Last night, the Duchess of Brabant wore Queen Fabiola’s Ruby Bracelet for the first time at the annual Christmas Concert in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Brussels. A Wedding Gift from King Albert and Queen Paola in 1960, the Ruby Bracelet was inherited by Queen Mathilde a decade ago.

When Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón married King Baudouin of the Belgians in 1960, she received a Spanish Ducal Crown from General Franco, the Wolfers Necklace from Belgian Industrialists, and this bracelet composed of a line of rectangular rubies surrounded by two lines of round diamonds, as a wedding gift from her brother and sister-in-law, the then Prince and Princess of Liège.

Queen Fabiola wore the Ruby Bracelet with her Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara for her Wedding Ball at the Royal Palace in Brussels, as well as the Banquet held the night before the religious ceremony at the Musée du Cinquantenaire.

Queen Fabiola wore her Ruby Bracelet on a handful of occasions mainly in the 1960s, including during the Belgian State Visit to Britain in 1963, the Belgian State Visit to Japan in 1964 and the British State Visit to Belgium in 1966, almost always with the Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara.

After Queen Fabiola’s death in 2014, the Ruby Bracelet was among the jewels inherited by Queen Mathilde, who debuted it at a State Banquet for the the King and Queen of Jordan in 2016.

The following year, the Ruby Bracelet was worn with the Wolfers Necklace Tiara at King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 80th Birthday Banquet in Oslo after being worn during the Belgian State Visit to Denmark.

More recently, Queen Mathilde wore Queen Fabiola’s Ruby Bracelet with the Nine Provinces Bandeau during the Belgian State Visit to Germany last year.

🎄 Crown Princess Elisabeth is wearing Queen Fabiola’s diamond & ruby bracelet. pic.twitter.com/b2eX75VS2w

— Queen Mathilde Blog (@BlogMathilde) December 18, 2024

   

Now, Queen Fabiola’s Ruby Bracelet was worn by the Duchess of Brabant for the first time at last night’s Christmas Concert at Royal Palace of Brussels, and will no doubt be worn for years to come!

Vestey Tiara

Wolfers Necklace Tiara

Queen Mathilde’s Sapphire Brooch

Queen Mathilde’s Kunzite Earrings