Readers' Top 15 Tiaras: #2. The Rose Cut Diamond Bandeau

Our countdown of your favorite tiaras continues with...

#2. The Rose Cut Diamond Bandeau 

Click here to revisit the history of this piece.

I told you when we first covered this tiara that it would make my desert island list of five essential tiaras. As it turns out, we’d all have to be on the same island. (Though something tells me we’d never get it out of Máxima’s hands to take it on our three hour tour in the first place.) In a competition that ended up favoring the “go big or go home” rule, I love that you made sure to give this one a special pass for its own brand of going big. Incidentally, this is also the only diadem that came anywhere close to giving our #1 tiara some competition.

Are you surprised at where this fell on our countdown list?

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 11-17 December

Here's what Máxima wore from 11-17 December:

1. At the Prince Claus Awards, 14 December. Yay! The amazing purple dress makes a triumphant return.

Photo: Gala

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 4-10 December

Here's what Máxima wore from 4-10 December:

1. At the closing ceremony of the Thousand and One Force project, 9 December, in an outfit she also wore for an audience on 6 December. Hmm...while I think we have a good silhouette on our hands, somehow the overall efffect is that of Queen Elizabeth taking a stroll at Balmoral.

Photo: PPE/Nieboer

Wedding Wednesday: Favorite Winter Wedding Gowns

Winter wedding gowns are tricky, especially when you're having a royal wedding with lots of balcony appearances and other assorted outdoor shenanigans. Since that time is upon us now (well, it's upon me - if you're in Australia or something...bookmark and come back in six months I guess?), I thought we'd throw some praise at those royal wedding dresses that have leapt their climate hurdles valiantly.

Two winter brides stick out from my personal list of favorite royal wedding dresses - Máxima (February) and Mathilde (December).

Of course, I have always loved a high collar on a grand wedding gown, that's just me.

But if you want something that just screams winter wedding, fur's the way to go.

Queen Fabiola of the Belgians, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Archduchess Marie-Christine of Austria, Archduchess Catharina von Österreich

I confess, I'm not a huge fan of fur used on a wedding gown, but there is something about a winter wedding that lends itself to things that seem a little farcical otherwise...

...which brings us to a personal favorite in this category, Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza's gown from her January 1993 marriage to Archduke Karl of Austria.

At any other time, in any other place, this wedding outfit would have been too much. The lace-up front, the enormous ball skirt, the heavy 200-year-old Habsburg veil held in place with a small pearl and diamond bandeau tiara, even the bride carrying a Mass Book instead of a bouquet - it's a Versace design that could have come straight from a movie set, and borders on comical for use in real life (even for a character such as this bride).

But set in an Austrian winter scene? It's completely enchanting.

What's your favorite winter wedding gown?

Photos: Zimbio/Rex/Hola/The Royal Forums

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 27 November - 3 December

Here's what Máxima wore from 27 November - 3 December:

1. At the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund Awards, 28 November. Va-va-voom! This is a great dress. Me likey.
2. a and b) Opening a new care home, 29 November. Meh.
3. a) Attending a gala dinner during an official visit from Mali, 29 November, in b) a repeated dress and shrug made of...used tinfoil from Máx's last highlight?

Photos: Getty Images/Zimbio/PPE/Buys/112 Nederland/Nieboer

Wedding Wednesday: Princess Mabel's Gown

HRH Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands and Mabel Wisse Smit

April 24, 2004

Delft, Netherlands

Goodness me, our little digression into the wedding gown of Princess Mabel in last week's comments spawned an immediate outpouring of Wedding Wednesday requests. Well, I don't blame you. If you've never seen it before you really can't comprehend it in a single glance. So here you go, kids: Bows Gone Wild, starring Mabel van Oranje.

When Mabel Wisse Smit married Queen Beatrix's middle son, Prince Johan Friso (he prefers you just call him Friso now, thanks) in 2004, she turned down conservative designs from the Dutch design duo Viktor & Rolf and requested they make her something "memorable" (mission accomplished). She's not a conventional girl, this one, and stated herself that she was never the little girl with wedding dress dreams.

