Royal Jewels

[surfgirl]

Date: 7/2/2008 6:23:24 PM
Author: LadyMaria
Cool info surfgirl! So lobala is sort of like a dowry?

The only other name mentioned in the orginal caption on the picture of Lalla Salma was Lalla Hasna, who is one of King Mohammad''s sisters. He has two other sisters, Lalla Meryrem and Lalla Asma. Given that they are all in the same style of robes, I am assuming the other two women are the other two sisters. I could be wrong though...it won''t be the first time!

I don''t have much on Thai jewelry. Here is a picture of a Thai style tiara.

Exactly LadyM, lobala is a dowry price, paid in cattle, which are considered the most valuable commodity in East and Southern Africa. In fact, a man and woman can have a traditional ceremony if they want to be married but unless/until the man pays the lobala to the bride''s family, they cannot marry in the church. Some couples live together for decades before the guy pays off the bride price!

That Thai tiara is lovely and it seems like a typical Thai style flame pattern on top.

That photo I was referring to is the one with Lalla and one woman and one man in a white suit with red sash, both are Thai but I dont know if they are Thai Royals or officials...I dont recognize the Thai woman so they might not be royals...And if you run across any old photos of Queen Sirikit, she was quite stunning as a young queen! And the King was quite the looker as well!

 

[LadyMaria]

I’m not as well versed with the Thai royal family as surfgirl is (feel free to correct me when necessary) but here’s what I’ve got so far.

The current monarch is King Bhumibol and his wife is Queen Sirikirt. At one point the Bhumibol had to serve as a Buddhist monk and Sirikirt was acting reagent and she did a pretty good job. They have 4 children.

The oldest is Princess Ubol Ratana (surfgirl: is “Ubol” an honor title of some kind?). She is married to an American, Peter Ladd Jensen. One of their sons, Bhumi was autistic and he was killed in the 2004 tsunami…very sad.

The next child is Prince Vajiralongkorn Dipangkorn. He has had 3 wives, the current being Princess Sirasmi. They have one son. It sounds like Prince Vajiralongkorn Dipangkorn was quite the player in his younger days, but seems to have settled down now.

The two youngest children of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikirt are Princess Sirindhorm and Princess Chulabhorn. Neither is married.

Here is Queen Sirikirt wearing a fringe tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

This is a unique choker necklace of pink sapphires, emeralds, and pearls worn by Queen Sirikirt.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here we have a stunning emerald necklace with matching earrings.

 

[LadyMaria]

Next a ruby necklace worn by Queen Sirikirt.

 

[LadyMaria]

This sapphire necklace has a similar design to the emerald necklace. She is also wearing the headband style tiara I mentioned earlier.

 

[LadyMaria]

Finally, here is Queen Sirikirt wearing a Thai style tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

QEII held the annual ceremony for the Order of the Thistle this weekend in Scotland. Here is a picture of the event. The robes are very similar to the Order of the Garter, excpet for the fact that the Order of the Thistle robes are green while the Order of the Garter is blue.

Here''s a fabulous link that explains a ton of history about the Order of the Garter, with a bit about the Order of the Thistle at the end.

http://www.etoile.co.uk/Columns/Ken/080622.html

 

[diamondseeker2006]

LadyMaria, thank you for posting all these new pictures!

 

[LadyMaria]

How about some bling form Jordan?

The current ruler is King Abullah II. His wife is Queen Rania and they have 4 children. It was rather unexpected for Abullah to end up being King.

Abdullah’s father was King Hussein and his mother was Hussein’s second wife,Princess Muna. Muna was never officially named queen. Muna and Hussein later divorced. King Hussein married 2 more times.

His last wife was the American Lisa Halaby. One story I read said that Hussein used the ABBA song “Take a Chance on Me” to convince Lisa to go out with him (he was almost twice her age). When she married King Hussein he renamed her Queen Noor. “Noor” means “light” in Arabic. King Hussein and Queen Noor had 4 children, the oldest being Prince Hamzah. Hamzah was the Crown Prince.

Here is Queen Noor with a fringe tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

Another picture of Queen Noor. I think it’s the same tiara, but it is hard to tell.

