For the first time in Oviedo, Princess Leonor wore the ruby and diamond earrings that Queen Frederica gave to her daughter, Queen Sofía, as a wedding gift. And with them, she has achieved something unusual: on her big night, the jewels stole the spotlight from the dress.
It was her eighth Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony, and she arrived after spending a morning alone with the award winners. In the evening, those rubies became the defining image of the day.
The Story of Queen Sofía’s Ruby Earrings
Although many people associate them with the Niarchos set—the one that Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos gave to Queen Sofía as a wedding gift—these earrings were not part of that set. Federica lent them to her daughter because the rubies perfectly complemented the Van Cleef & Arpels necklace—a piece featuring cabochon-cut Burmese rubies surrounded by diamonds that can be transformed into a choker, bracelets, or a tiara.
Queen Sofía has worn them on occasions of great symbolic significance, such as the enthronement mass for King Juan Carlos I, and most recently, at the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan in 2023. The most striking detail is that Letizia has never worn them. They’ve gone straight from the grandmother’s jewelry box to the granddaughter’s, though it remains to be seen whether this is a one-time loan or if they now belong to Leonor.
What brand is Princess Leonor’s dress?
The dress is the Filipalis model by Hannibal Laguna, designed by its creative director, Sophia Villarroel. It is burgundy in color, and its iridescent fabric changes shade with the light—an effect that the rubies enhanced even further. Leonor is thus moving away from the dark colors she had chosen in previous years. Moreover, this is not a runway piece or a custom-made item, but rather part of the brand’s ready-to-wear line, offered in standard sizes and available for purchase on its website.
This isn’t the first time the heiress has relied on this designer. She had already chosen the designer last June, during Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Madrid, when she wore the Lauren model to the Corpus Christi Mass at Cibeles. It was a light blue, midi-length dress with a straight silhouette from the same line, which was modified to comply with protocol.