pearl and Diamond Tiara from her parents as well as a newly created Koch Amethyst Parure, but wore the Hesse Diamond Ears of Wheat Tiara on numerous occasions, including a visit to the Vatican shortly after her marriage.
Princess Mafalda also wore the Hesse Diamond Ears of Wheat Tiara for the Olympic Gala in Berlin in 1936, a few years before the Second World War, when, after Italy’s surrender to the Allies, Princess Mafalda was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, and killed after an Allied air strike, a fact that was not discovered until after the War.
Soon after the Second World War, the Hesse Family Jewels were buried at the family home, Schloss Friedrichshof, which was requisitioned to be used as a club by American Soldiers, who then discovered and stole the jewels, with the theft not revealed until the widowed Princess Sophie was preparing for her second marriage. While the thieves were eventually caught, only 10% of the jewels were recovered and returned to the Hesse Royal Family, which included the Hesse Diamond Ears of Wheat Tiara.
In 1964, the Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara was worn by Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg when she married Prince Moritz of Hesse, the eldest son of Prince Phillip and Princess Mafalda.
A generation later, Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara was worn by another Princess Mafalda of Hesse, granddaughter of the original and eldest daughter of Prince Moritz and Princess Tatiana, for her 1989 wedding to Enrico Cinzano.
The Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara was also worn by Countess Floria of Faber-Castell for her wedding to Prince Donatus, the current Landgrave of Hesse, in 2003.
Laetitia Bechtolf also wore the Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara for her Wedding to Prince Philip Robin of Hesse, the younger son of Prince Moritz and Princess Tatiana.
Most recently, the Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara was worn again by the current Landgravine of Hesse for the Wedding Ball of Duchess Sophie of Württemberg and Count Maximilien d’Andigné at Schloss Tegernsee in 2018.
Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara | Hesse Amethyst Tiara | Hesse Emerald Tiara | Hesse Fleur-de-Lys Tiara | Hesse Strawberry Leaf Tiara | Hesse Star Tiara | Hesse Turquoise and Moonstone Tiara | Hesse Medieval Emerald Tiara
