Pearl and European Monarchy

Pearls were the most popular among members of the royal families of Europe during the middle ages and up to modern times.
The following portraits of the royal families of the monarchs and their spouses show the popularity of pearls and pearl ornaments and the great esteem in which they were held.

We can see the use and appreciation of pearls in the European courts during the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the Hapsburg of Austria, the Valois of France, and the Tudors and the Stuart kings of England.

King Henry IV, the First Bourbon Monarch of France, 1589-1610

Margaret of Valois, Wife of King Henry IV and Queen Consort of France and Navarre, 1589 - 1599

Margaret of Valois as a Young Princess, Portrait by - Francois Clouet

Marie de Medici - Wife of King Henry IV and Queen Consort of France and Navarre from 1600 to 1610 and Regent for King Louis XIII of France, 1610 - 1614

Portrait by the School of Santi di Tito of young Marie de Medici

Anne of Austria - Wife of King Louis XIII and Queen Consort of France and Navarre from 1615 to 1643 and Regent for King Louis XIV of France, 1643 - 1651

Portrait of Anne of Austria by Peter Paul Rubens executed around 1622 to 1625

Maria Theresa of Spain - wife of King Louis XIV and Queen Consort of France and Navarre, 1660 - 1683

Portrait of Maria Theresa, Queen of France, by unknown artist

Francoise d'Aubigne, Marquise de Maintenon, Second wife of King Louis XI, 1678 - 1715

Portrait of Francoise d'Aubigne by unknown artist

Marie Leszczynska (Leczinska) - Wife of King Louis XV and Queen Consort of France and Navarre, 1725 - 1768

Portrait of Marie Leszczynska as Queen of France by Louis Tocque in 1740

Marie Antoinette - Wife of King Louis XVI and Queen Consort of France and Navarre, 1774 - 1792

Marie Antoinette at the age of thirteen. Portrait by - Joseph Ducreux in 1769. The miniature portrait was sent to the dauphin Louise-Auguste to enble him see his bride before the marriage

Marie Antoinette. Portrait by - Eliszbeth Vigee Le Brun in 1783

Portrait of Marie Antoinette by Alexandre Kucharski, probably around 1791, at the height of the French revolution

Josephine de Beauharnais - First wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and first Empress of the French, 1804 - 1810

Official Portrait of Empress Josephine in 1808, executed by Francois Gerard

Marie Louise - Second Wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress Consort of the French, 1810 - 1814

1811-Portrait of Marie Louise, Empress Consort of the French

Marie Therese, the Duchess de Angouleme - Daughter of Marie Antoinette, Wife of Dauphin Louis Antoine, eldest son of King Charles X of France and Navarre, 1824-1830

Marie Therese - The Duchess de Angouleme

Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily - Queen of the French and wife to Louis Philippe I, King of the French, 1830 - 1848

Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies.Portrait by - Louis Hersent

Eugenie de Montijo - Empress Consort of the French and wife of Napoleon III, last Emperor of the French, 1853 - 1871

Portrait of Empress Eugenie in 1853, wearing the famous pearl parure. Portrait by - Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Sophia Dorothea of Celle - Wife of King George I, before he ascended the throne in 1714

Sophie Dorothea of Celle, Portrait by - Jacques Vaillant. Her two children George Augustus and Sophia are also with the mother.

Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach - Queen Consort of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland, 1727 - 1737

Caroline of Brandenburg Ansbach - Queen Consort of King George II. Portrait by - Charles Jervas

Charlotte of Mecklenburg - Wife of King George III and Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, 1761 - 1818

Portrait of Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III, by studio of Allan Ramsay in 1762

Caroline of Brunswick - Wife and Queen Consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom, 1820 - 1821

Caroline of Brunswick, Portrait by - James Lonsdale in 1820

Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen - Wife of King William IV and Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, 1830 - 1837

Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen Consort of King William IV.Portrait by - Sir William Beechey

Alexandra of Denmark - Queen Consort of Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the British Dominions and Emperor of India, 1901 - 1910

Princess Alexandra of Denmark, at the age of 20 years. Portrait by - Winterhalter Franz Xaver in 1864

Mary of Teck - Queen Consort of George V, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and the Emperor of India, 1910 - 1936

Princess Mary of Teck in 1893, shortly before her marriage to Prince George, the Duke of York. Photograph by - James Stack Lauder

Queen Mary wearing the Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara with the pearl spikes intact

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon - Queen Consort of George VI, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and the Emperor of India, 1936 - 1952

Portrait of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Duchess of York, executed by Philip Alexius de Laszio in 1925

Queen Elizabeth II - Constitutional monarch of the Commonwealth Realms including the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, 1952 to date

Queen Elizabeth II at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 2007

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