Posters of original research, analyses, insights etc retain all rights to their work.
Such research etc cannot be used in any format without the written consent of the author.
Greek Royal Rivières
Posted by Thomas on May 31, 2019, 6:22 am
The complicated familial and political history of the Greek monarchy makes studying Greek Royal jewels a difficult task indeed. Through complex inheritances, sales, divorces, frequent exiles and times of hardship, these jewels have mostly been dispersed, even if the current Royal Family retains an impressive collection. I have tried to uncover the history of some of the most prominent jewels worn by successive Queens of the Hellenes: their Diamond rivières.
QUEEN OLGA
Russian-born Queen Olga (1851-1926) was often photographed with one or two diamond rivières, the length of which could obviously be adjusted. One of these had larger diamonds than the other, as can be seen in these pictures:
1 (Library of Congress, LC-B2- 5336-10)
2 (Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50421)
3 (Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50422)
With a Russian headdress. 1880s 4
On 17 May 2006, "AN IMPORTANT ANTIQUE DIAMOND RIVIÈRE, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF QUEEN OLGA OF GREECE" "Designed as twenty-six graduated cushion-cut diamonds, mounted in gold and silver, circa 1860, currently 38.0 cm long, in red leather Cartier case" was sold at Christie's Geneva, as lot 411, "FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF PRINCESS OLGA OF YUGOSLAVIA".
5 (Christie’s)
I think that this particular necklace was the larger rivière seen on Queen Olga: judging from photographs, her larger rivière appears to be slightly graduated, with a bigger, distinctive central diamond, which is observable on the rivière sold in 2006.
Using the information shared by Christie's (which however listed Princess Olga as Queen Olga's daughter), the provenance line would probably be: “Queen Olga of Greece (1851-1926)”; Likely by descent to her son, Prince Nicolas of Greece (1872-1938); His daughter “Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903-1997), Princess Paul of Yugoslavia”; “Thence by descent”; most likely to Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1924-2016) whose second wife, Princess Barbara has worn a diamond rivière (with the Boucheron tiara), by whom supposedly sold (?).
Princess Barbara of Yugoslavia with Princess Karoline of Liechtenstein, née Countess von Ledebur-Wicheln: 6
The rivière worn by Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (1904-1955), along with her mother's Russian fringe tiara, for her wedding to Count Carl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach in January 1934, might have been Queen Olga's.
7
8
Later that year, her mother, Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia (1882-1957), was also photographed wearing a substantial rivière at the wedding of her daughter, Princess Marina, with Prince George of the United Kingdom, Duke of Kent, in November 1934. Was it Queen Olga’s?
9
What became of Queen Olga’s smaller collet necklace (seen in the photographs) is another mystery.
QUEEN SOPHIA
Queen Sophia of Greece, née Princess of Prussia (1870-1932) married Diadochos Constantine in 1889. From photographs, it appears that she wore a maximum of two diamond rivières during her life, both of comparable size and length.
The oldest dated photograph I found showing the then Crown-Princess wearing a diamond rivière bears her signature and "Tatoi 1904".
10 (The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2365084)
Other early portraits show her with only one rivière:
11
12
13
14
I have come to think that this rather large rivière was in fact a detachable fixture of the famous tiara-necklace which was a wedding gift of her mother, Empress Frederick (1840-1901), who may herself have received it from Queen Victoria for her own wedding in 1858.
Victoria, Princess Royal and Crown Princess of Germany, in a period engraving, wearing a depiction of the tiara:
15 (iStock photo 916537802 – Getty Images)
Indeed, it seems that Sophia scarcely wore the tiara:
The earliest photo of her wearing (a portion of) the tiara was taken while she was still Crown Princess (also Duchess of Sparta), by Miss Alice Mary Hughes (1857-1939), the celebrated portrait photographer who is also the artist behind another portrait, in the RCT:
A version from the archives of N. Papakonstantinou: 16 (royalchronicles.gr)
Another posted by Beth on the RJWMB: 17
In the other portrait by Alice Hughes, held by the Royal Collection Trust, and dated circa 1890, the Princess wears a rivière (probably from the tiara) and brilliant ear-studs, with a pearl and diamond head-ornament and a beautiful brooch.
18 (The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928919)
Another photo with the (full) tiara is better known: it dates from 1922 (Sophia holds her grandson Prince Michael of Romania in her arms). Incidentally, she didn't wear a rivière in this portrait.
This version bears the signature of Queen Marie (Maria) of Romania and ‘Athens. 1922.’ 19 (royalchronicles.gr)
The tiara was sold at Christie's in 1979 by a grandson of Queen Sophia, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, the son of Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta (1904-1974), who had inherited it from her mother.
20 (Christie’s)
Princess Irene with the tiara:
21
22 (royalchronicles.gr)
In London, in 1947, for the ball held at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, another encounter took place between King Michael and the tiara, now worn by his aunt.