 

[LadyMaria]

Just before his death in 1999, King Hussein changed the line of succession and named his oldest son from his second marriage, Abdullah, as the next in line (his first marriage only produced a daughter). Suddenly Abdullah and his wife Rania were King and Queen..

Here is a formal shot of Queen Rania. She is wearing a tiara she borrowed from her sister-in-law. This is known as Queen Alia’s Tiara. Alia was the third wife of King Hussein and she died in a helicopter crash.

 

[LadyMaria]

Queen Rania again in Queen Alia’s tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

She borrows this tiara a lot…here’s Queen Rania a third time with the same tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is Queen Rania in an emerald tiara. This tiara just doesn’t do it for me. I like emeralds, but this tiara is just too green, too many emeralds. Somehow it comes across looking like a junk store trinket.

 

[LadyMaria]

I don’t know if this really counts as a ROCK (Really Obscure Country and Kingdom) since it is no longer a ruling family…I’m talking about the Savoy royal family of Italy.

Let’s start with Queen Margherita. She was married to King Umberto I of Italy. They had one son, Victor Emmanuel. Umberto was assassinated and his son took the throne. Queen Margherita was fond of bling, seen here decked out in many splendid jewels.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here we have Queen Margherita wearing the Savoy Knot tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

A close-up of the Savoy Knott tiara.

 

[LadyMaria]

King Victor Emmanuel III married Elena of Montenegro. They had five children. Power in Italy went back and forth between the King and dictator Bennito Mussolini. Amidst much political bantering, Victor Emmanuel ended up having to give his throne to his son, Umberto. Here is Queen Elena in slightly more modest jewelry than Queen Margherita.

 

[LadyMaria]

The new King Umberto II was married to Marie Jose of Belgium. They only reigned for one month as the monarchy came to an end. They had 4 children.

Here is Marie Jose on her wedding day. She is wearing a massive tiara that can be rearranged several different ways. Here Queen Marie Jose is wearing it quite spread out.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is another shot of Queen Marie Jose. She has taken some pieces off the tiara and it is wearing it in a more traditional style.

 

[LadyMaria]

The Pretender to Italian throne is Vittorio Emanuele. He is married to Marina Doria. Here is a shot of Marina Doria wearing the same tiara at Prince Fredrick of Denmark’s 2004 wedding. They have one son, Emanuele Filiberto.

 

[LadyMaria]

Emanuele Filiberto married Clothtilde Courau in 2003. They have 2 daughters. Here they are on their wedding day. She is wearing a tiara from the House of Savoy. Her bouquet is strategically placed…she was 6 months pregnant at the time.

 

[LadyMaria]

Many jewels of Queen Marie Jose auctioned off in 2007. Here is the turquoise and diamond necklace and tiara that was her wedding gift from her parents.

 

[LadyMaria]

Here is a tiara of pearls and diamonds worn by Queen Marie Jose.

View attachment pearltiara3-450.jpg

 

[LadyMaria]

And finally, an emerald and diamond necklace made by Van Cleef and Arpels for Queen Marie Jose of Savoy.

 

[jewelerman]

I agree that the all emerald tiara looks bad... like it a new year party hat...the turquiose pieces are spectacular as is the van cleef and arpel necklace.Thanks for posting so often...its appreciated and i encourage you post as much as you can!

 

[surfgirl]

Heh...that emerald tiara looks like something a chick would be wearing at Mardi Gras while trying to get beads thrown at her...

The turquoise and diamond set is amazing and I can tell those are delicious old cut stones. Yum!

 

[LadyMaria]

What is Nepal famous for? Mount Everest or its Royal Family? The answer may surprise you.

Next to the death of Princess Diana, Nepal has endured one of the most tragic events for any royal family. In 2001, the then Crown Prince Dipendra barged in on a family dinner and killed his parents, King Birendra and Queen Aiswarya. He also shot his sister, Princess Shruti and brother Prince Nirajan. The reason for Dipendra going crazy was because his family opposed his relationship with Devyani Rana, the daughter of an Indian upper class family. Birendra’s brother, Gyanendra became king and his wife, Komal, became queen. Here she is in her royal robes with her husband in his military uniform.

 

[LadyMaria]

A closer picture of Queen Komal from the same event.