Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure Tiara

Creation:  This tiara is very flexible and composed of 11 separate sections that can be removed to better fit the individual wearers needs.  It was originally made so that pearls could be worn interchangeably with the sapphires but the pearls have left the Swedish Royal Family.

Materials:  diamonds and 11 sapphires

Queen Josephine

Queen Victoria

Provenance:

1. Duchess Augusta Amalia of Leuchtenberg; from Emperor Napoleon I on the occasion of her 1806 marriage to Eugene de Beauharnais
2. Queen Josephine of Sweden & Norway; inherited from her mother in 1851
3. Queen Sophia of Sweden & Norway; inherited from her mother-in-law in 1876
4. Queen Victoria of Sweden; from her parents-in-law on the occasion of her 1881 marriage to King Gustaf V of Sweden
5. Bernadotte Family Foundation; left by Queen Victoria in 1930

Queen Louise

Princess Birgitta

Princess Sibylla

Other Wearers:

• Queen Louise of Sweden; after it was placed in the Bernadotte Family Foundation in 1930
• Princess Sibylla of Sweden; after she became the first lady of Sweden in 1965 until her death in 1972
• Princess Birgitta of Sweden; for King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia's 1976 pre-wedding ball
• Queen Silvia of Sweden;after her 1976 marriage to King Carl XVI Gustaf

Queen Silvia

Queen Silvia

Questions:  

• Did Marie-Etienne Nitot create this tiara?
• What happened to the pearls from this tiara?

Photos:  Swedish Royal Court