Last weekend, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg welcomed the President of Portugal to the grand duchy, with Stéphanie wearing special jewelry that nodded to the two nations’ shared history.
On Saturday, Portuguese President António José Seguro, along with his wife, Margarida Maldonado Freitas, and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, arrived in Luxembourg for an official visit with Grand Duke Guillaume V and Grand Duchess Stéphanie. The trip was organized to take place just before Portugal’s National Day, which falls on June 10. The official website of the court noted that President Seguro “chose to visit Luxembourg, highlighting the importance of the Portuguese community established in the country.”
The visit was a daytime affair with an official luncheon rather than an evening banquet, so the ladies wore elevated daywear for the occasion. Grand Duchess Stéphanie selected a raspberry-hued dress from The Fold. You can see more details of the garment in another available colorway here.
Stéphanie’s choice of jewelry for the event emphasized the grand ducal family’s Portuguese royal heritage. She wore one of the family’s nineteenth-century diamond rivière necklaces with fabulous antique diamond and pearl drop earrings from the family vaults. But it was her brooch, a delicate négligée pendant, that links back to the family’s Portuguese roots.
The diamond and pearl pendant originally belonged to Grand Duchess Maria Ana of Luxembourg, the wife of Grand Duke Guillaume IV and the mother of both Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde and Grand Duchess Charlotte. Maria Ana was the fifth child of King Miguel I of Portugal, who wrested the throne away from his young niece in 1828. Miguel reigned for six bloody years in Portugal until he was forced to abdicate and sent into exile.
Banished from Portugal, Miguel married a young German princess and raised seven children with her in Baden. All of their daughters made glittering matches. Their descendants today include the present pretender to the Portuguese throne, the Duke of Braganza, as well as the King of the Belgians, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Prince of Liechtenstein, and the head of the House of Habsburg. Grand Duke Guillaume V actually descends from Miguel twice over, through both his great-grandmother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, and his great-grandfather, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma.
Grand Duchess Charlotte wears her mother’s diamond and pearl négligée pendant in this portrait, which dates to the early 1920s. A piece of “négligée” jewelry features a pair of parallel pendants that are suspended at uneven lengths.
In recent years, the pendant has popped up occasionally at Luxembourgish royal functions. Here, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wears it as a brooch on National Day in June 2010.
And here’s another look at Grand Duchess Stéphanie wearing the pendant as a brooch during last week’s Portuguese visit. Little jewelry nods like these are such an interesting way to trace history, aren’t they?
Before I leave you today, a scheduling note. Because the calendar is so jam-packed for the next two weekends, there will be no Saturday articles shared at Hidden Gems on June 13 or June 20. Instead, be sure to check back often here at The Court Jeweller for regular coverage, including features on Trooping the Colour and the Swedish golden wedding anniversary celebrations, both of which take place tomorrow. Fingers crossed for some spectacular jewels!
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