The end result is actually a very flattering silhouette in snow white double-faced duchesse satin with a bateau neckline, long sleeves, and a flared skirt leading to a 3.15 meter train (10 feet 4 inches - including the bows, of course). She topped it with a short veil and a diamond sunray tiara.

The tiara is actually a pared down diamond-only setting of the large Mellerio Sapphire Tiara (click here to see it in all its glory as normally worn). I find it somewhat, erm, pokey in a photograph, but in movement it works. The huge diamonds capture every last possible bit of light. The tiara itself has a rather two-dimensional effect; it almost seems like a fairytale illustration of a tiara come to life to me. Observe:

But none of that matters, really, because what you want to talk about right now are the bows: 248 of them, to be exact. Yes. Two hundred and forty eight. That's 128 bows for the skirt, 85 on the bodice, and 35 on the train. All handmade from crepe georgette (no wonder the thing took more than 600 hours to make), and symbolizing longevity, commitment, and permanence. Placed on a trelliswork background, they cover every single part of the gown, growing gradually in size from the neckline to the hem and then catching a serious case of gigantism on the train. The pattern covers the seams, so it looks like the gown is cut from a single piece of cloth.

Believe it or not, the dress isn't the only infamous part of this love story. Like a few of her princess peers, Mabel's past includes some sketchy bits. She was alleged to have had a relationship with a drug lord called Klaas Bruinsma. When questioned about this by the Dutch government, the couple gave what Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende termed "incomplete and incorrect information". They stated that while they had left details out, they hadn't lied, and repeated that the Mabel had not had a romantic relationship with the man. Nevertheless, the government did not ask parliament for the required permission for the prince to marry. (The scandal flared up again later when Friso and Mabel admitted to changing Mabel's Wikipedia entry themselves to make it less harsh with regards to these events.)

Friso married her anyway, obviously, and lost his place in the Royal House and in the line of succession. I'd say that the bows were an attempt to create a bigger story than the scandal on the wedding day, but she's kept up a string of eyebrow-raising Viktor & Rolf creations ever since...so, this is just her style. And that style, including the notorious bowfest, is entertaining for sure, but it rubs me the wrong way. There's something to be said for a woman that's not afraid to make a splash and is completely comfortable marching to the beat of her own drummer, don't get me wrong. I just think that the best style is one that leaves people with an impression of you and not your just clothes (yes, despite enjoying frivolous fashion discussion so much I started a blog about it, I actually do believe that), and if you've reached the point where your clothes speak louder than you do, you've gone too far.

Some of Mabel's more notable outfits

And, see, the first thing you should know about Mabel isn't that she likes a crazy dress, it's that she's a human rights activist, and not in the standard "princess with a cause" way. This is what she does, and has done since before she married Friso. She is currently CEO of The Elders, a group of public figures including Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter brought together by Nelson Mandela to use their experience for good on some the world's toughest issues. If you'd like to see her in action, click here to see a recent talk she gave at TEDxAmsterdam on ending child marriage. She has a lot to say, and if her clothes are as far as people get into what she's all about, that's sad. And that's the end of my rant on Mabel's style.

Mabel and Friso live in London, and Friso is CFO of URENCO, a uranium enrichment company. They have two daughters, Luana and Zaria. Because Friso lost his place in the Royal House, he no longer carries the title of "Prince of the Netherlands" but retains his family title of "Prince of Orange-Nassau" and the styling "Royal Highness". Mabel is a Princess of Orange-Nassau. We don't see them at formal events like Prinsjesdag, but they do pop up at other events like Koninginnedag. 

Mabel's dress: fun and quirky or weird and wrong?

