HRH The Prince of Asturias and Miss Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano
May 22, 2004

Only a week after Crown Prince Frederik married Mary Donaldson in Denmark, Prince Felipe of Spain tied the knot with journalist Letizia Ortiz in Madrid.  Theirs was the first wedding of a member of the Spanish royal family to take place in Madrid since the wedding of King Alfonso XIII and Princess Ena of Battenberg in 1906.  That wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on the royal couple and the tragic deaths of several bystanders -- this one, thankfully, went more smoothly, although it was a cloudy, rainy day in the Spanish capital.

There were a few controversies, however, about Felipe's choice of bride.  Letizia, a journalist who covered the September 11th attacks in New York and the Iraq War, will be the first commoner to be queen of Spain.  She also had previously been briefly married and divorced.  However, because her first wedding was a civil rather than religious one, the Catholic Church did not recognize it, and she was free to marry Felipe.

Felipe and Letizia have become quite a working team since their wedding, frequently appearing together on royal engagements.  They have also had two daughters, Infanta Leonor (born in 2005) and Infanta Sofia (born in 2007).  Leonor is expected to become queen of Spain in her own right one day -- that is, if her parents don't provide her with a baby brother!

Wedding Hatters

HRH The Crown Prince of Denmark and Miss Mary Donaldson
May 14, 2004

Our last major tiara wedding before Crown Princess Vic's big day was the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Tasmanian-born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson.  The two met during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, fell in love, and got hitched four years later.

Frederik and his Aussie bride have two children: Prince Christian (who will one day be king) and Princess Isabella, the first Danish princess born in a generation.  Mary has transformed from an everyday girl to a glamorous crown princess, and this wedding was definitely high on the glamour factor as well: we've got more than thirty tiaras on parade here, many of which are brand-new to the blog.  A good trial run for Victoria's wedding, no doubt!  Enjoy!

Wedding Hatters

I cannot decide whether or not I like Princess Miriam's hat here.  The blush/blue color combination is interesting, and it's certainly an innovative shape ... but doesn't it also look like it might really just be made up of crumpled pieces of netting all scotch-taped together?

And what's with the weird stick poking out from the bottom of it?  Is that some sort of handle?

Though we can't see much detail of her tiara here, Princess Miriam sure looked stunning at the Danish royal wedding, didn't she?  Love the coral-colored dress teamed with the massive coral necklace.

The diamond tiara itself has not been positively identified; most have speculated that it is likely a new piece rather than a Bulgarian heirloom.  We'll call it Miriam's Diamond Tiara for identification purposes.  It sort of reminds me of the motifs of Sophie Wessex's wedding tiara -- but instead of four elements, just one?

One of the best things about big royal weddings: meeting new royals from new royal families!  This is Princess Miriam, wife of Prince Kardam of Bulgaria.  If Bulgaria still had a monarchy, Kardam would be the country's crown prince, so he sometimes uses the traditional title of the heir to the Bulgarian throne, Prince of Turnovo. 

Kardam and Miriam used to attend royal events like this in Europe quite frequently, but in 2008, they were in a serious car accident in Spain.  Miriam escaped fairly unscathed, but Kardam's injuries were critical.  Although he made a slow recovery, in early 2010 he suffered a relapse and fell into a coma.  He remains in a comotose state today.

Seeing Miriam at a royal wedding, then, is a rare occurrence; and we may not see her attend too many more in the future.  For this pre-wedding gala, she chose to wear a Diamond Art Deco Tiara of unknown provenance.  Any experts on the Bulgarian royal family have any more info on this lovely, sparkly topper?