Gorgeous Royal Wedding Earrings

We talked a lot about royal wedding tiaras at the palace jewelry store, but today we're going to take some time to introduce an unsung hero at a royal wedding: wedding earrings!

When Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti married the Prince of Orange in Amsterdam in February 2002, she wore classic earrings with a diamond drop and pendant. The earrings were a quieter counterpart to the star-spangled sparkler, the Dutch Star Tiara, that she chose to secure her bridal veil!

Princess Martha Louise of Norway coordinated her wedding earrings and her tiara carefully for her nuptials in Trondheim in May 2002. With the small setting of (the replica of) Queen Maud's Pearl Tiara, she wore a pair of delicate diamond earrings with round pearl drops.

For her wedding to Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in Copenhagen in May 2004, Mary Donaldson let her earrings take center stage. As her diamond wedding tiara faded into the background of the heirloom Connaught veil, the diamond and pearl drop statement earrings she chose became one of the most eye-catching parts of her entire bridal ensemble.

Even before she became Queen of Spain, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano preferred streamlined, modern jewels. For her wedding to the Prince of Asturias in May 2004, Letizia wore a gorgeous pair of classic diamond earrings with the Prussian Tiara. The earrings have remained a staple of her jewelry wardrobe to this day.

The Middleton family's coat of arms features oak leaves and acorns, and their daughter, Catherine, echoed those motifs in the earrings she wore when she married the Duke of Cambridge in London in April 2011. The stud portion of the earrings features an oak leaf design that also neatly echoes the scrolls of her wedding diadem, the Cartier Halo Tiara. The earrings also include a teeny acorn drop.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg has lent one of her own wedding presents -- the diamond earrings she received from her parents -- to two of her daughters-in-law for their royal weddings. Countess Stephanie de Lannoy wore the earrings with the Lannoy Tiara in October 2012 to marry Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume in Luxembourg, while Claire Lademacher donned them with the Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara in September 2013 for her wedding to Prince Felix in France. (Maria Teresa also wore them with the Congo Diamond Necklace Tiara when she married Grand Duke Henri in Luxembourg in February 1981!)

One of the most spectacular royal wedding earring moments came in June 2013, when Princess Madeleine of Sweden delved into the depths of the family's historic jewelry vaults and brought out the Vasa Earrings for her wedding. The eighteenth-century earrings originally belonged to Queen Louise Ulrika of Sweden, wife of King Adolf Frederik. They paired beautifully with the Modern Fringe Tiara, which was festooned with orange blossoms for the occasion.

A more modern pair of earrings accompanied Elisabetta Rosboch von Wolkenstein down the aisle when she married Prince Amedeo of Belgium in Rome in July 2014. The geometric diamond and pearl drop earrings were the perfect accessory to go with Queen Elisabeth's Art Deco Bandeau, which was loaned to the bride by the groom's grandmother, Queen Paola.

Most recently, we all marveled at the Cartier diamond earrings worn by Meghan Markle as she married the Duke of Sussex in Windor in May 2018. Minimalist enough to fit with the bride's personal jewelry aesthetic, but blingy enough to please a royal jewelry lover, the earrings were a lovely addition to Meghan's bridal ensemble. They were also a lovely counterpart to her heirloom wedding tiara, Queen Mary's Diamond Bandeau!

These are just a few of the glamorous earrings worn at royal weddings. What's your favorite royal wedding earring?