Photos: People/Corbis/Harper's Bazaar/ANP/PPE

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 20-26 November

Here's what Máxima wore from 20-26 November:

1. a) Attending the premiere of the film Nova Zembla, 21 November, in a gorgeous black dress from Ralph Lauren (b). It's such a simple dress, and in a color that usually signals boring for me, but she does it just right with the jewels and the (neat!) hair (c-e). The shoulder ornament is a diamond aigrette dating way back to Queen Emma, and is the same one we saw her break out for her 40th birthday. One of the best Máxima appearances this year, don't you think?
2. Visiting the "Children Make Music" project, 22 November.
3. Two events on 24 November. Well, it's not like anything's going to compare to outfit #1 anyway.

Also in attendance at the film premiere were two of Princess Margriet's sons and their wives, Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène and Prince Floris and Princess Aimée. Aimée looks stunning and Marilène...has a lot of hair.

Aimée and Marilène

Photos: Dutch Photo Press/Net-a-porter/PPE/Nieboer/Royal House

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 13-19 November

Here's what Máxima wore from 13-19 November:

1. Visiting Deventer Home Entrepreneurs, 15 November.
2. Opening the Amsterdam Participation Market, 17 November.
3. Making a school visit, 18 November.
4. Attending the world premiere of a Dutch documentary, 18 November. The best in an extraordinarily typical Máxima week, I suppose.

Photos: PPE/Buys/Het Koninklijk Huis/ANP/Dutch Photo Press

Wedding Wednesday: New Bridal Tiaras

Royal weddings are prime showcases for heirloom tiaras - after all, a girl does need something borrowed - but they're also often showcases for new tiaras. Whether you are honoring a new gift, you just feel like something new, or the family was plain out of tiaras for the new girl to have, there are plenty of weddings that have brought us new jewels to gaze upon.

Left to Right: Princess Claire of Belgium, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway

The Belgian royal family is not sitting on a huge stash of tiaras, so when Claire Coombs married in, they had to rustle up something new for her (reported by some to be a converted necklace from Queen Elisabeth). Norway has a fair amount of diadems, but not really anything that would fill the "all-purpose, small, and diamond" category for a new Crown Princess, so they bought one when Mette-Marit joined up. And though you might disagree with me, I've always thought that was part of the reason Crown Princess Mary got a newly purchased tiara too. Apart from the tiara that now sits on Princess Marie's head, smallish diamond gems that are not already in constant use seem to have been nonexistent.

L to R: Princess Marina, the Duchess of Kent; Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg (then a Princess of Belgium)

I'm afraid the days of lavish wedding gift jewel hauls are gone for most brides, but once upon a time getting multiple tiaras for your wedding was commonplace for a royal bride. Honoring a relative by wearing their gift on your big day is always smart, but perhaps even smarter is honoring the institutions that give you gifts. Greek Princess Marina wore a fringe tiara given to her by her new home, the City of London, while Belgian Princess Joséphine-Charlotte honored her home country by wearing both the Belgian Scroll Tiara and the Congo Diamond Tiara to marry into Luxembourg's royal family.

L to R: Sarah, Duchess of York; Princess Margaret; Empress Farah of Iran; Crown Princess Sarah of Brunei

Sometimes, for whatever reason, you just want something new. Sarah Ferguson wore a new tiara from Garrard, and Princess Margaret's Politmore Tiara was bought specially prior to her wedding day. Farah Diba wed in the Noor-ol-Ain Tiara which was created by Harry Winston for the occasion. I'd wager a guess that the tiara worn by Sarah Salleh for her wedding to Brunei's Crown Prince was freshly made too. All of these ladies could have worn something from their respective royal families, but for whatever reason - and I would guess the reasoning here is quite diverse - they opted for new instead.

L to R: Sophie, Countess of Wessex; Princess Máxima of the Netherlands; Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau

Finally, if you can't get something new, you settle for a new configuration of old stuff instead. Sophie wore a (new to us) configuration of old pieces when she became the Countess of Wessex, and Máxima put a new spin on an old gem by topping a pearl button tiara with diamond stars instead. Her sister-in-law Mabel did a similar thing by using the diamond-only setting of the family's large sapphire tiara.

