Wedding Gifts of a Crown Prince

By the early 1900s, newspaper and magazine accounts of trousseaux and bridal gifts were becoming more and more rare. Nonetheless, royal betrothals and weddings nearly always resulted in detailed accounts of the material side of weddings. Harper's Bazar was among the reporters of such trinkets when, in January of 1906, it featured a three page article detailing "The Wedding Gifts of a Crown Prince."

The betrothal in question was that of the German Crown Prince to the Duchess of Cecilie of Mecklenburg. "A royal marriage is an occasion for the expression of international good-will," wrote Elizabeth Von Hartmann for Bazar. "A special interest is always attached to the wedding presents of any royal bride and bridegroom."

Among the gifts described and photographed included several articles of jewelry. The first was a betrothal gift to the bride--the first gift from Crown prince to the Duchess. The diamond and sapphire pendant was specially made after the prince's own design, which is the monogram of the couple's initials intertwined. The pendant was completed by the royal jewelers in two days and one night. "This design was so much admired that the Crown Prince ordered scarf pins, some set with jewels and others of plain gold, made like it, which he has since presented to his friends," claimed the Bazar article.

Also shown was a pearl necklace, which was a gift to the couple from the Province of Brandenburg. The graded pearls are clasped with a ruby and diamond clasp, and the necklace was presented in a box of silver repoussé; the box's lid featured the coast of arms of the bride and groom, and the Province of Brandenburg.

The prince's wedding gift to his bride was a tiara (or diadem). "This," Hartmann wrote, "is naturally the finest and the most effective gift and significant of the gifts. In design it is most beautiful and dignified in its simplicity." The crown is made entirely of diamonds set in platinum. "This, one would suppose, would have been the most prominent feature among the bride's ornaments on her wedding-day. But…we Prussians know that every royal Prussian Princess wears the historical Princession-Krone fastening her bridal veil. This is worn always with the traditional myrtle wreath which is the most important item of the regalia of every German bride of high or low rank."

Finally, a "collar" or choker necklace was presented, a gift of the bride's brother, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwein. Composed of diamonds set in platinum.

Other gifts to the bride included silver bowls, trays, porcelain, and a coach complete with four Hungarian gray horses. "From the Czar came beautiful jewels, the Emperor of Japan sent some valuable specimens of Japanese art, and the German province a service of gold plate."

(c) 2004 by Kristina Harris.

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04/21/2006