Who took her jewels Queen Fabiola of Belgium s jewelry Collection

When people think about royal jewelry collections, they usually imagine spectacular vaults filled with glittering tiaras, emerald necklaces, and historic diamonds passed down through generations. But not every monarchy has such a vast treasury. In fact, compared with other European royal houses, the jewelry vaults of the Belgian monarchy are often considered surprisingly modest. Belgium's royal family is relatively young. Its monarchy dates only to the 19th century, and many jewels worn by its queens were not ancient heirlooms, but personal gifts, acquisitions, or wedding presents. And because of that, some of these jewels have quietly disappeared from royal life. When we look at photographs of previous Belgian queens, especially the elegant and beloved Queen Fabiola of Belgium, one question keeps appearing again and again. Where did all those jewels go? Queen Fabiola possessed a remarkable collection. Aquamarine perures, diamond tiaras, delicate brooches, and one extraordinary wedding tiara from Spain that could transform into several different designs. Yet today, many of those pieces are nowhere to be seen in the Belgian royal vaults. So today, we will explore the fascinating story of Fabiola Mora y Aragon, the Spanish aristocrat who became queen of the Belgians, and the curious fate of her most beautiful jewels. Fabiola de Mora y Aragon was born in Madrid in 1928 into an old Spanish aristocratic family. Her father held the title Marquess of Casa Riera, and Fabiola grew up surrounded by the traditions of Spanish nobility. But despite her noble background, her early life was far from the glittering world of royalty. Before becoming queen, Fabiola worked as a nurse and even published a collection of children's fairy tales. She was known for her kindness, strong Catholic faith, and quiet personality. At the time, nobody imagined that she would one day become the queen of a European country. Meanwhile in Belgium, King Baudouin, who ascended the throne in 1951, had become one of the most eligible bachelors in Europe. Shy and deeply religious, he had delayed marriage longer than most monarchs. Then in 1960, everything changed. Baudouin announced his engagement to the Spanish aristocrat Fabiola de Mora y Aragon. The news surprised Europe, but the public quickly embraced the gentle and warm-hearted bride. When she got engaged, Time magazine called her a Cinderella girl, and in Spain, bakers made a special type of bread called La Fabiola to honor her marriage. And with the engagement came the first jewel of her royal love story. Fabiola appeared with a beautiful emerald engagement ring, set with a central emerald weighing more than 13 carats flanked by two trillion cut diamonds. While the early provenance of this ring is unknown, we mean whether it was a special commission or family heirloom, Queen loved it so much we could see her wearing it on multiple events. But the true spectacle was yet to come, her wedding jewelry gifts. But first let's look at her wedding. When Fabiola married King Baudouin in Brussels in 1960, she wore one of the most beautiful diamond tiaras ever created, the Nine Provinces Tiara, and a silk gown designed by Cristobal Balenciaga that featured a seven-meter train and was trimmed in ermine. The tiara features eleven diamond arches with large diamonds and has been worn by successive queens of Belgium. Fabiola wore it frequently during state occasions, especially when representing Belgium abroad. Today the tiara remains in royal use and is often worn by Matilda of Belgium, the current queen. While the bride wore a tiara reserved for Belgian queens only, she received one of the most versatile tiaras as her wedding gift. Accordingly, this tiara became known as the Spanish Wedding Gift Tiara. Unlike most royal headpieces, which are this one was incredibly versatile. The tiara was presented to the new queen as a gift from the Spanish people via Francisco Franco and could be worn in multiple configurations. It could be worn as a coronet-style headpiece using the separate coronet frame, a wreath-like circlet with the second frame, or even a necklace. And perhaps most remarkably, the tiara could also be set with three interchangeable sets of gemstones, including aquamarines, emeralds, and rubies. Each of the leaves can be taken down to be worn on the necklace or as a brooch. Queen Fabiola used to hang the three largest florets from her wonderful Art Deco Diamond Sautoir. This incredible gift indeed allowed her to create different adornments depending on the occasion. In photographs from the early 1960s, she often wore the aquamarine version of the tiara, paired with elegant aquamarine earrings and a necklace. It quickly became one of her most recognizable jewels. But here is the mystery. Since Queen Fabiola's death in 2014, the tiara has never appeared again in public. Many royal watchers believe the tiara may still belong to the Belgian royal family. Others suspect it may have been inherited privately by members of her Spanish family. Rumors say she indeed gave it to her Spanish relatives, as this tiara was never considered a jewel of the crown, but rather her personal gift. Accordingly, if that's the case, they may have dismantled the tiara, at least to have separate leaf brooches. But what's even more interesting, up to now we haven't noticed that either her nieces or her nephew's family used her jewels. So what happened to this magnificent tiara? That's a real puzzle. If the Spanish wedding tiara was her most famous jewel, her aquamarine collection was certainly among the most angelic. Queen Fabiola owned a spectacular aquamarine demi-perure centered on a remarkable diamond sautoir necklace. The necklace itself was a set with dozens of brilliant cut diamonds. In total, the necklace contained nearly 39 carats of diamonds. But the real showstopper was the detachable pendant. Suspended from the necklace was a massive briolette cut aquamarine weighing about 120 carats, glowing in a soft