As lovely and meaningful as traditions can be, I suppose there's something to be said for making your own mark, or putting special memories together with a piece that you'll call your own for the rest of your marriage. My personal favorite version is Máxima's - that sly little magpie was already showing us just how much fun she intended to have with the family jewel box.

If it was you...would you rather have an old tiara or a new one for your wedding day?

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 6-12 November

Here's what Máxima wore from 6-12 November:

1. Opening Money Week 2011, 7 November. A cape! Yay! I hope she swooped it around a bit, if so then I will forgive the matchy-matchy shoes.
2. At the opening conference of the European Office of the Sustainability Consortium, 8 November. A thoroughly typical outfit, topped with a new Natan coat.
3. Attending the Erasmus Prize award ceremony, 9 November. This is a little...lackluster, no?
4. Receiving the first coin made for Money Week, 10 November.
5. Welcoming Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) with her daughters, 12 November. My, my, I'm not sure when the last time was our colorful Máx was this monochrome for whole week (leave it to her to go with a reddish week instead of a grayish one, at least - bless!). We need some color variety, and for that we turn to the A-Team and their jaunty chapeaux:

Well done ladies, well done.

Photos: PPE/v.d. Werf/Dutch Photo Press/Nieboer

Wedding Wednesday: Queens and their Pre-Wedding Style

A few weeks ago we took a look at some of the pre-wedding outfits of our current crop of crown princesses. Now, it's time to pop back a generation - well, actually, just step up a level and mostly back a generation - to a few sovereigns/sovereign consorts and their pre-wedding ball attire. This is even better, if you ask me, for two reasons: 1. old school glamour, and 2. TIARAS. 'Nuff said, right?

Best First Impression

Fabiola de Mora y Aragón (Queen Fabiola of the Belgians) and Silvia Sommerlath (Queen Silvia of Sweden)

These two ladies didn't just marry into a royal family, they married straight into being queens. Trial by fire! As such, their pre-wedding appearances had a statement to make, and Fabiola wins with her tiara/crown which was a wedding present from General Franco. That's like pinning on a big ol' name tag that says: "HELLO! I am Your Queen!" Silvia obviously needed a little experience before she'd reach her full tiara hair potential, but this outing - her very first tiara appearance ever, friends, this is history in the making - of the Connaught Diamond Tiara is respectable enough. Everything else ended up taking a backseat to the fact that ABBA serenaded her with the first ever performance of "Dancing Queen" that night anyway.

Best of the Things We Need More Of

L to R: Crown Princess Margrethe of Denmark (now Queen, with and without coat), Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark (Queen Anne-Marie of Greece), Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (now Queen, with and without fur)

Let's count the ways these appearances are so much better than what we see today, shall we?

1. Multiple tiara appearances. All of these ladies donned a tiara on more than the occasions shown here before getting hitched. (For the record, Margrethe is wearing the romantic heart-shaped Baden Palmette Tiara, Anne-Marie is wearing the Emerald Parure Tiara, and Beatrix is wearing the Antique Pearl Tiara.) More multiple tiara event occasions, please.
2. Matching coats. Forget throwing a shawl over it and calling it a day! This is how we do evening glam!
3. Opera gloves. Somebody needs to bring the long glove back. Who should we start writing letters to?

Best of the Way Things Change

Princess Grace of Monaco, Princess Charlene of Monaco

My, my, how things do change. From tiaras and gowns and fur wraps to strapless palazzo pants, all in the course of a generation change. (Obviously these sovereign consorts are the exception to our queens and Charlene is our generation exception!)

