Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco had a three-day wedding ceremony in 2011. The occasion was so magnificent that royals from all around the world attended.
On the third day after their religious ceremony, the newlyweds and all their guests went to Opera Terraces for dinner and fireworks.
The bride kept things simple, unlike the heads of state on the guest list, who were all dressed to the nines.
Princess Charlene wore a custom-made tiara called the Bäumer Aigrette, which she styled differently than she had originally intended.
Albert instructed the tiara to be made with lots of water motifs, which was appropriate given that Charlene was an Olympic swimmer and Monaco is a marine principality.
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Lorenz Baumer designed the Bäumer Aigrette. This tiara featured 11 long, thin stems of diamonds set in white gold, each with a bigger pear-shaped diamond at the tip to create the distinctive spray that falls across the wearer’s hair.
This item has been referred to as the “diamond foam” tiara because of how it resembles the water droplets that follow cresting waves.
The tiara is a flexible accessory that can be worn as a hairpiece or even a brooch when separated from its frame.
Nevertheless, Charlene has only ever donned the aigrette once—at the celebration that followed her nuptials to Prince Albert.
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Charlene was filmed trying the tiara on beforehand, and many royal watchers were taken aback by the way she chose to wear the accessory, as it was different from how she wore it at her wedding.
At the wedding, Charlene decided to disconnect the aigrette from its frame and wear it as a separate hair decoration, rather than as a proper tiara.
Images show the accessory nestled into her hairstyle rather than forming a band that arches towards her forehead.
The gems appeared to lose some of their impact as a result. Charlene even switched which side of the aigrette was placed on.
In the behind-the-scenes video, Charlene could be seen with the aigrette behind her right ear, but when she went out with Prince Albert after her wedding, it was on the left.
The designer who made the tiara talked about how he met Charlene and what it was like to make the tiara for her.
“I think of Princess Charlene as a Princess, but also a person…who it has been my pleasure to meet,” Lorenz said.
“You imagine that she’s living an incredible dream, but she’s also very approachable, and funny, full of humour and imagination.
“The tiara is like a dreamlike object,” Lorenz added. “An extraordinary moment of closeness…it’s one of the most beautiful, possibly the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever created which will be part of the moment of a woman becoming a Princess and joining the pages of history.”
He continued with: “By means of this tiara which I designed, I realised we had something in common, the Principality, the future Princess, and I, which is water.
“I love surfing, the Princess is an amazing swimmer, and Monaco is a rock perched by the sea, a place connected to water.
“So I tried to represent what linked us: the element of water. What I love is the waves as it breaks. We call it ‘Sea Foam’. You can clearly see the wave just at the moment of breaking.”