23 (shutterstock)
Irene chatting to Queen Frederika during King Paul’s sixtieth Birthday celebrations at the Royal Palace of Athens, in 1961:
24
In March 1913, George I was assassinated, and his eldest son became King of the Hellenes as Constantine I. In 1915, Georgios Jakobides painted this beautiful portrait of the new Queen of the Hellenes:
25
The second rivière wasn't just artistic licence, since the portrait was probably painted after this photograph:
26
After the death of her husband, King George I, did Queen Olga loan her rivière to her daughter-in-law, the new Queen of the Hellenes, or was it a different necklace, perhaps from the late Empress Frederick?
King Constantine’s reign was tumultuous: after he was forced to abandon the throne to his son Alexander in June 1917, he was ultimately restored in December 1920, after Alexander I’s untimely death, only to be forced again into exile two years later.
In later life, Queen Sophia, who was never allowed back to Greece, appears to have worn only pearl necklaces.
In full mourning (for her son Alexander I?) 27
In the following portraits, taken by Eva Barrett (1879-1950) c. 1930-2, the Queen wears a grand, almost theatrical outfit, with her own diamond tiara worn bandeau-style.
28 (The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928941)
This signed postcard was sent by the Queen to George V and Queen Mary on October 29, 1931: 29 (The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2373922)
Queen Sophia died in Germany in 1932.
One (infamous) Queen of the Hellenes, Elisabeth of Romania, doesn’t seem to have worn a Diamond rivière, either during her short tenure as Queen, or in the rest of her life.
QUEEN FREDERIKA
Queen Frederika, wife of King Paul I, who reigned from April 1st, 1947, attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten in November 1947. On that occasion, the young Queen was lavishly dressed. Her jewels comprised elements of her Emerald parure, including the cabochon elements of the tiara-necklace, which the Queen used extensively during her reign. Unusually, Frederika also wore a pair of diamond rivières of impressive size:
On the way to the Abbey, with King Haakon: 30
Inside the Abbey, wearing peculiar sunglasses (?): 31
At the Palace with the other Royal guests: 32
33
To the best of my knowledge, the Queen was never seen with these particular rivières again. I have come to think that they had been borrowed for the occasion, possibly from her husband’s cousin, Princess Paul of Yugoslavia, née Olga of Greece. Olga had access to an impressive number of rivières (she wore up to four at the same time), but the two larger ones had distinctive collet mounts, and a gap that seems to match the rivières worn by Frederika in London, though they could probably be lengthened, as Olga appears to have done on occasions.
34
Princess Olga with her son Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia: 35
On a sidenote, I think that the rivière worn by Olga closer to her neck in these portraits is the one sold as an heirloom of Queen Olga in 2006.
In the 1950s, Queen Frederika was photographed again with a Diamond rivière, which looks different from all of those presented before:
In May 1956, during a State Visit from Theodor Heuss, President of the Federal Republic of Germany: 36
The rivière was worn again in France, for the Gala held at the Opéra Garnier, in Paris, on June 7, 1956, during the King and Queen’s State Visit to President René Coty:
37 (royalchronicles.gr)
38 (royalchronicles.gr)
39 (with M. Christian Pineau, Minister of Foreign Affairs. KEYSTONE Pictures USA – Alamy)
(You can see a full video of the visit here:
The necklace reappeared one last time, in 1957, for a series of photos taken by Life photographer Nina Leen at Tatoï Palace:
40 (Nina Leen – The LIFE Picture Collection – Getty Images)
41
42
43
44
As far as I know it has not been seen ever since.
QUEEN ANNE-MARIE
To the best of my knowledge, Queen Anne-Marie has never worn an important diamond rivière, but she has worn a small collet necklace of unknown origin on multiple occasions.
At an unidentified party, with the Ruby tiara:
45
At the Royal Theatre Gala Performance in honour of the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen (May 13, 2004):
46
At the Wedding of Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier (May 24, 2008): 47
At Queen Margrethe's 40th Jubilee Gala Dinner (January 15, 2012), with the emerald brooch as pendant: 48
On Princess Theodora, at Queen Margrethe II's 60th Birthday Gala: 49 (Antony Jones – UK Press via Getty Images)
I hope that other posters will know more about these rivières than I do! Tracking down all the pictures and establishing a sort of timeline of the jewels seen here took me quite a while, yet I still struggle to find definitive information about the rivières, and Greek Royal jewels in general.
Re: Greek Royal Rivières
Posted by Maria Olivia on May 31, 2019, 8:10 am, in reply to "Greek Royal Rivières"
Wow , thanka Thomas. Rivières worn by Queens Olga of R. and Sophie of Prussia After King George's divorce with Elisabeth of Roumania . Princess Hicholas born Grand Duchess of Russsia wore one or two rivières and her daughters Olga and Elisabeth. We have to wait 1947 to have the jewel lover Queen Frederika who wore the big rivières.
