Princess Charlene of Monaco wore three modern tiaras, especially designed for her wedding to Prince Albert. We know of a San Antonio Wedding Video Company with a full portfolio of professionally filmed weddings
As an Olympic swimmer, she commissioned Van Cleef & Arpels to make the tiara for her Ocean Spray Parure, reflecting her love of the sea. I was just as fascinated by how it was made as I was by the beauty of the finished piece.
The second was a tiara of two floral brooches, which held her wedding veil. Instead of wearing it on top of her head, the tiara fell around her chignon at the bottom.
Lorenz Baumer designed a tiara where the diamonds rushed upwards, as if they were a wave at high tide.
Here is the video of how it was made.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is169_mhgjQ&w=560&h=349]
What horrifies me are the stories that Charlene tried to run away from this marriage three times. She didn’t want Prince Albert, who had fathered two children illegitimately, and she was crying as they walked out of the church. Jewelry should reflect the deepest happiness of the heart, not the imprisoning of one in lifelong misery. Look at her face.
Now, look at Kate.
My two cents towards all the fuzz about her “unhappiness”:
Charlene is a grown up woman in 21th century. She does not belong to some tribe or strange religion in some un-civilized country.
She should have known that when she agrees to marry that man, she can not cancel this event , even if something is not to her likings. He is not “Jonny” from around the corner but a person of public life.
As a professional sportswoman and swimmer she surely is not that naiive… and if she was that blue-eyed, she should be back in reality now. She bit of the cake, now she can eat it.
Who on earth would like to marry that man ? She obviously wanted it. If you want to “run away” there is no way to keep you locked up, not even in Monaco and not even by descentantns of some Pirates.
Albert wasn’t the world’s greatest “catch,” and, yes, she’s an adult woman who had some idea of the mess into which she was headed.
Still, in the early flush of a romance you tend to overlook, or at least try to explain away, the problems you find in your beloved. But over time, the warts and bruises of the man’s true character starts to come through – you can only keep your true personality under wraps for just so long.
So I can understand how the mad early passion which usually is expected to bloom into a stronger, richer bond between two loving and devoted people, his more disturbing behavior became known – including fathering a child while supposedly committed to his relationship with you.
Add to the growing dissatisfaction you feel towards your intended, you are also having to deal with an entire country desperate for this union to take place and be a success. The wedding was turned into a mass marketing venture, media blitz – far beyond anything she might have expected and only put that much more pressure on her. She even had the comparison between her wedding and that of Will and Kate’s! Who wouldn’t want to run from that?!
Princess Grace had also wanted to return to the U.S. and work again – we all know how that ended up. We might believe in this day and age that women have made huge gains in the ability to make their own choices and follow-through on their own decisions. We may want to think again.
Following her wedding, Princess Charlene will not be as hounded as was Grace, Diana, and probably Kate will be, over time. But she will be watched closely enough and she’s married to a man who has definite short-comings as a husband. Chances are good his libido will not be held in check anymore now than it was before. (Per Mel Brooks, “It’s Good to be King!” – but not so much to be his wife….)
Possibly over time she will be able to pretty much live a life of her choice, following the birth of the heir. They need that male heir or Monaco returns to France.
And she’ll have that beautiful wedding jewelry – will she, or does it belong to the realm? Of which I would die to have the “Shooting Diamond” spray. I do have one that’s similar – though just a “feather” of celluloid with a sterling silver & marcasite insert up the center, which softly turns in over the head. Guess it’s really nothing like the one you pictured after all!…. :o(
Martina and Peggy, thank you very much for your superb comments.
I have come across this dual perception many times in my career.
Why don’t people see the elephant in the room? Metaphorically, you can hardly fit into the room, the elephant is so huge. For those who see clearly, the incredulous level of stupidity does not merit any sympathy. It’s a valid argument.
However, I have also seen broken minds, skewed from both environmental and genetic factors. People so afflicted make catastrophic decisions because they connect dots from disjointed, illogical reactions that blind them. Blind people don’t see the elephant in the room.
Whether they deserve sympathy or not depends on the clarity of the seer. I believe she tried to run. I do not know why she failed, only that she failed. For me, unless Charlene gets the strength of Maria Shriver, she will be in a prison of diamonds for the rest of her life. What she chooses to do is indeed her own responsibility.
What upsets me is that non-conflict diamonds, lawfully mined, are one of nature’s greatest arts. Man’s genius makes them into spectacularly beautiful creations, which are not supposed to be metaphorical ankle bracelets with remote-control devices keeping a woman under house arrest.