ocean blue color. Matching drop earrings completed the set, each ending in sparkling elongated aquamarine drops. Queen Fabiola wore these jewels frequently during her early years as queen. She appeared in them at royal weddings, gala dinners, and during state visits, including an important visit to Britain in 1963. Decades later she continued wearing the set even in her widowhood, including at the wedding of Spain's future King Felipe in 2004. But the same thing happened. The necklace, pendant, and earrings left the vaults of Belgium and now suddenly appeared at auction in Madrid. Why would such historically important jewels leave the royal collection? The likely answer is that many of Queen Fabiola's jewels were personal property, and she didn't have children with King Baudouin. Thus, she wanted to leave some gifts to her bloodline from the Spanish side. Some say she wrote a will to pass her possessions to her relatives in Spain as she was free to dispose of her private property as she wished. Thankfully, one more set consisting of earrings and a necklace is possibly preserved in a Belgian family as Queen Matilda has worn very similar aquamarine earrings for several times, at least letting us hope one day we can see a full set. Maybe these jewels are kept for Princess Elizabeth? This pair of earrings features a round-cut aquamarine on a long diamond frame. As for the necklace, it features five graduating pear-shaped aquamarines suspended from a small diamond tennis necklace, which was often worn by Fabiola with the aquamarine version of the Spanish wedding gift tiara. Another fascinating jewel associated with Fabiola is the Wolfers tiara, made from 205 diamonds by the Belgian jeweler Wolfers. This jewel was a gift from a group of wealthy Belgian industrialists and public figures and is actually a convertible piece that can function either as a tiara or a necklace. In the first years after her marriage, Fabiola always wore the piece as a necklace, like for the diplomatic reception at the Royal Palace of Brussels in 1961, but then innovated to create dazzling high hairstyles to place the tiara version. She also loved to match it with her diamond and pearl pendant earrings. In some photographs from the 1960s, she used the tiara as a necklace while wearing the Spanish wedding tiara on her head, creating an impressive layered look. Today this jewel is one of the most important adornments remaining in the Belgian royal collection and is occasionally worn by Queen Matilda. Among Queen Fabiola's most dramatic smaller pieces was the diamond waterfall brooch, presented by King Baudouin. This spectacular jewel features cascading diamond strands that resemble a sparkling waterfall of light and seams was seen only twice during her reign. As Fabiola less wore brooches and preferred larger jewels, this piece was unseen for decades. Unlike the aquamarine set, the waterfall brooch has survived in the royal collection and was first worn by Matilda as a hair ornament and recently as the brooch pinned to her dress. Not all of Fabiola's jewels were grand royal pieces. Some were charming and symbolic. One of her favorites was a set of daisy brooches, delicate diamond jewels shaped like flowers, one larger and two smaller, where two smaller could be worn as earrings. The daisy was closely associated with Queen Fabiola and became a kind of personal emblem. She often wore these brooches during daytime events or charity appearances, sometimes wearing all three in her hair, showing her softer and more dreamy side. As for the destiny of these jewels, they were passed to her niece, Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. Yet, some of her precious personal jewels she also gifted to the then-crown Princess Matilda, including this lovely ruby bracelet. Fabiola received it as an engagement gift from Prince Albert and Princess Paula. Made up of rectangular rubies surrounded on both sides by round-cut diamonds, this bracelet was a petite choice both of state receptions and smaller events. Apart from this bracelet, Queen Matilda also received the Tunisian parure, a gift to Fabiola from King Baudouin while they went on holiday to Tunisia. The parure consists of a gem-set necklace, earrings, and at least two gold bracelets set with diamonds, rubies, and green gemstones that could be either tourmalines or agates. As expected, she wore her new jewels quite frequently, paired with her Spanish wedding gift tiara and wolfer's necklace, with notable appearances during the state visit to Finland and coronation of Emperor Akihito. Before Fabiola passed away, the parure along with the ruby bracelet were given to Matilda as her personal gifts. Now the new queen was seen wearing only earrings with a bracelet, but one day she might add up a necklace to show us the whole parure. The story of Queen Fabiola's jewels also reveals something important about the Belgian monarchy itself. Unlike Britain, Belgium never accumulated centuries of crown jewels. The country's monarchy was established only in 1830, and many jewels worn by Belgian queens were personal possessions rather than state property. That means they could be inherited, divided, or sold. As a result, Belgium's royal vault is much smaller than those of older monarchies. But what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in elegance. Queen Fabiola passed away in 2014 after more than half a century as queen. She was deeply loved by the Belgian people for her warmth, faith, and charitable work. Although she and King Baudouin never had children, she remained an important figure in the royal family long after his death. Today some of her jewels continue to sparkle at Belgian state events, others have vanished into private collections, and a few, like the mysterious Spanish wedding tiara, remain an open question. Perhaps one day they will appear again. If you liked this video and have something to add about Queen Fabiola or her jewels, we will be glad to discuss it in the comments. 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