![Princess Caroline of Hanover and Prince Albert II of Monaco attend the Monaco National Day gala concert at the Grimaldi Forum on November 19, 2010 in Monaco (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline08.jpg?resize=1200%2C910&ssl=1)
Today, Princess Caroline of Monaco celebrates her birthday, and in her honor, we’re taking a look at a fascinating jewel from her collection: her Chaumet diamond stomacher.
![Princess Caroline of Hanover attends the Monaco National Day gala concert at the Grimaldi Forum on November 19, 2010 in Monaco (BRUNO BEBERT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline06.jpg?resize=921%2C1266&ssl=1)
The nineteenth-century diamond ornament has a natural design motif, representing a bouquet of the Typha plant—known in various parts of the world as reeds, cattails, or bulrushes, among other names. Ursula at Royal Magazin writes that the jewel was made by Chaumet in the 1890s, and it has been sold at least once in a public auction (in the 1980s).
![Princess Caroline and Prince Albert attend the Rose Ball in Monaco, March 20, 1999 (Abaca Press/Alamy)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline05.jpg?resize=1089%2C1713&ssl=1)
Princess Caroline has had the reed ornament in her jewelry collection for more than two decades. One of her earlier appearances in the jewel seems to be this outing at the Rose Ball in Monaco in March 1999. She highlighted the jewel by wearing it on a black Grecian-inspired gown with a one-shoulder neckline.
![Prince Ernst-August of Hanover, Princess Caroline, and Karl Lagerfeld attend the Rose Ball in Monaco, March 20, 1999 (Abaca Press/Alamy)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline04.jpg?resize=1200%2C903&ssl=1)
Ursula also notes that the stomacher was reportedly gifted to Caroline by her longtime friend, Karl Lagerfeld. Here, she poses with her estranged husband, Prince Ernst-August of Hanover, and Lagerfeld at the 1999 Rose Ball.
![On the eve of the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson, Princess Caroline of Hanover arrives for a gala at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, 13 May 2004 (DPA Picture Alliance Archive/Alamy)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline01.jpg?resize=1200%2C1717&ssl=1)
Princess Caroline made another high-profile appearance in the stomacher in May 2004, when she attended the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark in Copenhagen. She wore the ornament, facing downward this time, on her gown for the pre-wedding gala held at the Royal Theatre on the night before the wedding.
![Princess Caroline and Prince Ernst-August of Hanover arrive at the Royal Theatre to attend a gala performance in honor of Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson's wedding, May 13, 2004, in Copenhagen, Denmark (Getty Images)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline07.jpg?resize=1200%2C2358&ssl=1)
She continued the natural theme with her other jewels for the pre-wedding gala, wearing her diamond floral earrings and the Hanoverian Floral Tiara, an imposing antique jewel from the collection of her husband’s family.
![Princess Caroline of Hanover attends the Monaco National Day gala concert at the Grimaldi Forum on November 19, 2010 in Monaco (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline03.jpg?resize=1200%2C1816&ssl=1)
One of Caroline’s most recent appearances in the reed ornament came in November 2010, when she wore it with another black gown for the National Day Gala at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
![Princess Caroline of Hanover attends the Monaco National Day gala concert at the Grimaldi Forum on November 19, 2010 in Monaco (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0123-caroline02.jpg?resize=1200%2C1736&ssl=1)
Here’s a better look at the stomacher from that occasion. Caroline also wore her diamond floral earrings on this particular outing. The ornament is massive, and must be difficult to wear, but leave it to Caroline to find multiple different ways to highlight the gorgeous antique piece.
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