Today marks the 95th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Victoria of Sweden, who died on this day in 1930! Born Princess Viktoria of Baden, she brought a plethora of jewels into the Swedish Royal Family when she married the future King Gustav V of Sweden in 1881, including this Pearl Corsage Brooch!

Braganza Tiara | Baden Fringe Tiara | Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure | Pearl Corsage Brooch | Diamond Stars | Swedish Processional Necklace | Ivy Brooch

Composed of a central pearl surrounded by a diamond semi-sunburst with a series of elaborate diamond pendants suspended from the central element, with it seeming like the pearl can also be replaced with a diamond, the exact origin of this Pearl Corsage Brooch is unknown but it is thought to have been a gift when Princess Victoria of Baden married Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden and Norway in 1881.

Crown Princess Victoria first wore the Pearl Corsage Brooch with the Baden Fringe Tiara as a necklace on her Wedding day in Baden in 1881.

Crown Princess Victoria also wore the Corsage Brooch for a notable portrait with Baden Fringe Tiara and the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Necklace soon after her Wedding.

The Corsage Brooch was worn for almost all of Queen Victoria’s portraits in the 1890s and 1900s, usually worn with the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure.

Queen Victoria also wore the Pearl Corsage Brooch on her Bodice with the Baden Fringe and Diamond Stars as a massive corsage with the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure for the Wedding of her son, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, and Princess Margaret of Connaught at Windsor Castle in 1905.

Unlike many of Queen Victoria’s other jewels, which went to Denmark with her granddaughter, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, the Pearl Corsage Brooch remained in Sweden after her death in 1930, likely in the possession of her grandson, Prince Bertil, and his wife, Princess Lilian, (recently discovered by the lovely Sarah Williams), until returning to the main branch of the Swedish Royal Family in 2013.

The Pearl Corsage Brooch didn’t publicly appear for almost a century until being worn by Queen Silvia with the Baden Fringe Tiara for a Return Dinner on a State Visit to Germany in 2016, a fitting tribute to a German Princess who became the Swedish Queen. Let’s hope this striking heirloom makes another appearance soon!

Braganza Tiara | Baden Fringe Tiara | Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure | Pearl Corsage Brooch | Diamond Stars | Swedish Processional Necklace | Ivy Brooch

Braganza Tiara