Best of the Best

Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark (now Queen Sofia of Spain)

She's Glinda the Good Witch! This dress is some serious fairy godmother business, plus Sofia's already got the fairy godmother smile to boot, that's just the way she rolls. Can you see all the detailing and the petal effect on the skirt? It's amazing. Also, she gets double bonus points for wearing not one but two tiaras, both of which were given to her as wedding gifts: the Mellerio Shell Tiara on her head and the floral tiara around her neck. My absolute favorite of this lot.

Who did pre-wedding the best?

Photos: Corbis/Daylife/Hola

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 30 October-5 November

Here's what Máxima wore from 30 October-5 November:

1. Continuing the visit to the Dutch Caribbean in Bonaire, 31 October. Favorite outfit of the trip.

2. In Curacao, 1 November. Another visor hat!
3. Another Curacao outfit, 1 November. The return of the first visor hat! Woe is the top of her head, in the Caribbean sun. I do think the suit itself has potential, though. Get some non-Natan heels and a chignon up in there and we'd be in business.
4. Evening outfit, 1 November. I can't be objective when so many pics show this one needing another inch or two at the hem. As is, she's going to have to clasp her hands in front and swing that skirt like the bell it is to win my affections.
5. Second day in Curacao, 2 November.
6. Evening outfit, 2 November.

7. Moving on to St. Maarten, 3 November. Yeah, I would have been fine if we could have had just this red hat only, and not this red dress at all.
8. Another St. Maarten outfit, 3 November. Jewelry aside, this is another favorite look: simple but bright and cheery!
9. Evening outfit, 3 November. It's...a toga?
10. Visiting St. Eustatius, 4 November.
11. Visiting Saba, 5 November. Probably shouldn't like the repeated painting dress...but I do! Go figure.

Accessory and hair glimpses:

A bit dicey, this trip. Apart from her tiara appearances, Máxima is always at her best when she's on these pre-planned excursions - as opposed to her daily grind - but I'm still feeling a little let down. I shall seek consolation in the sapphires.

Photos: PPE/Nieboer/Dutch Photo Press

Tiara Thursday: The Antique Pearl Tiara

Some of the gems that made your lists of favorite tiaras were quite surprising to me – but not this one. I wholeheartedly agree with those of you that called out the simple yet significant Antique Pearl Tiara from the extensive Dutch collection as a personal favorite.

The Antique Pearl Tiara

This tiara’s story starts with a different diadem entirely: a pearl and diamond headpiece made for Queen Anna of the Netherlands, born Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, in 1840 by the Russian court jeweler Duval for the investiture of her husband, King Willem II. It’s not known exactly what became of this initial tiara; it may have been passed down to the couple’s daughter Grand Duchess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach alongside other items from Anna’s jewel box.

Queen Anna in the original tiara

Sometime around 1900 Anna’s granddaughter Queen Wilhelmina decided to have a new tiara made to replicate the old one. The new band alternates diamonds in fleur-de-lis shapes with single diamond uprights above a diamond garland. The band can be worn on its own, as Princess Máxima has done, or it can be worn with 7 drop pearls attached to the single diamonds.

Queen Wilhelmina (left) and Queen Juliana (center and right)

The pearls are the real standout features of this tiara. Four of them are said to have belonged to Princess Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. Amalia was married to Frederik Hendrik, the Prince of Orange, before there was such a thing as a “King of the Netherlands”. She lived from 1602-1675 and that means these pearls are very possibly the oldest items in the family collection (it’s also where our name – “Antique Pearl Tiara” – comes from).  The largest is an extremely rare large pearl, weighing around 41 grains.

Queen Beatrix

Like its fellow Dutch tiara cousins, this was placed in the family jewel foundation by Queen Juliana. This makes it available to a variety of family members; Queen Beatrix, her sister Princess Margriet, and her daughter-in-law Princess Máxima have all worn it.

Princess Máxima with and without the pearls

In fact, this is the very first tiara Máxima ever wore, to Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s wedding in 2001. Back then she may have been a royal fiancée, but she was still just plain Ms. Máxima Zorreguieta, a few months away from marrying a prince. She wore it without the pearls, a look I’m not terribly fond of (it’s so short!), but in that context it was perfect - sort of a half tiara for a half princess.