Their relatives sold their jewels 1979 Duke Amadeo of Aosta sold his Mother Irène of Greece tiara. Prince Alexander of Y. sold his Mother Princess Olga of Greece Rivière.( His Mother wore one rivière necklace at his Wedding in Cascais with Princess Maria Pia of Savoie.)
Did Queen Ferederika buy jewels from er Aunts, Cousines (ea big sapphire)
Previous Message
The complicated familial and political history of the Greek monarchy makes studying Greek Royal jewels a difficult task indeed. Through complex inheritances, sales, divorces, frequent exiles and times of hardship, these jewels have mostly been dispersed, even if the current Royal Family retains an impressive collection. I have tried to uncover the history of some of the most prominent jewels worn by successive Queens of the Hellenes: their Diamond rivières.
QUEEN OLGA
Russian-born Queen Olga (1851-1926) was often photographed with one or two diamond rivières, the length of which could obviously be adjusted. One of these had larger diamonds than the other, as can be seen in these pictures:
1
(Library of Congress, LC-B2- 5336-10)
2
(Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50421)
3
(Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50422)
With a Russian headdress. 1880s 4
On 17 May 2006, "AN IMPORTANT ANTIQUE DIAMOND RIVIÈRE, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF QUEEN OLGA OF GREECE" "Designed as twenty-six graduated cushion-cut diamonds, mounted in gold and silver, circa 1860, currently 38.0 cm long, in red leather Cartier case" was sold at Christie's Geneva, as lot 411, "FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF PRINCESS OLGA OF YUGOSLAVIA".
5
(Christie’s)
I think that this particular necklace was the larger rivière seen on Queen Olga: judging from photographs, her larger rivière appears to be slightly graduated, with a bigger, distinctive central diamond, which is observable on the rivière sold in 2006.
Using the information shared by Christie's (which however listed Princess Olga as Queen Olga's daughter), the provenance line would probably be: “Queen Olga of Greece (1851-1926)”; Likely by descent to her son, Prince Nicolas of Greece (1872-1938); His daughter “Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903-1997), Princess Paul of Yugoslavia”; “Thence by descent”; most likely to Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1924-2016) whose second wife, Princess Barbara has worn a diamond rivière (with the Boucheron tiara), by whom supposedly sold (?).
Princess Barbara of Yugoslavia with Princess Karoline of Liechtenstein, née Countess von Ledebur-Wicheln: 6
The rivière worn by Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (1904-1955), along with her mother's Russian fringe tiara, for her wedding to Count Carl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach in January 1934, might have been Queen Olga's.
7
8
Later that year, her mother, Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia (1882-1957), was also photographed wearing a substantial rivière at the wedding of her daughter, Princess Marina, with Prince George of the United Kingdom, Duke of Kent, in November 1934. Was it Queen Olga’s?
9
What became of Queen Olga’s smaller collet necklace (seen in the photographs) is another mystery.
QUEEN SOPHIA
Queen Sophia of Greece, née Princess of Prussia (1870-1932) married Diadochos Constantine in 1889. From photographs, it appears that she wore a maximum of two diamond rivières during her life, both of comparable size and length.
The oldest dated photograph I found showing the then Crown-Princess wearing a diamond rivière bears her signature and "Tatoi 1904".
10
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2365084)
Other early portraits show her with only one rivière:
11
12
13
14
I have come to think that this rather large rivière was in fact a detachable fixture of the famous tiara-necklace which was a wedding gift of her mother, Empress Frederick (1840-1901), who may herself have received it from Queen Victoria for her own wedding in 1858.
Victoria, Princess Royal and Crown Princess of Germany, in a period engraving, wearing a depiction of the tiara:
15
(iStock photo 916537802 – Getty Images)
Indeed, it seems that Sophia scarcely wore the tiara:
The earliest photo of her wearing (a portion of) the tiara was taken while she was still Crown Princess (also Duchess of Sparta), by Miss Alice Mary Hughes (1857-1939), the celebrated portrait photographer who is also the artist behind another portrait, in the RCT:
A version from the archives of N. Papakonstantinou: 16
(royalchronicles.gr)
Another posted by Beth on the RJWMB: 17
In the other portrait by Alice Hughes, held by the Royal Collection Trust, and dated circa 1890, the Princess wears a rivière (probably from the tiara) and brilliant ear-studs, with a pearl and diamond head-ornament and a beautiful brooch.
18
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928919)
Another photo with the (full) tiara is better known: it dates from 1922 (Sophia holds her grandson Prince Michael of Romania in her arms). Incidentally, she didn't wear a rivière in this portrait.
This version bears the signature of Queen Marie (Maria) of Romania and ‘Athens. 1922.’ 19
(royalchronicles.gr)
The tiara was sold at Christie's in 1979 by a grandson of Queen Sophia, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, the son of Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta (1904-1974), who had inherited it from her mother.
