The Crown Prince of Denmark's Wedding: HRH The Duchess of Calabria
Royal watchers everywhere sucked in a big gasp of surprise when Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies showed up at the Danish royal wedding wearing the Ancona Tiara, this massive diamond-and-pearl sparkler. Why the surprise? This is an heirloom tiara -- but not an heirloom from this branch of Bourbon-Two Sicilies royals.
The Ancona was made in 1817 for Princess Maria Anna of Saxony on the occasion of her wedding to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Maria Anna did not live long, and after her death, the tiara was inherited by Archduchess Maria Isabella of Austria, the Grand Duke's daughter by his second wife, Maria Antoinetta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. In good, old-fashioned European royal tradition, Maria Isabella married her uncle. (Ew.) The uncle was a prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies -- which, for typing purposes, I'm going to call B2S from here on out -- and that's where the tiara came into the B2S family.
By the 1860s, Italy was unifying and the B2S king, Ferdinand Pius, was booted out. His daughter, Lucia, inherited the sparkler; she married the Duke of Ancona (hence the tiara's name). Somewhere along the line, Lucia's sister-in-law, the Duchess of Pistoia was also photographed in the tiara. But Lucia's descendents sold off the tiara in the 1990s, and royal watchers thought it had met the fate of most royal tiaras sold at auction -- to never be seen at a royal event again.
But the joke was on the royal watching world, because the Ancona was purchased by the Crociani family -- who happen to be the parents of Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, who is wearing the tiara above! So, the Crociani purchase sort of reunited the tiara with its historical owners, though we have to look pretty far back to connect the Ancona line with the Castro line of B2Ses. (Camilla is married to the Castro claimant.) Camilla's husband, Prince Charles, is descended from Ferdinand Pius's brother, Prince Ranieri -- uncle of the Duchess of Ancona.
Whew. Historical tiaras really wear me out! 
It is a very pretty tiara indeed, and it's nice to see it coming back into the family.
*g* want me to send you the family tree for that one? It should be included already through Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and if not it will be once I get to my to-dos
Don't look too closely at who's realated to who in the Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, Bourbon-Parma, Orleans, Savoy(-Aosta) femailies, it's quite gros.
Deary me Ella, have a glass of wine, some chocolate and a lie down to recover from that recounting of the tale behind the family and the tiara!
With all that hair piled on top the pearl tops on the tiara aren't too "sticky upy".
It's a lovely tiara, but I wish her hair didn't look like it's about to collapse over the spikes on the right side. Wonder if the hair got a little TOO big, without being properly secured and fixed with spray (or whatever it is they use to keep it in place).
lovely tiara!
not so sure about the hair, which has a few too many fake hair bits in there.
Good God, it's Miley Cyrus crossed with a Barbie doll. The hair's a bit too big for my liking, but I love the tiara.
She does look a bit Hollywood doesn't she - am I along in thinking she's had some work done?!
Tiara is wonderful, and thanks for that history, was great. But he very complicated do is falling over it at the front - it all needs to be a bit, well, less. But she doesn't look like a less is more kinda gal does she?