Most Dazzling Royal Lady past and present

[Duc_et_Pair]

In modern times, I'd have to say Princess Diana; she was quite dazzling.
Historically, I'd go with Marie Antoinette; she wore gorgeous silks set off with fabulous jewels.

Heu... Diana had only one royal diadem (a replica of the original Cambrigde Lovers' Knot Diadem) and a loan from her family which was on itself, by design and the quality of the stones, a mediocre one. So naming Diana as "most dazzling" is a bit questionable, if you ask me....

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Princess Grace above all right followed by her daughter Princess Caroline.

Princess Gracia never wore the best and the grandest jewels of the House of Monaco since her mother-in-law, Princess Charlotte (1898-1977), made sure that these would bypass her, in favour of her eldest granddaughter Princess Caroline. The relationship between Princess Charlotte and Princess Gracia was ice-cold and never improved.

On her wedding Princess Gracia wore no diadem. She got some jewels from Prince Rainier and from the Société des Bains-de-Mer but many of her jewels were just loans or sometimes even costume jewels.

Her daughter Princess Caroline has seldom worn the grand jewels of her House. Once for a photoshoot and so now and then, very rarely, for an event indeed (like the wedding in Luxembourg) and she has worn some jewels from the House of Hannover. But she is easily outgunned -jewelrywise- by the Camillas and the Máximas of today.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

But this is supposed to be about 'dazzling' in terms of jewelry, not in terms of general elegance, impact or style...
...while Princess Grace and Princess Diana had all of the three above, neither of them was particularly dazzling when it comes to jewelry. Both preferred a quite subdued approach to jewels, rather choosing not to wear many grander pieces they had access to, and going for a 'less is more' look which I would call stylish but not necessarily dazzling with jewelry.

"rather choosing not to wear many grander pieces they had access to'

Diana had a very limited collection: a copy of another "Lovers' Knot" diadem which was made for Queen Mary and a loan from her ancestral house. That was it.

Gracia had a very limited collection as well: she had no access to the grandest and most historical pieces of the Grimaldis since her mother-in-law blocked her from wearing these pieces. In 1977 these jewels went straight to Princess Caroline.

So your assumption that they apparently chose not to wear many grander pieces they had access to is not correct. They simply had no access.

 

[episcogal]

Queen Alexandra followed by Queen Mary. Two of my favorite royal ladies.

 

[wyevale]

In terms of 'Jewel wearing' dazzling I'd go for Queen Mary, and the Russians, Empress Marie Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Vladimir.

 

[Dman]

Queen Alexandra
Queen Mary
Queen Elizabeth/Queen Mother
Duchess of Gloucester
Duchess of Kent
Princess Margaret
The Queen
The Princess of Wales

The British royals need to bring some of that dazzle back and not be ashamed to show it off.

 

[Lee-Z]

Jewelry-wise for me:
Tsarina Maria Feodorovnahttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N035GDv9Fek/USYXHlz6THI/AAAAAAAABtA/cLVwN-1Hqb8/s1600/2.jpg
Queen Elisabeth I https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7206/7099955351_354ff83b8a.jpg
Queen Mary http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRxkP7c5h-y6nsGaKqPzY-TiDH56WEwwVgBknmM9KBEZM4_WqWm

Recent decades:
Queen Elizabeth II (while not necessarily the greatest jewelry-fan, she just has to get a couple of Cullinan's out of their case to outdazzle the entire competition and she has some other lovely 'beads' as well) http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/71/34/25/71342592769f5eb6d281e1b852e42707.jpg
Queen Silvia (effortlessly dazzling) http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f282/vickyandfritz/jewels/32.jpg

Recent rising stars:
Queen Maxima (starting to go through the entire dutch collection with obvious pleasure) http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTakWhnIMHcGq5gk6DSMmJmNW2F7UwdP46tR7p3hpFtcwI_f6Wx
Camilla duchess of Cornwall (unexpected brilliance, especially with 'big guns')
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_6PbKMMRyYA/TVnwu_rjN9I/AAAAAAAAAVI/H9fexmkK4Ig/s1600/04-camilla415.jpg

After seeing the pictures of Grand Duchess Vladimir's jewelry http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f80/marie-pavlovna-the-elder-grand-duchess-vladimir-1854-1920-a-1919-7.html
I now think there are only very few women more dazzling than her

 

[Mirabel]

Heu... Diana had only one royal diadem (a replica of the original Cambrigde Lovers' Knot Diadem) and a loan from her family which was on itself, by design and the quality of the stones, a mediocre one. So naming Diana as "most dazzling" is a bit questionable, if you ask me....

I think I made an error in assuming your definition of dazzling meant stunning, or head-turning.

However, if it means loaded down with bling, then I guess Diana wouldn't qualify as much as many other royal women.

 

[Queen Camilla]

Queen Mary hands down.
She could wear it all without it looking like she was drowning under its weight.

Queen Mary knew how to wear jewelry. If only there were more pictures of her, especially in color.

 

[Queen Camilla]

To dazzle you need the right amount of jewelry with the right dress and a nice smile.

Camilla
http://i.imgur.com/JV7nd.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/05/08/article-2321219-198B9E0E000005DC-434_306x423.jpg

http://www.hellomagazine.com/imagenes/news-in-pics/2007/10/31/camilla.jpg

http://majesticmusings.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/slide15.jpg

 

[Jacknch]

I'll go back a bit in history first of all and say Queen Elizabeth I - she must have been a figure to behold in all her finery, wearing huge bejewelled dresses, jewellery, ruffs, more jewels in her hair!

