Tiara Thursday: The Marichalar Tiara

The Marichalar Tiara

Now that the days of royals exclusively marrying other royals have passed, we don’t see too many non-royal spouses bringing new tiaras into the mix from their own families. Jaime de Marichalar’s family is an exception to the rule. After proposing to Infanta Elena of Spain, his family (his parents are the Count and Countess of Ripalda) gave Elena this family tiara as a gift.

On her wedding day

A textbook Neoclassical diadem, the Marichalar Tiara features diamonds and platinum with a base of metal circles, a laurel wreath middle, and a top with a meander or Greek key motif.

Elena chose to honor her in-laws by wearing this piece on her wedding day. She’d worn other pieces from her own family’s collections in the years before her wedding, but the wedding marked a switch to the Marichalar Tiara. It has been her primary tiara ever since. I can’t say I like it much myself (Neoclassical – not for me, that), but I can certainly see from a practical standpoint why she felt this one was a keeper: with its petite size and platinum setting, it could be light and easy to wear.

At Crown Princess Victoria's wedding

I, like many, wondered if we would continue to see Elena wear the tiara after her divorce, or if she would either have given it back or just preferred to borrow from her mother once again. But she turned up at her first tiara event since her divorce – Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden’s 2010 wedding – with the Marichalar blazing. I'd imagine she will continue to use it, though I think tiara events for Elena will be even more sparse now after the year the Spanish royal family's had.

Are you a fan of this Neoclassical gem? 

Photos: Getty Images/Hola/Corbis