20
(Christie’s)
Princess Irene with the tiara:
21
22
(royalchronicles.gr)
In London, in 1947, for the ball held at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, another encounter took place between King Michael and the tiara, now worn by his aunt.
23
(shutterstock)
Irene chatting to Queen Frederika during King Paul’s sixtieth Birthday celebrations at the Royal Palace of Athens, in 1961:
24
In March 1913, George I was assassinated, and his eldest son became King of the Hellenes as Constantine I. In 1915, Georgios Jakobides painted this beautiful portrait of the new Queen of the Hellenes:
25
The second rivière wasn't just artistic licence, since the portrait was probably painted after this photograph:
26
After the death of her husband, King George I, did Queen Olga loan her rivière to her daughter-in-law, the new Queen of the Hellenes, or was it a different necklace, perhaps from the late Empress Frederick?
King Constantine’s reign was tumultuous: after he was forced to abandon the throne to his son Alexander in June 1917, he was ultimately restored in December 1920, after Alexander I’s untimely death, only to be forced again into exile two years later.
In later life, Queen Sophia, who was never allowed back to Greece, appears to have worn only pearl necklaces.
In full mourning (for her son Alexander I?) 27
In the following portraits, taken by Eva Barrett (1879-1950) c. 1930-2, the Queen wears a grand, almost theatrical outfit, with her own diamond tiara worn bandeau-style.
28
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928941)
This signed postcard was sent by the Queen to George V and Queen Mary on October 29, 1931: 29
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2373922)
Queen Sophia died in Germany in 1932.
One (infamous) Queen of the Hellenes, Elisabeth of Romania, doesn’t seem to have worn a Diamond rivière, either during her short tenure as Queen, or in the rest of her life.
QUEEN FREDERIKA
Queen Frederika, wife of King Paul I, who reigned from April 1st, 1947, attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten in November 1947. On that occasion, the young Queen was lavishly dressed. Her jewels comprised elements of her Emerald parure, including the cabochon elements of the tiara-necklace, which the Queen used extensively during her reign. Unusually, Frederika also wore a pair of diamond rivières of impressive size:
On the way to the Abbey, with King Haakon: 30
Inside the Abbey, wearing peculiar sunglasses (?): 31
At the Palace with the other Royal guests: 32
33
To the best of my knowledge, the Queen was never seen with these particular rivières again. I have come to think that they had been borrowed for the occasion, possibly from her husband’s cousin, Princess Paul of Yugoslavia, née Olga of Greece. Olga had access to an impressive number of rivières (she wore up to four at the same time), but the two larger ones had distinctive collet mounts, and a gap that seems to match the rivières worn by Frederika in London, though they could probably be lengthened, as Olga appears to have done on occasions.
34
Princess Olga with her son Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia: 35
On a sidenote, I think that the rivière worn by Olga closer to her neck in these portraits is the one sold as an heirloom of Queen Olga in 2006.
In the 1950s, Queen Frederika was photographed again with a Diamond rivière, which looks different from all of those presented before:
In May 1956, during a State Visit from Theodor Heuss, President of the Federal Republic of Germany: 36
The rivière was worn again in France, for the Gala held at the Opéra Garnier, in Paris, on June 7, 1956, during the King and Queen’s State Visit to President René Coty:
37
(royalchronicles.gr)
38
(royalchronicles.gr)
39
(with M. Christian Pineau, Minister of Foreign Affairs. KEYSTONE Pictures USA – Alamy)
(You can see a full video of the visit here:
The necklace reappeared one last time, in 1957, for a series of photos taken by Life photographer Nina Leen at Tatoï Palace:
40
(Nina Leen – The LIFE Picture Collection – Getty Images)
41
42
43
44
As far as I know it has not been seen ever since.
QUEEN ANNE-MARIE
To the best of my knowledge, Queen Anne-Marie has never worn an important diamond rivière, but she has worn a small collet necklace of unknown origin on multiple occasions.
At an unidentified party, with the Ruby tiara:
45
At the Royal Theatre Gala Performance in honour of the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen (May 13, 2004):
46
At the Wedding of Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier (May 24, 2008): 47
At Queen Margrethe's 40th Jubilee Gala Dinner (January 15, 2012), with the emerald brooch as pendant: 48
On Princess Theodora, at Queen Margrethe II's 60th Birthday Gala: 49
(Antony Jones – UK Press via Getty Images)
I hope that other posters will know more about these rivières than I do! Tracking down all the pictures and establishing a sort of timeline of the jewels seen here took me quite a while, yet I still struggle to find definitive information about the rivières, and Greek Royal jewels in general.
Wow , thanka Thomas. Rivières worn by Queens Olga of R. and Sophie of Prussia After King George's divorce with Elisabeth of Roumania . Princess Hicholas born Grand Duchess of Russsia wore one or two rivières and her daughters Olga and Elisabeth. We have to wait 1947 to have the jewel lover Queen Frederika who wore the big rivières.
