The historic tiaras that could crown her

Paris is coming to Madrid, and the Royal Palace is getting ready to sparkle. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, will soon arrive in Spain for a two-day state visit, the first by a French president since 2009. King Felipe VI will welcome Macron with full honors, and the official program includes a gala hosted by the king and queen in his honor.

For royal watchers, the real suspense begins after dark. A state banquet at the Royal Palace is one of the rare occasions when Queen Letizia draws on the Spanish crown’s most storied jewels, and a night built around the long, shared history of Spain and France promises symbolism at every turn. 

The question isn’t whether she’ll wear a tiara. It’s which one.

The Historic Tiaras Queen Letizia Could Wear for the Macrons

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If history has a favorite, it may be the Fleur-de-Lis tiara, the grandest and most majestic piece within the queen’s reach. Crafted in platinum by the legendary Madrid jeweler Ansorena, it features three fleurs-de-lis, the Bourbon dynasty’s most sacred emblem, encrusted with brilliant-cut diamonds and linked by delicate, foliage-inspired scrollwork. King Alfonso XIII gave it to Queen Victoria Eugenia as a wedding gift in 1906, and she later placed it in the celebrated collection of heirlooms reserved exclusively for Spain’s queens, destined for the grandest occasions of state. 

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Letizia could also lean into pearls, and the royal vault holds two tiaras that are close cousins on that front. The Cartier tiara, created by the French maison in 1920 on a sumptuous base of platinum and diamonds, is a high point of the botanical designs of the early 20th century, with seven large pearls set among elegant floral motifs. Its history comes with a twist: Victoria Eugenia once swapped out its pearls for emeralds inherited from her godmother, Empress Eugénie de Montijo, before the pearls were eventually restored. It’s been worn by three queens of Spain: Victoria Eugenia, Sofía, and Letizia herself. 

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Then there’s the tiara of Queen María Cristina, a dazzling piece inspired by the towering kokoshnik headdresses of the Russian imperial court, crafted in platinum and diamonds and hung with exquisite inverted-teardrop pearls. It originally belonged to Queen María Cristina of Habsburg-Lorraine, and in 1935 King Alfonso XIII gave it to his daughter-in-law, María de las Mercedes, when she married Don Juan de Borbón. 

Its timeless elegance has captivated generation after generation of the Spanish crown, and it has even made the leap to canvas: it crowns the queen in Seville painter Alberto Rubio’s unofficial portrait of Felipe VI and Letizia, unveiled in 2025.

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Among the pieces Letizia reaches for most often is the Floral tiara, one of her great favorites. Made by Mellerio and given to Sofía by the Spanish government for her 1962 wedding, its diamond-covered simplicity has made it a star at some of the Royal Palace’s most important receptions.

For a more romantic flourish, there’s the La Chata tiara, also known as the shell tiara, one of the most historically charged pieces in the royal collection. The Parisian house Mellerio created it in 1867 on commission from Queen Isabel II for the wedding of her daughter, Infanta María Isabel. Its sea-inspired design captures the motion of the ocean, with delicate shell motifs that mimic waves intertwined with pear-shaped pearls that evoke sea foam. Handed down through the generations, it followed Don Juan de Borbón and Doña María de las Mercedes into exile and reached Queen Sofía as a treasured wedding gift in 1962, becoming one of the tiaras most closely tied to the living history of the Spanish royal family.

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And then there are the tiaras woven into Letizia’s own story. Her arrival at the palace gave the Bourbons’ most imposing jewels a fresh head to crown, at her wedding and on many occasions since, though at the time there was still a clear line between the pieces the then-Princess of Asturias could wear and those reserved for Queen Sofía. When she said “I do” to then-Prince Felipe in 2004, the romantic moment that launched their story, she wore the Prussian tiara, an Empire-style creation in platinum and diamonds by the jeweler Koch, originally a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm II to his daughter. Sofía had chosen the very same tiara for her own wedding, giving it a sentimental weight few pieces can match. 

Letizia also has a jewel all her own: the Princess tiara, which she has worn publicly just once. Designed in 2006 by the storied Madrid house Ansorena, this romantic, exquisitely refined piece features more than 450 brilliant-cut diamonds and five pairs of flawlessly symmetrical Australian pearls, crowned at its center by the fleur-de-lis. Then-Prince Felipe commissioned it as a deeply personal anniversary gift for his wife. A contemporary treasure that holds the memories of her early years as Princess of Asturias, it remains in her private collection, waiting to shine again at a great occasion of state.

Whichever she chooses, these pieces carry centuries of history in their platinum, diamonds and pearls, and very soon one of them will step back into the light.