Where does this one rank on your list of favorites?

Photos: ANP/Corbis

Royal Splendor 101: Family Jewel Foundations

This is Part 2 of our series on jewel ownership.

Swedish foundation jewels

Second to a piece of jewelry being included as a part of a set of crown jewels, I'd say the most secure way to keep a gem in the royal family is to include as part of a family foundation. Only a few countries use this strategy and if you call yourself a magpie, you should prepare yourself now to applaud those families that have one and use it to its greatest advantage.

What is a family foundation? For our purposes, a family foundation is an entity which is created to manage and maintain precious objects. This can include jewels, of course, but can also extend to furniture, art, and other valuables. The benefit here is that once objects are donated to the foundation, they cease to be personal property and are thus exempt from things like inheritance laws and taxes. Family foundations have less state involvement to them and have fewer restrictions on wearers and wearing occasions and locations than crown jewels do, generally speaking.

How does this affect the size of a jewel collection? If you recall, I posited that one of the things that determines the size of a royal jewel collection is the ability of the family to keep hold of their gems over time. Enter the family foundation: not only are these items safe from ugly inheritance issues, they are not to be sold or given away by other means, meaning that important historical collections are kept intact and preserved for generations to come.

Take Sweden, for example. Not only do they have one of the largest jewel collections, they have one of the most historical: a number of their pieces date all the way back to the Napoleonic era. This size and level of historical importance is directly due to the fact that they have a family foundation (well, more than one) to hold the jewels and other sorts of goodies as mentioned previously too.

Some of the tiaras belonging to the Bernadotte Family Foundation

How does this affect the sharing of a jewel collection? It’s no mistake that the best examples of family foundation usage are Sweden and the Netherlands, and both of those countries share their jewels more than others.

The family foundation that holds the Dutch jewels is relatively new. King William III (reign: 1849-1890) had only one child and heir, Queen Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina also had only one child, Queen Juliana, which meant that the royal collection grew as personal property of the sovereign for decades without being divided up by inheritance. But Juliana had four daughters (including the current monarch, Queen Beatrix), and the laws of the land would require that they split the inheritance between them. Juliana knew that not only would historically important items leave the family line, her daughters would face massively high taxes on anything they inherited. And so she created a foundation and donated her gems. The jewels stayed a part of the family for future generations to use, her daughters were free of that sparkly tax burden, and they still get to use the jewels. All in all, a very smart move.

Some of the tiaras included in the Dutch family foundation

So now we have the answer to one of our original questions: how can Princess Máxima wear so many different tiaras? Because she’s not borrowing them from Queen Beatrix personally; she gets them from the foundation. Certainly one gets the sense that Beatrix doesn’t mind her digging through the vaults, but it’s quite different from asking for a personal jewel loan every time a state banquet nears.

Danish foundation jewels

Does this mean all foundation jewels are shared? No, certainly not. Even in the Netherlands, some of the biggest pieces are only worn by Beatrix (including the first two tiaras above). In Sweden, Queen Silvia tends to keep the largest ones to herself most of the time, and she is the only one that wears the Braganza Tiara.

Denmark has a family foundation as well – formed by King Frederik VIII and Queen Louise in 1910; one of Queen Margrethe’s favorite pieces, the Pearl Poiré Tiara (shown at right), belongs to it – but there’s still no sharing happening in that country.

Are foundations all-inclusive? Nope, foundations don’t cover all the jewels in a country. Denmark has their crown jewels, of course, and all countries – even those with foundations – have jewels that are personal property belonging to individual family members. And personal property is just where we will pick up when we continue next time.

