Princess Nadezhda's Bridal Bandeau Hits the Auction Block in Geneva

A century ago, a Bulgarian princess married a German duke, wearing a sleek, sparkling diamond tiara perfect for a '20s royal bride.

This week, Sotheby’s announced a major upcoming sale of jewels from a royal collection with links to Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, and France. Yesterday at The Court Jeweller, we marveled at a tie pin set with rare colored diamonds, sourced from the collection of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. Today, we’re taking a deep dive into the royal wedding of his youngest daughter, Princess Nadezhda, and the sparkling jewels she wore for the ceremony.

Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Bulgaria (Wikimedia Commons)

In the cold winter of 1899, the Princess of Bulgaria’s 29th birthday celebrations were less joyful than usual. Eight months pregnant, Princess Marie Louise was already dealing with the physical strain that had been put on her body by four pregnancies in five years when she contracted pneumonia. The infection lingered for weeks, ultimately sending the princess into premature labor. On January 30, she gave birth to a daughter, who joined a family that included two older brothers, Boris and Kyril, and an older sister, Eudoxia. On January 31, Marie Louise died.

The little princess was christened Nadezhda, a name that means “hope.”

Prince Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Princess Clementine of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Princess Eudoxia and Princess Nadezhda of Bulgaria, 1905 (Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Alamy)

Little Princess Nadezhda, who never had the chance to know her mother, received more names at her baptism that paid tribute to her royal grandmothers. Clementine was given in honor of her father’s mother, Princess Clementine of Orleans. A daughter of King Louis Philippe of France, Clementine had married into the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family and had become particularly involved in the royal politics of matchmaking and throne acquisition. She had been a key player in securing the Bulgarian throne for her youngest son, Ferdinand, in 1887. Clementine was always going to have been deeply involved in the raising of her Bulgarian royal grandchildren, but the passing of Princess Marie Louise meant that she took on an even more important part in their lives until her own passing in 1907.

Nadezhda also received the name Maria Pia, a tribute to her late maternal grandmother, Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Like Clementine, Maria Pia was the daughter of monarch, King Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies. She married Robert, the exiled Duke of Parma, with whom she had twelve children before her own death following the birth of her last child in 1882. The specter of maternal death seemed to linger over Nadezhda’s life, even influencing the final name she was given: Majella. The name was given to honor an Italian saint, Gerardo Majella, who is the patron of mothers and children, and particularly of childbirth.

Princess Marie Louise was a devout Catholic, known for sparring with her husband over whether their children should be raised as Catholics or, in a move more palatable to Bulgarians, in the Orthodox church. Gerardo Majella’s canonization was in progress during her marriage; he was beatified in 1893, the same year that Marie Louise married Prince Ferdinand. She might have prayed to the Blessed Gerardo Majella during her pregnancies, perhaps even hoping for a miracle, and though she did not survive Nadezhda’s birth, the inclusion of the name is a meaningful reminder of her love.