The Royal Watcher - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Happy Birthday to Queen Paola of Belgium, who turns 85 today! The beautiful Italian Aristocrat who married the younger brother of the Belgian King, Paola eventually became the Queen Consort and is the mother of the current King of the Belgians. With one of the smallest jewellery collections among her counterparts, over the years, Queen Paola has often worn this Garnet Suite!
Queen Elisabeth’s Diamond Bandeau | Nine Provinces Tiara | Diamond Necklace Tiara | Diamond Necklace | Half-Moon Earrings | Ruby Flower Brooch | Garnet Suite | Pearl and Diamond Bow | Queen Paola’s Tiaras
Queen Paola has a substation collection of Garnet Jewels, which are comprised of at least two garnet necklaces, a pair of ornate garnet earrings as well as a garnet brooch and a bracelet. The exact origin of these jewels is unknown but they could have been privately acquired or been given as gifts, like a similar garnet suite given to the late Queen Elizabeth II by the Czech Republic in 1996.
Queen Paola has been wearing the ornate garnet Earrings and the Necklace composed of clusters of garnets with garnet pendants since the 1970s.
In the 1990s, Queen Paola began wearing the larger Garnet Necklace and Brooch, which first appeared during a Lunch at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich during the Golden Wedding Anniversary of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 1997.
A few years later, Queen Paola wore the Garnet Suite at a Gala for the the Fondation pour l’Enfance at the Chateau of Versailles in 2002, a few years before the Garnet Suite was worn at a State Banquet for Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos at the Royal Castle of Laeken in 2005.
Later that year, Queen Paola wore the Garnet Suite for a lunch before the opening of an exhibition celebrating 100 years since Queen Astrid’s birth at the Royal Palace of Brussels.
Queen Paola also wore the Garnet Suite during the Dutch State Visit to Belgium in 2006, as well as for a New Years Reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels in 2009.
More recently, Queen Paola wore the garnet earrings and the other necklace at the annual Remembrance Mass for deceased Royal Family Members in Brussels in 2013, shortly before King Albert’s abdication.
Queen Elisabeth’s Diamond Bandeau | Nine Provinces Tiara | Diamond Necklace Tiara | Diamond Necklace | Half-Moon Earrings | Ruby Flower Brooch | Garnet Suite | Pearl and Diamond Bow | Queen Paola’s Tiaras