
Time for a Friday field trip, magpies! One of our lovely readers recently traveled to see an intriguing exhibition of costume jewelry—including several pieces inspired by genuine royal jewels.

Our friend Lady Maria recently made a trip to see “All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives,” one of the traveling exhibitions sponsored by Walt Disney Pictures. The exhibition features costume jewelry props from numerous Disney productions, and today, I’m sharing some pictures that Lady Maria took from the section devoted to the films from The Princess Diaries franchise.

The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) starred Dame Julie Andrews as the Queen of Genovia, a fictional European country. Her granddaughter, Mia, was played by a young Anne Hathaway. In the films and the books that inspired them, Mia discovers a secret about her late father’s family: he was a European prince, and she is in line to inherit the throne. Hijinks ensue as the teenager learns how to be “royal,” and there of course are gowns and tiaras involved.

This photograph from the exhibitions shows the primary tiara that Mia wears throughout both films. It’s the one that her grandmother first presents to her, and it’s featured prominently in the film poster and other promotional materials for the first movie.

The “diamond” tiara has a floral-inspired design, with large pear-shaped stones at the top of the piece. Lady Maria has provided us with this interesting view of the back of the prop tiara. She noted, “The rhinestones did not have open backs”—which is one of the ways that it’s easy to tell that this is not genuine jewelry, as most tiaras feature open settings for the gemstones, allowing light to pass through and enhance the overall sparkle of the piece. Lady Maria added, “I also noticed the ribbon sewn on the inside of the tiara for ease of sticking bobby pins.”

If the tiara looks a little familiar, movie posters aside, there’s a good reason: it’s a copy of a genuine tiara from the archives of Chaumet. The tiara, which features fuchsia flowers in its design, was produced by the firm for a French aristocrat, Hedwige de la Rochefoucauld. The piece was a gift to Hedwige from her parents, Armand de La Rochefoucauld, Duke de Doudeauville and Princess Louise Radziwill, to celebrate her 1919 wedding to Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma.
Sixtus, as his name suggests, was the sixth son of Robert I, Duke of Parma. Among Sixtus’s twenty-three (!) siblings were Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria, Empress Zita of Austria-Hungary, and Prince Felix of Luxembourg. Princess Hedwige’s diamond fuchsia tiara was inherited by their only daughter, Princess Isabella, and is now owned by Chaumet as part of their archive. The tiara has sometimes been loaned out for films and photo shoots. Some have speculated that Anne Hathaway may have worn the genuine Chaumet tiara for some of the filming of The Princess Diaries, but I don’t think we know that for sure.

The second film from the series, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, includes a notable royal wedding scene. In the movie, Mia wears a classic bridal gown with a long veil and a tiara for the wedding sequence.

The gown made for Mia by the film’s costume department was also on display as part of the traveling exhibition, and Lady Maria snapped a few photos for us to peruse. This image makes it clear that the dress features an embellished lace bodice and a satin skirt with a train, as well as a lace veil and tiara.

Here’s a closer look at the tiara, which is clearly another costume jewelry piece. Set with rhinestones, the petite tiara features a trefoil design as its centerpiece, echoing some of the floral lace designs from the veil.

Mia’s royal wedding ensemble also has its roots in a genuine royal wedding moment. It’s based on the wedding gown, veil, and tiara worn by Claire Coombs when she married Prince Laurent of Belgium in April 2003. (Filming for the Princess Diaries sequel began a few months later in November 2004.) Claire’s gown was made by Édouard Vermeulen, the Belgian couturier who runs the label Natan, and her veil was an antique piece of lace on loan from her new mother-in-law, Queen Paola. Her diamond tiara was a wedding present from her new parents-in-law.

The Disney exhibition acknowledges the link between Princess Claire’s bridal ensemble and the one worn by Mia in the second film, showing photographs of the two dresses side by side. But Lady Maria notes that some additional signage would be helpful for fans of the film to better understand the connection. She told me, “A group that was looking before me was confused because they saw the dress was similar but didn’t remember any part of the movie where Mia was walking out with Andrew … I told them who the picture was and shamelessly plugged The Court Jeweller if they wanted more information.” (I love it! Welcome to anyone who has now found us!)

The sequel film also includes a coronation scene, which took some visual inspiration from the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Above, you’ll see a view of Mia in her coronation gown, robes, and regalia from the movie.

And here’s a view of the coronation ensemble from the Disney exhibition, provided to us by Lady Maria. The costume department opted to produce robes made from a brocade-like fabric instead of trying to replicate the fur and velvet of Elizabeth II’s coronation robes.

And here’s a photograph showing a side view of the crown worn by Mia during the coronation scene. The costume crown borrows elements from the Imperial State Crown, pairing them with a red velvet cap.

Mia’s coronation orb, a small-scale replica of British royal examples, is also included in the exhibition of props from the film.

For comparison’s sake, here’s Cecil Beaton’s classic coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, taken on Coronation Day in 1953. The image was taken at Buckingham Palace in front of a painted backdrop depicting the interior of Westminster Abbey.

The same image is also paired with a still from the Princess Diaries coronation scene in the traveling Disney exhibition. What do you think: do the props and costumes produced for the films do justice to the originals? (Also, please join me in extending a big thanks to Lady Maria for bringing us along on her museum visit!)
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