The Mellerio Shell Tiara was bought in 1868 by Queen Isabella II of Spain.
It was created in 1867 and bought by Queen Isabella as a wedding present for her eldest daughter. Infanta Isabella married Prince Gaetan, Count of Girgenti, the third surviving son of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies.
The tiara was based on a design by Oscar Massin. It features drop pearls and diamonds suspended on a diamond-encrusted frame which looks like a shell. It can be worn with or without an additional diamond drop from the centre of the base.
Infanta Isabella’s marriage ended with her husband’s suicide in 1871, but the tiara remained one of her favourites. Upon her death, the tiara was bequeathed to her nephew, King Alfonso XIII. His wife, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, wore it occasionally, and she loaned it out at least once to her daughter-in-law, Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona.
The tiara was gifted to the Countess’s future daughter-in-law, the future Queen Sofía of Spain, shortly before her wedding. She first wore it during a pre-wedding ball in Athens. She continued to wear it often, including during her tenure as Queen of Spain. She often loaned it out, such as to her daughter-in-law, now Queen Letizia. The tiara is the property of Queen Sofía, so it did not pass automatically to the next Queen following King Juan Carlos’s abdication.1
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