To round out our celebrations of the jewelry worn by Queen Paola of Belgium, we're having a look at a tiara that she wore during the reign of her husband, King Albert II. The grandest jewel in the Belgian royal collection is the Nine Provinces Tiara, a sparkler designated for the use of the nation's queens and queens consort.
The tiara was originally worn by Queen Astrid; she's wearing the full version of the flexible, adaptable tiara in the portrait above. (You can find a bit more about the tiara's provenance and history here!) Today, the tiara is worn by Paola's daughter-in-law, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, but Paola wore the piece as a tiara and as a necklace during her twenty years as the Belgian queen. Here's a look at some of the ways that Paola wore the tiara.
State Visit to Spain, 1994
State Visit to Japan, 1996
State Visit from Norway, 2003
Danish Royal Wedding, 2004
(worn as a necklace)
State Visit from the Netherlands, 2006
State Visit from Luxembourg, 2007