Photos: PPE/Daylife/Svenskdam

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 23-29 October

Here's what Máxima wore from 23-29 October:

1. Opening an exhibition at Dutch Design Week, 24 October.
2. a) Two events on 25 October with an accessory swap (b and c) in between, starting with creepy spider brooches and ending with a gorgeous pair of earrings. This isn't the first time she's done this dress with gray tights and brown shoes. It baffles me.
3. Attending the "Development of Business" conference, 26 October. I told you I love capes and I won't be swayed, even if this is a bow-tie mess.
4. Arriving in Aruba for a 10 day official visit to the Dutch Caribbean with Queen Beatrix and Prince Willem-Alexander, 27 October. Mustard! Now there's a statement color.
5. a) Official arrival ceremony on day 1, 28 October.  Okay. Let's talk about this. At first glance, my reaction was: "FABULOUS!" She looked so glam. And then I sussed out what was really happening with the hat (b). And then I thought: "Is she making a pit stop poolside in Boca Raton later?" So...there you go. At least I still think her shoes are fabulous, even if I do fear for her toe circulation.

6. a) Visiting a music festival on day 1, 28 October in a hat fit for Mango from Saturday Night Live (b).
7. a) Official welcome reception, day 1, 28 October, repeating a dress worn at Nikolaos and Tatiana's pre-wedding reception. At least there's a brooch (b)!
8. a) Visiting a national park and a residence on day 2, 29 October, with hat (b) and some serious earrings (c). Oh, you don't pull out your bling for a trip to the national park? How sad for you.
9. a and b) At a women's shelter on day 2, 29 October. And this is exactly why our Máxima is particularly well suited for a Caribbean tour. Well, that and this too:

Right at home, no?

Photos: Daylife/Getty Images/Purepeople/Abaca/24ora.com/DutchPhotoPress/PPE/Nieboer

Week in Review: Princess Máxima, 9-15 October

Here's what Máxima wore from 9-15 October:

1. At a "Women in Detention" symposium, 10 October.
2. Opening the 25th Cinekid Festival, 12 October. Well, I like this outing of last week's shirt better, but this is still not a banner week. Just kind of meh all over.

Photos: Dutch Photo Press/Purepeople/Abaca

Royal Splendor 101: Tiaras and Hair

Do you  know why I have such a fanatical affection for tiaras? It's the fantasy thing. (Why yes, Cinderella was my favorite fairy tale growing up, thanks for asking.) Personally, I'd be happy to imagine that these magical diadems are delicately placed atop a royal head by a troupe of wee birds chirping a merry tune. But not all of you are willing to be so naive, apparently, since the question of how exactly these things stay on comes up regularly.

In reality, ladies today are fighting an uphill battle when it comes to tiara attachment. Tiaras can be a century or two old - think how much hairstyles have changed since the initial designs were completed. Use of wigs and hairpieces used to be incredibly common, plus people didn't wash their hair all that often. All of that made it easier to wear a tiara. Also, tiara attachment isn't exactly a specialty of modern hairstylists as it once would have been. But they make it work regardless, bless 'em, and today we're talking about a few of the ways they do it.

Tiaras with full circle frames: the Delhi Durbar Tiara (left) and Princess Mary's (daughter of George V and Mary) Fringe Tiara (right)

Tiaras themselves offer some sort of assistance in terms of noggin attachment, obviously. These things are meant to be used after all. On something like a circlet, where the gems wrap all or nearly all the way around the head, attachment is pretty self-explanatory. Other tiaras may include a full circular base even if the gems are only semi-circular.

