Every now and again, a random royal from the past who has settled into noble ignominy is brought to the fore again quite unexpectedly. This weekend, it's the turn of a Portuguese princess turned Austrian archduchess. Step into the spotlight, please, Maria Theresa of Austria-Techen.
This royal was at the height of her regal powers at the end of the 19th century which is part of the reason her name is suddenly appearing in surprising places like Tatler. Maria Theresa of Austria-Teschen liked jewellery and by 1890 she was able to buy a lot of it. One of the pieces she chose was a diamond tiara that ended up with one of those odd names that tiaras get. This one is the Hapsburg Fringe. And it's famous again because another princess to whom she is distantly related wore it for her wedding.
Princess Marie Caroline of Liechtenstein, herself as unfamiliar to many as Maria Theresa until the last days of August 2025, wore the diadem to marry Leopoldo Maduro Vollmer in Vaduz who remains unknown enough for the spelling of his many names to keep surprising journalists. And by putting this sparkling spectacular on her head, to anchor an equally spectacular veil, Marie Caroline made it the most talked about piece of jewellery of the weekend and that conversation had to include Maria Theresa.
The fringe tiara was similar in shape to a kokoshnik which was all the rage at the end of the 19th century. The diadem that Maria Theresa bought in 1890 featured some really rather impressive rays of diamonds which have some equally pretty diamonds in between them. Maria Theresa was, by then, married to Karl Ludwig, Austrian archduke and a really rather important person at the imperial court his family ruled. Maria Theresa was wife number three and among her stepchildren was a young man called Franz Ferdinand whose assassination in 1914 would lead to the start of World War One. That conflict would bring an end to the Austrian empire but in 1890, the world of archdukes and archduchesses was still very much filled with glamour hence this tiara.
Maria Thresa was at the heart of that court. She was born in Bavaria in 1855, the daughter of the deposed King of Portugal, Miguel I, and his wife, Adelaide. She married Archduke Karl Ludwig in 1873 and had two daughters with him, Maria Annunziata and Elisabeth Amalie. She was also a doting stepmother to Franz Ferdinand and supported his plans to marry for love, rather than dynastic reasons. After the withdrawal of the famous Empress Elisabeth, Sisi, from court life, Maria Theresa assumed a major role and became known for her somewhat radical views. But that didn't stop her doing what all archduchesses did - buy diamonds.
This tiara was passed, in the end, to her second daughter, Elisabeth Amalie, who married into the Liechtenstein royal family. Being as her older sister, Maria Annunziata, had become a nun, Elisabeth didn't have much competition for the sparkle. Since then, it's passed through generations. Marie Caroline is the latest bride to use it and there were two very sweet reasons for her choice. Her own mother, Princess Sophie, wears the tiara to state events now. However, it was the tiara worn by Marie Caroline's grandmother, Marie, on her wedding day. Marie died in 2021 so this was a poignant tribute by her granddaughter. And just like that, we're already moving on from Maria Theresa, the Portuguese princess and stepmother of one of the most famous men of the 20th century who was briefly made famous again through a royal wedding tiara.
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