Tea at Trianon: Empress Eugenie's Pearl Diadem

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Empress Eugenie's Pearl Diadem

From Tatler:

In celebration of June’s birthstone, the Tiara of the Month is this monumental pearl diadem by Gabriel Lemonnier, which was commissioned by Napoleon III in 1853 as a wedding gift to his bride, Eugénie de Montigjo. The tiara features 212 pearls and nearly 2000 diamonds set in foliage scrolls with upright pear-shaped pearls, set in silver.
The stones had belonged to the French State Treasury, as was the practice at this time, while France journeyed in and out of monarchical rule. After his defeat by Prussia in 1870, Napoleon and Eugénie took exile in England where they were hosted by Queen Victoria, and the tiara was returned to the French State. In 1887 during the Third Republic of France the tiara was sold, and out of the 69 lots put up for sale, 24 were purchased by Tiffany & Co, the most successful bidder at the auction.
In 1890 the tiara was resold and bought by Albert, 8th Prince von Thurn und Taxis as a wedding gift to his future bride Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria. The House of Thurn und Taxis were German nobility who had amassed a fortune largely due to their early involvement in establishing the European postal service.
The tiara was seen again when the 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Johannes, married German aristocrat Countess Gloria von Schönburg-Glauchau in 1980. Aged just 20, her new husband was 34 years her senior and she soon became known as the 'Punk Princess' for her extravagant appearance and lifestyle. For the Prince’s 60th birthday party she dressed as Marie Antoinette and was lowered down to join the other guests on a golden cloud attached to a zip wire.
It was only when the Prince died in 1992 that Gloria turned herself into a devout Catholic businesswoman to repay the £300 million debt which she had unexpectedly inherited. The precious tiara was therefore put up for auction once more, and this time was purchased by Friends of The Louvre, where it is still on display today - reunited with its homeland. (Read more.)