Joyas de pasar

The initial jewellery set was gathered by Queen Victoria Eugenie, wife of King Alfonso XIII, and are transmitted to the next generation following the instructions that she left in her will.

Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg married King Alfonso XIII at the Church of Saint Jerome the Royal in Madrid on 31 May 1906.

She stated in her will that she felt that she had received these jewels in usufruct, meaning that she could use and enjoy them but that she did not own them, so she could neither disassemble them nor get rid of them.

The jewels passed to King Juan Carlos I at the time of his proclamation in 1975, but his wife Queen Sofía, in an act of prudence in the midst of the transition to democracy, waited until the Constitution was promulgated in 1978 to begin wearing them.

They passed to King Felipe VI at the time of his proclamation in 2014 and since then they are worn by Queen Letizia on solemn occasions.

Portrait of Queen Victoria Eugenie wearing the fleurs-de-lis tiara , the chaton necklace, and the earrings, as well as a shorter emerald necklace, by Christian Franzen (1922).