Their relatives sold their jewels 1979 Duke Amadeo of Aosta sold his Mother Irène of Greece tiara. Prince Alexander of Y. sold his Mother Princess Olga of Greece Rivière.( His Mother wore one rivière necklace at his Wedding in Cascais with Princess Maria Pia of Savoie.) Did Queen Ferederika buy jewels from er Aunts, Cousines (ea big sapphire)
Previous Message
The complicated familial and political history of the Greek monarchy makes studying Greek Royal jewels a difficult task indeed. Through complex inheritances, sales, divorces, frequent exiles and times of hardship, these jewels have mostly been dispersed, even if the current Royal Family retains an impressive collection. I have tried to uncover the history of some of the most prominent jewels worn by successive Queens of the Hellenes: their Diamond rivières.
QUEEN OLGA
Russian-born Queen Olga (1851-1926) was often photographed with one or two diamond rivières, the length of which could obviously be adjusted. One of these had larger diamonds than the other, as can be seen in these pictures:
1
(Library of Congress, LC-B2- 5336-10)
2
(Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50421)
3
(Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50422)
With a Russian headdress. 1880s 4
On 17 May 2006, "AN IMPORTANT ANTIQUE DIAMOND RIVIÈRE, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF QUEEN OLGA OF GREECE" "Designed as twenty-six graduated cushion-cut diamonds, mounted in gold and silver, circa 1860, currently 38.0 cm long, in red leather Cartier case" was sold at Christie's Geneva, as lot 411, "FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF PRINCESS OLGA OF YUGOSLAVIA".
5
(Christie’s)
I think that this particular necklace was the larger rivière seen on Queen Olga: judging from photographs, her larger rivière appears to be slightly graduated, with a bigger, distinctive central diamond, which is observable on the rivière sold in 2006.
Using the information shared by Christie's (which however listed Princess Olga as Queen Olga's daughter), the provenance line would probably be: “Queen Olga of Greece (1851-1926)”; Likely by descent to her son, Prince Nicolas of Greece (1872-1938); His daughter “Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903-1997), Princess Paul of Yugoslavia”; “Thence by descent”; most likely to Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1924-2016) whose second wife, Princess Barbara has worn a diamond rivière (with the Boucheron tiara), by whom supposedly sold (?).
Princess Barbara of Yugoslavia with Princess Karoline of Liechtenstein, née Countess von Ledebur-Wicheln: 6
The rivière worn by Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (1904-1955), along with her mother's Russian fringe tiara, for her wedding to Count Carl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach in January 1934, might have been Queen Olga's.
7
8
Later that year, her mother, Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia (1882-1957), was also photographed wearing a substantial rivière at the wedding of her daughter, Princess Marina, with Prince George of the United Kingdom, Duke of Kent, in November 1934. Was it Queen Olga’s?
9
What became of Queen Olga’s smaller collet necklace (seen in the photographs) is another mystery.
QUEEN SOPHIA
Queen Sophia of Greece, née Princess of Prussia (1870-1932) married Diadochos Constantine in 1889. From photographs, it appears that she wore a maximum of two diamond rivières during her life, both of comparable size and length.
The oldest dated photograph I found showing the then Crown-Princess wearing a diamond rivière bears her signature and "Tatoi 1904".
10
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2365084)
Other early portraits show her with only one rivière:
11
12
13
14
I have come to think that this rather large rivière was in fact a detachable fixture of the famous tiara-necklace which was a wedding gift of her mother, Empress Frederick (1840-1901), who may herself have received it from Queen Victoria for her own wedding in 1858.
Victoria, Princess Royal and Crown Princess of Germany, in a period engraving, wearing a depiction of the tiara:
15
(iStock photo 916537802 – Getty Images)
Indeed, it seems that Sophia scarcely wore the tiara:
The earliest photo of her wearing (a portion of) the tiara was taken while she was still Crown Princess (also Duchess of Sparta), by Miss Alice Mary Hughes (1857-1939), the celebrated portrait photographer who is also the artist behind another portrait, in the RCT:
A version from the archives of N. Papakonstantinou: 16
(royalchronicles.gr)
Another posted by Beth on the RJWMB: 17
In the other portrait by Alice Hughes, held by the Royal Collection Trust, and dated circa 1890, the Princess wears a rivière (probably from the tiara) and brilliant ear-studs, with a pearl and diamond head-ornament and a beautiful brooch.
18
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928919)
Another photo with the (full) tiara is better known: it dates from 1922 (Sophia holds her grandson Prince Michael of Romania in her arms). Incidentally, she didn't wear a rivière in this portrait.
This version bears the signature of Queen Marie (Maria) of Romania and ‘Athens. 1922.’ 19
(royalchronicles.gr)
The tiara was sold at Christie's in 1979 by a grandson of Queen Sophia, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, the son of Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta (1904-1974), who had inherited it from her mother.