The Boucheron Honeycomb Tiara (left) and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (right) with their back elastics

If the frame does not encircle the entire head, an elastic can be added at the back (there are often small loops for this) to hold the tiara snugly to the head. Diana, Princess of Wales' hairdresser confessed to using a knicker elastic to get the job done. Doesn't matter what you use, it should all be concealed underneath the hair at the back of the head.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden wears the Connaught Diamond Tiara at her sister's wedding

Some tiaras have a base that can be wrapped in fabric or ribbon - something with a bit of cushion to it, preferably. This helps not only with comfort but can add some traction for use with shiny, freshly washed hair. It also gives the hairpins a better spot to hang on to, as hairpins are another obvious method of sticking a tiara to a hairdo. (As some of you noted on when we discussed Sophie's Wedding Tiara, there was a very visible pin in the close up picture.) For best results, the wrapping should match the wearer's hair color as closely as possible so as to disappear - Madeleine makes a painfully obvious example for us above while wearing a tiara customized for her mother's dark hair on her bleached blonde locks. The most attractive tiara appearances, if you ask me, are the ones that use the rest of the hair to conceal the base as completely as possible, a feat that is notably easier on longer and darker hair.

From L to R: Crown Princess Margarita of Romania's unnaturally red base sticks out from her red hair; the Princess of Wales and Queen Sofia have shorter hair which doesn't conceal bases as well; and Crown Princess Mary's flat part doesn't conceal anything

From here, it's really up to the royal hairstylist to come up with methods to get the tiara to sit attractively and securely, something that seems to be an easier task on thicker locks with more texture to them (and that's why it was a simpler feat in the days of wigs and unwashed hair).

Tiaras with braids, L to R: Princess Astrid of Belgium, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the Duchess of Cambridge

One sneaky tactic to help secure a tiara is to make a small braid in the hair where the tiara will sit. Braids can just be decorative, of course, but they can also be functional: they give you a secure place for sticking pins, or even for sewing the thing on. Yes, sewing it on: stitching into a hidden plait is precisely how the Duchess of Cambridge's team ensured the Halo Scroll Tiara would not fall off on her wedding day.

Queen Silvia, 2010 Nobel Prize ceremony

There's really no end to the trickery a hairstylist can come up with to get these things in place. The shot of Queen Silvia's hair at the left gives away a little hint of the understructure involved in creating what looks like an effortless 'do.

While we're killing the magic of wearing a tiara, we might as well go all the way and answer yet another common question: are tiaras uncomfortable? Yeah, sometimes. Some ladies are better suited to handling the perils of tiara wearing, while others suffer. And some tiaras are better suited to being worn than others; weights vary, and some have better capabilities to be adjusted for different head shapes.

Sweden's Nine Prong Tiara, or Queen Sophia's Diamond Tiara if you prefer, is apparently quite inflexible and can be rather uncomfortable. It certainly looked like a painful fit when the King's sister Princess Birgitta wore it to Victoria's wedding, and she apparently had problems with it staying on properly. Another uncomfortable gem in the Swedish collection is the Braganza Tiara; Queen Louise complained that it left her with a sore head and a headache. (We'll tackle this beast - including how much it actually weighs - on Thursday.)

Diana, Princess of Wales found the whole tiara-wearing experience uncomfortable. Not only was the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara heavy and headache-causing, the swinging pearls clanked around noisily in their arches. Part of the reason she used her family's tiara as an alternative was because it was lighter, but even that one reportedly left her with a splitting headache on her wedding day.

Comfort levels, L to R: Princess Birgitta in the Nine Prong Tiara, Queen Louise in the Braganza Tiara, the Princess of Wales in the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara, Queen Beatrix in Queen Emma's Diamond Tiara, Queen Elizabeth in the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara

Another royal headache victim is Queen Beatrix, and one imagines it is no coincidence that she frequently picks from the small and moderately sized tiaras in the family collection. Her favorite seems to be Queen Emma's Diamond Tiara with its small floral motif. Queen Elizabeth also has her favorites, the top of which is the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. Among the reasons she's said to love it so: it's light. (Queen Elizabeth puts on her own tiaras, by the way. I suppose that's just another benefit of keeping the same hairstyle for decades at a time.) Too bad I'm not right about those singing birds, hmm? Just think of the variety we could have if none of this was a factor in tiara selection...

Photos: Geoffrey Munn's "Tiaras: A History of Splendour"/Polfoto/Life/Svensdam