Queen Mary then struck me as being a dazzling although formidable person, weighed down with jewels, gowns etc.

The Queen always dazzles and Queen Margrethe dazzles - particularly at the new year events.

I agree that Camilla dazzles immensely in all her finery and her personality.

I must also say that Queen Maxima dazzles on so many levels, her smile, her exuberance, her jewels and clothes.

Finally, I cannot forget Queen Silvia who wears immensely sumptuous jewels and hairstyles!

I agree with what Dman says above - our British royals should stop pretending we are as poor as church mice and bring out more dazzle, more exuberance and open those vaults up!

 

[Curryong]

I'm sticking to more modern history, from the 19th century onwards.

Empress Elizabeth (Sissi) of Austria, considered one of the most beautiful and fascinating women of her time.

Alexandra, Princess of Wales, then Queen. Again, luminous beauty. She had extraordinary popularity.

Queen Mary of GB. Every inch a Queen, especially when wearing all her bling.

Queen Astrid of Belgium. Very very pretty, and just adored for all her good qualities from the moment she arrived in her adopted country.

Grace of Monaco. Near perfection in looks as a young woman. She added glamour and beauty to Monaco at a time when it was needed.

Diana, Princess of Wales. I was lucky enough to see her several times in real life, and it's hard to describe the effect she had on people, and how admired and chic she was.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. Maxie's exuberance, intelligence and extrovert nature make her a winner for me.

 

[Kitty1224]

I'm sticking to more modern history, from the 19th century onwards.

Empress Elizabeth (Sissi) of Austria, considered one of the most beautiful and fascinating women of her time.

Alexandra, Princess of Wales, then Queen. Again, luminous beauty. She had extraordinary popularity.

Queen Mary of GB. Every inch a Queen, especially when wearing all her bling.

Queen Astrid of Belgium. Very very pretty, and just adored for all her good qualities from the moment she arrived in her adopted country.

Grace of Monaco. Near perfection in looks as a young woman. She added glamour and beauty to Monaco at a time when it was needed.

Diana, Princess of Wales. I was lucky enough to see her several times in real life, and it's hard to describe the effect she had on people, and how admired and chic she was.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. Maxie's exuberance, intelligence and extrovert nature make her a winner for me.

What affect did she have on people that no royal since her have?

 

[Missjersey]

Queen Mary

 

[Curryong]

What affect did she have on people that no royal since her have?

Do you mean Diana, who was on my list? Dont know about 'any Royal before or since' as I never saw Mary, Sissi, Alexandra etc in real life and there may be a knockout Royal in the future! I've seen most of the present BRF.

This isn't a Diana thread but I saw her several times over the years, when she was young and later on. There was a luminous quality about Diana that people who met her, spoke to her or merely saw her when they waited in crowds, reacted to. It was a charisma, a sort of inner glow that few people have. That is why it's hard to describe.

 

[royal rob]

Do you mean Diana, who was on my list? Dont know about 'any Royal before or since' as I never saw Mary, Sissi, Alexandra etc in real life and there may be a knockout Royal in the future! I've seen most of the present BRF.



This isn't a Diana thread but I saw her several times over the years, when she was young and later on. There was a luminous quality about Diana that people who met her, spoke to her or merely saw her when they waited in crowds, reacted to. It was a charisma, a sort of inner glow that few people have. That is why it's hard to describe.

Oh how I wish I saw her. What wonderful memories you have[emoji253]

 

[Pranter]

I hear Harry has Diana's charisma...been said by those who knew her well.


LaRae

 

[Curryong]

I have also been lucky enough to see Harry in real life, and yes, he has. Off topic, Sorry mods !

 

[Curryong]

Extra post Deleted.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Good gracious not Diana again. This is a thread about the most dazzling royal women; dazzling in terms of jewels. Diana was not dazzling as it has been stated numerous times she did not wear a lot of jewels. This is the jewelery forum, not the "I like her so I'll mention her" forum. If you want to gush over her this isn't the place to do it.
BTW Princess Margaret wore some pretty tiara's.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

XeniaCasaraghi. What was the prettiest tiara that Princess Margaret Rose wore?

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Hmm....let me think, Lozenge Bandue, her wedding tiara which unfortunately had to be sold,
I would like to mention the Lotus Flower Tiara only because Kate wore it once and it looks so much better on her than on Margaret.
Just to clarify, I think Margaret had some pretty jewels but none made her one of the most dazzling women.

 

[ldmemail]

I’m afraid I would disagree with you. Princess Margaret was completely dazzling - her conversation, her looks and what she wore - including her jewellery!!
Both the Poltimore tiara and her turquoise tiara were large impressive pieces with plenty of sparkle. She was no less dazzling in the smaller tiaras she wore.
The Duchess of Cambridge is very pretty and neat and I would have said she was just that up until she appeared at the BAFTA Awards ceremony, wearing a wonderful emerald suite of jewels! Finally she dazzled!
In the past she has worn beautiful pieces and looked wonderful but somehow something appeared not quite right!
I guess it’s a case of who was a princess to the manner born !
Princess Margaret wins every time.