20
(Christie’s)
Princess Irene with the tiara:
21
22
(royalchronicles.gr)
In London, in 1947, for the ball held at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, another encounter took place between King Michael and the tiara, now worn by his aunt.
23
(shutterstock)
Irene chatting to Queen Frederika during King Paul’s sixtieth Birthday celebrations at the Royal Palace of Athens, in 1961:
24
In March 1913, George I was assassinated, and his eldest son became King of the Hellenes as Constantine I. In 1915, Georgios Jakobides painted this beautiful portrait of the new Queen of the Hellenes:
25
The second rivière wasn't just artistic licence, since the portrait was probably painted after this photograph:
26
After the death of her husband, King George I, did Queen Olga loan her rivière to her daughter-in-law, the new Queen of the Hellenes, or was it a different necklace, perhaps from the late Empress Frederick?
King Constantine’s reign was tumultuous: after he was forced to abandon the throne to his son Alexander in June 1917, he was ultimately restored in December 1920, after Alexander I’s untimely death, only to be forced again into exile two years later.
In later life, Queen Sophia, who was never allowed back to Greece, appears to have worn only pearl necklaces.
In full mourning (for her son Alexander I?) 27
In the following portraits, taken by Eva Barrett (1879-1950) c. 1930-2, the Queen wears a grand, almost theatrical outfit, with her own diamond tiara worn bandeau-style.
28
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928941)
This signed postcard was sent by the Queen to George V and Queen Mary on October 29, 1931: 29
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2373922)
Queen Sophia died in Germany in 1932.
One (infamous) Queen of the Hellenes, Elisabeth of Romania, doesn’t seem to have worn a Diamond rivière, either during her short tenure as Queen, or in the rest of her life.
QUEEN FREDERIKA
Queen Frederika, wife of King Paul I, who reigned from April 1st, 1947, attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten in November 1947. On that occasion, the young Queen was lavishly dressed. Her jewels comprised elements of her Emerald parure, including the cabochon elements of the tiara-necklace, which the Queen used extensively during her reign. Unusually, Frederika also wore a pair of diamond rivières of impressive size:
On the way to the Abbey, with King Haakon: 30
Inside the Abbey, wearing peculiar sunglasses (?): 31
At the Palace with the other Royal guests: 32
33
To the best of my knowledge, the Queen was never seen with these particular rivières again. I have come to think that they had been borrowed for the occasion, possibly from her husband’s cousin, Princess Paul of Yugoslavia, née Olga of Greece. Olga had access to an impressive number of rivières (she wore up to four at the same time), but the two larger ones had distinctive collet mounts, and a gap that seems to match the rivières worn by Frederika in London, though they could probably be lengthened, as Olga appears to have done on occasions.
34
Princess Olga with her son Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia: 35
On a sidenote, I think that the rivière worn by Olga closer to her neck in these portraits is the one sold as an heirloom of Queen Olga in 2006.
In the 1950s, Queen Frederika was photographed again with a Diamond rivière, which looks different from all of those presented before:
In May 1956, during a State Visit from Theodor Heuss, President of the Federal Republic of Germany: 36
The rivière was worn again in France, for the Gala held at the Opéra Garnier, in Paris, on June 7, 1956, during the King and Queen’s State Visit to President René Coty:
37
(royalchronicles.gr)
38
(royalchronicles.gr)
39
(with M. Christian Pineau, Minister of Foreign Affairs. KEYSTONE Pictures USA – Alamy)
(You can see a full video of the visit here:
The necklace reappeared one last time, in 1957, for a series of photos taken by Life photographer Nina Leen at Tatoï Palace:
40
(Nina Leen – The LIFE Picture Collection – Getty Images)
41
42
43
44
As far as I know it has not been seen ever since.
QUEEN ANNE-MARIE
To the best of my knowledge, Queen Anne-Marie has never worn an important diamond rivière, but she has worn a small collet necklace of unknown origin on multiple occasions.
At an unidentified party, with the Ruby tiara:
45
At the Royal Theatre Gala Performance in honour of the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen (May 13, 2004):
46
At the Wedding of Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier (May 24, 2008): 47
At Queen Margrethe's 40th Jubilee Gala Dinner (January 15, 2012), with the emerald brooch as pendant: 48
On Princess Theodora, at Queen Margrethe II's 60th Birthday Gala: 49
(Antony Jones – UK Press via Getty Images)
I hope that other posters will know more about these rivières than I do! Tracking down all the pictures and establishing a sort of timeline of the jewels seen here took me quite a while, yet I still struggle to find definitive information about the rivières, and Greek Royal jewels in general.
What a tour de force Thomas!! I found the post extremely interesting to read. It gives us so much to explore.
It is great to have these various rivieres sorted. As you note the complicated familiar history makes it more difficult to try to follow the various necklaces.
