Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Fabiola of the Belgians, who passed away on this day in 2014! Spanish Noblewoman Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón brought her warmth, devotion, and unique charm to her role as Queen of the Belgians, earning the deep admiration of Belgians. Her legacy is beautifully reflected in her treasured jewels, including the splendid Spanish Ducal Crown, which we’re featuring today!
Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara | Nine Provinces Tiara | Wolfers Necklace Tiara | Diamond Daisy Brooches | Waterfall Brooch | Tunisian Parure | Aquamarines | Diamond Sautoir | Bracelets
On December 15, 1960, Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón married King Baudouin, becoming fifth Queen Consort of the Belgians. To mark such an important occasion, the Spanish Head of State at that time, the Dictator Francisco Franco, acting on behalf of the Spanish nation, presented the aristocrat with a fabulous tiara. This piece is a closed crown of heraldic inspiration, very common among the main Spanish noble houses, such as the Alba Ducal Crown or the Medinaceli Ducal Crown. It consists of diamond base topped by eight florets, representing acanthus leaves, interspersed with round pearls. In the center of each floret there is a colored stone.
The Ducal Crown was presented on December 5, 1960, by Doña Carmen Polo, wife of General Franco, to Doña Fabiola in her family Palace, on Zurbano Street. In addition to the aforementioned piece, she was also offered a second setting for the florets with a simple steel base with small bouquets of diamonds, where seven of the eight florets of the Ducal Crown could be fixed.
It is believed that this piece was originally owned by the Ducal House of Medinaceli, and was later acquired by the State at the request of Doña Carmen Polo. In the collections of the museum of the Duke of Lerma Foundation in Toledo there is a portrait signed by Edouard Dubufe of Doña Ángela Pérez de Barradas y Bernuy, Duchess of Medinaceli, wearing the reported Ducal Crown.
It is often said that this jewel was kept for many years in a convent to adorn an image of the Virgin and that the nuns who were safekeeping it took advantage of this opportunity to sell some of the precious stones to meet their financial needs, replacing them with fake stones. After Doña Fabiola’s arrival in Belgium, the crown jewelers inspected the piece and were surprised to discover that some of the stones were not real. Upon being informed of this, the Spanish State acquired real stones needed to replace the fake ones.
Doña Fabiola would wear the jewel for the first time two days before her wedding, at a lavish Wedding Ball held at the Royal Palace in Brussels, which was attended by all the Royal Guests from around Europe. The future Queen also repeated the same piece for a Banquet held the night before the religious ceremony at the Musée du Cinquantenaire.
The new Queen Consort of the Belgians received an extremely versatile jewel, as it is possible to change the coloured stone which appears in the center of each floret. At first, it was possible to choose between emeralds or rubies, the stones that were part of the gift from the Spanish State. Later, the option of using aquamarines arose, which were a personal gift from King Baudouin to his wife, in order to complement an aquamarine suite that Her Majesty received from the Brazilian State on the occasion of an official visit. This piece can be used in six different ways: Ducal Crown with rubies, Ducal Crown with emeralds, Ducal Crown with aquamarines, Floral Tiara with rubies, Floral Tiara with emeralds, and Floral Tiara with aquamarines.
The Queen wore her Ducal Crown extensively during her 33-year tenure of Consort, both in Belgium and abroad. For some occasions, a Crown version was chosen, notably for a Belgian State Visit to Japan in 1964 and British State Visit to Belgium in 1966.
Also, a Tiara version was chosen for less formal galas, namely for a Belgian State Visit to France in 1961, the Wedding Ball of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne Marie of Denmark in 1964, the British State Visit to Belgium in 1966, a Belgian State Visit to Thailand in 1966, or a Belgian State Visit to India in 1970.
The Queen wore her Ducal Crown for the last time, in one of the Aquamarine versions, at a gala dinner held at the Castle of Laeken, in honour of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, in the year 2000.
It is also worth mentioning that these florets can be worn as pendants on necklaces or as brooches, creating a dozen more possibilities. Queen Fabiola used to hang three of the largest florets from her wonderful Art Deco Diamond Sautoir, like she did for a Belgian State Visit to Spain in 1977.
This was also Her Majesty’s choice for some of the most remarkable royal weddings of the last century: the Wedding of King Constantine of Greece and Princess Anne Marie of Denmark in 1964, the Wedding of Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands in 1966, and the Wedding of the then Princess Margrethe of Denmark in 1967. The Necklace was last worn by Queen Fabiola at a Banquet in 2004.
On some occasions the Queen decided to wear only one of the florets as a pendant, either on her Diamond Sautoir or on a simple garnet chain necklace. Another winning combination, was to hang a square Emerald Brooch, which was an engagement gift from King Baudouin, who in turn inherited it from his maternal grandmother, Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, from one of the florets, as it was done for the 2500th Anniversary of the Persian Empire in Persepolis in 1971.
Queen Fabiola passed away in 2014 and while some of her jewels, such as the Wolfers Tiara, the Diamond Waterfall Brooch, or the Tunisian Parure, are now worn by Queen Mathilde, the fate of the Spanish Ducal Crown remains to be discovered.
This article was written by assistant editor, David Rato, who runs the Spanish Royal Jewels account on Instagram!
Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara | Nine Provinces Tiara | Wolfers Necklace Tiara | Diamond Daisy Brooches | Waterfall Brooch | Tunisian Parure | Aquamarines | Diamond Sautoir | Bracelets