One possible suggestion -- could Queen Sophie's riviere have come from Queen Victoria? It is a long shot, but there are press reports that Queen Victoria gave her granddaughter a diamond necklace. Unfortunately the UK press did not give any further description or have any images. Some of the UK press reports mentioned that there wasn't any viewing of the wedding gifts, so it seems unlikely that any images will be found -- but who knows?
Impressive Thomas, thank you for this beaming research. Thomas! do you think that the diamonds at the base of Princess Olga's massive tiara could be the ones seen on Queen Ann Marie? And I did read somewhere that these kind of cushion/ table shaped diamonds (rivieres) are not cut anymore. I don't know why maybe because its a lost art and no jewellers does this kind of work anymore. But they do really stand out.
Regards,
Dave.
Previous Message
The complicated familial and political history of the Greek monarchy makes studying Greek Royal jewels a difficult task indeed. Through complex inheritances, sales, divorces, frequent exiles and times of hardship, these jewels have mostly been dispersed, even if the current Royal Family retains an impressive collection. I have tried to uncover the history of some of the most prominent jewels worn by successive Queens of the Hellenes: their Diamond rivières.
QUEEN OLGA
Russian-born Queen Olga (1851-1926) was often photographed with one or two diamond rivières, the length of which could obviously be adjusted. One of these had larger diamonds than the other, as can be seen in these pictures:
1
(Library of Congress, LC-B2- 5336-10)
2
(Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50421)
3
(Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-50422)
With a Russian headdress. 1880s 4
On 17 May 2006, "AN IMPORTANT ANTIQUE DIAMOND RIVIÈRE, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF QUEEN OLGA OF GREECE" "Designed as twenty-six graduated cushion-cut diamonds, mounted in gold and silver, circa 1860, currently 38.0 cm long, in red leather Cartier case" was sold at Christie's Geneva, as lot 411, "FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF PRINCESS OLGA OF YUGOSLAVIA".
5
(Christie’s)
I think that this particular necklace was the larger rivière seen on Queen Olga: judging from photographs, her larger rivière appears to be slightly graduated, with a bigger, distinctive central diamond, which is observable on the rivière sold in 2006.
Using the information shared by Christie's (which however listed Princess Olga as Queen Olga's daughter), the provenance line would probably be: “Queen Olga of Greece (1851-1926)”; Likely by descent to her son, Prince Nicolas of Greece (1872-1938); His daughter “Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903-1997), Princess Paul of Yugoslavia”; “Thence by descent”; most likely to Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1924-2016) whose second wife, Princess Barbara has worn a diamond rivière (with the Boucheron tiara), by whom supposedly sold (?).
Princess Barbara of Yugoslavia with Princess Karoline of Liechtenstein, née Countess von Ledebur-Wicheln: 6
The rivière worn by Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (1904-1955), along with her mother's Russian fringe tiara, for her wedding to Count Carl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach in January 1934, might have been Queen Olga's.
7
8
Later that year, her mother, Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia (1882-1957), was also photographed wearing a substantial rivière at the wedding of her daughter, Princess Marina, with Prince George of the United Kingdom, Duke of Kent, in November 1934. Was it Queen Olga’s?
9
What became of Queen Olga’s smaller collet necklace (seen in the photographs) is another mystery.
QUEEN SOPHIA
Queen Sophia of Greece, née Princess of Prussia (1870-1932) married Diadochos Constantine in 1889. From photographs, it appears that she wore a maximum of two diamond rivières during her life, both of comparable size and length.
The oldest dated photograph I found showing the then Crown-Princess wearing a diamond rivière bears her signature and "Tatoi 1904".
10
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2365084)
Other early portraits show her with only one rivière:
11
12
13
14
I have come to think that this rather large rivière was in fact a detachable fixture of the famous tiara-necklace which was a wedding gift of her mother, Empress Frederick (1840-1901), who may herself have received it from Queen Victoria for her own wedding in 1858.
Victoria, Princess Royal and Crown Princess of Germany, in a period engraving, wearing a depiction of the tiara:
15
(iStock photo 916537802 – Getty Images)
Indeed, it seems that Sophia scarcely wore the tiara:
The earliest photo of her wearing (a portion of) the tiara was taken while she was still Crown Princess (also Duchess of Sparta), by Miss Alice Mary Hughes (1857-1939), the celebrated portrait photographer who is also the artist behind another portrait, in the RCT:
A version from the archives of N. Papakonstantinou: 16
(royalchronicles.gr)
Another posted by Beth on the RJWMB: 17
In the other portrait by Alice Hughes, held by the Royal Collection Trust, and dated circa 1890, the Princess wears a rivière (probably from the tiara) and brilliant ear-studs, with a pearl and diamond head-ornament and a beautiful brooch.
18
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928919)
Another photo with the (full) tiara is better known: it dates from 1922 (Sophia holds her grandson Prince Michael of Romania in her arms). Incidentally, she didn't wear a rivière in this portrait.
This version bears the signature of Queen Marie (Maria) of Romania and ‘Athens. 1922.’ 19
(royalchronicles.gr)
The tiara was sold at Christie's in 1979 by a grandson of Queen Sophia, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, the son of Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta (1904-1974), who had inherited it from her mother.
20
(Christie’s)
Princess Irene with the tiara:
21
22
(royalchronicles.gr)
In London, in 1947, for the ball held at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, another encounter took place between King Michael and the tiara, now worn by his aunt.
23
(shutterstock)
Irene chatting to Queen Frederika during King Paul’s sixtieth Birthday celebrations at the Royal Palace of Athens, in 1961:
24
In March 1913, George I was assassinated, and his eldest son became King of the Hellenes as Constantine I. In 1915, Georgios Jakobides painted this beautiful portrait of the new Queen of the Hellenes:
25
The second rivière wasn't just artistic licence, since the portrait was probably painted after this photograph:
26
After the death of her husband, King George I, did Queen Olga loan her rivière to her daughter-in-law, the new Queen of the Hellenes, or was it a different necklace, perhaps from the late Empress Frederick?
King Constantine’s reign was tumultuous: after he was forced to abandon the throne to his son Alexander in June 1917, he was ultimately restored in December 1920, after Alexander I’s untimely death, only to be forced again into exile two years later.
In later life, Queen Sophia, who was never allowed back to Greece, appears to have worn only pearl necklaces.
In full mourning (for her son Alexander I?) 27
In the following portraits, taken by Eva Barrett (1879-1950) c. 1930-2, the Queen wears a grand, almost theatrical outfit, with her own diamond tiara worn bandeau-style.
28
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2928941)
This signed postcard was sent by the Queen to George V and Queen Mary on October 29, 1931: 29
(The Royal Collection Trust – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019, RCIN 2373922)
Queen Sophia died in Germany in 1932.
One (infamous) Queen of the Hellenes, Elisabeth of Romania, doesn’t seem to have worn a Diamond rivière, either during her short tenure as Queen, or in the rest of her life.
QUEEN FREDERIKA
Queen Frederika, wife of King Paul I, who reigned from April 1st, 1947, attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten in November 1947. On that occasion, the young Queen was lavishly dressed. Her jewels comprised elements of her Emerald parure, including the cabochon elements of the tiara-necklace, which the Queen used extensively during her reign. Unusually, Frederika also wore a pair of diamond rivières of impressive size:
On the way to the Abbey, with King Haakon: 30
Inside the Abbey, wearing peculiar sunglasses (?): 31
At the Palace with the other Royal guests: 32
33
To the best of my knowledge, the Queen was never seen with these particular rivières again. I have come to think that they had been borrowed for the occasion, possibly from her husband’s cousin, Princess Paul of Yugoslavia, née Olga of Greece. Olga had access to an impressive number of rivières (she wore up to four at the same time), but the two larger ones had distinctive collet mounts, and a gap that seems to match the rivières worn by Frederika in London, though they could probably be lengthened, as Olga appears to have done on occasions.
34
Princess Olga with her son Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia: 35
On a sidenote, I think that the rivière worn by Olga closer to her neck in these portraits is the one sold as an heirloom of Queen Olga in 2006.
In the 1950s, Queen Frederika was photographed again with a Diamond rivière, which looks different from all of those presented before:
In May 1956, during a State Visit from Theodor Heuss, President of the Federal Republic of Germany: 36
The rivière was worn again in France, for the Gala held at the Opéra Garnier, in Paris, on June 7, 1956, during the King and Queen’s State Visit to President René Coty:
37
(royalchronicles.gr)
38
(royalchronicles.gr)
39
(with M. Christian Pineau, Minister of Foreign Affairs. KEYSTONE Pictures USA – Alamy)
(You can see a full video of the visit here:
The necklace reappeared one last time, in 1957, for a series of photos taken by Life photographer Nina Leen at Tatoï Palace:
40
(Nina Leen – The LIFE Picture Collection – Getty Images)
41
42
43
44
As far as I know it has not been seen ever since.
QUEEN ANNE-MARIE
To the best of my knowledge, Queen Anne-Marie has never worn an important diamond rivière, but she has worn a small collet necklace of unknown origin on multiple occasions.
At an unidentified party, with the Ruby tiara:
45
At the Royal Theatre Gala Performance in honour of the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen (May 13, 2004):
46
At the Wedding of Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier (May 24, 2008): 47
At Queen Margrethe's 40th Jubilee Gala Dinner (January 15, 2012), with the emerald brooch as pendant: 48
On Princess Theodora, at Queen Margrethe II's 60th Birthday Gala: 49
(Antony Jones – UK Press via Getty Images)
I hope that other posters will know more about these rivières than I do! Tracking down all the pictures and establishing a sort of timeline of the jewels seen here took me quite a while, yet I still struggle to find definitive information about the rivières, and Greek Royal jewels in general.
on May 31, 2019, 6:22 am
Previous Message