Charlene Wittstock's Royal Wedding Jewelry

Monaco royal wedding watchers got two surprises at the highly anticipated nuptials of notorious bachelor, Prince Albert and former Olympic swimmer and all around hottie, Charlene Wittstock today.

No runaway bride. And no tiara.

Despite rumors of cold feet, Ms. Wittstock showed up in a smashing Armani Prive wedding frock that featured a 15-foot train with elegant embroidery and Swarovski crystals. Her look was topped off with a "Diamond Spray" tiara (if you can officially call it that) created by Lorenz Baumer with 11 encrusted pear-shaped diamond, according to Usmagazine.com.

The couple exchanged 18-karat white gold wedding bands from Cartier in front of the usual royal suspects along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, James Bond star Roger Moore, former supermodel Naomi Campbell, and veteran fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.

(Click here for my report on her engagement ring bling if you're curious.)

Now that all that formal info is out of the way - can we talk about the 'no tiara' decision for a sec?

Kindof a shocker, considering the royal protocol for such things - but I for one think the look is smashing. Love the 'spray' effect and think it's the perfect fit for her updo. So there. What do you guys think?

And while the palace PR machine denies any 'runaway bride' scenario, I have yet to find a picture where these two look like there's one lick of chemistry left (unlike my fav royal couple - that Swedish sensation, Crown Princess Victoria and her commoner fitness-guru-turned-prince, Daniel Westling).

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden

Speaking of, the serious royal bling came out the night prior for a benefit concert/civil ceremony, where the only fireworks happening were...the fireworks (just kiddin' kids).

Here are my favorite shots from the night (you can always count on the carat-heavy coffers of Sweden to light things up). BA-ling!

Can't get enough royal watching? Stay tuned for my "Princess Catherine (aka Kate Middleton) and Wills Take North America" fashion roundup. Cheerio!

Queen Silvia of Sweden

Princess Madeleine of Sweden

Princess Mathilde of Belgium

Charlotte Casiraghi (daughter of Princess Caroline - granddaughter of Princess Grace of Monaco)

P.S. Anyone have any info on this cool statement necklace the Princess-to-be wore the night of her civil ceremony?

Kate Middleton Wedding Jewelry: The Trouble With Tiaras

Kate Middleton's wedding jewelry has been the subject of MUCH speculation in bauble land, especially since she's apparently the only one who will be wearing a wedding band now that Prince Wills opted out of the sacred ritual.

So. Most royal watchers are fixating on the tiara - a favorite past time with this crowd. But does Kate have to wear one? In a word: YES!

Lady Diana chose to wear her own family heirloom when she married Prince Charles - the Diamond Spencer tiara. But since Kate is, how shall I say this delicately - a lowly commoner - it's likely her family doesn't have a stash of tiaras at the ready.

The Queen could, of course, choose to lend or (gasp!) give Kate a tiara from her vast collection - which would be seen as a sign of confidence in the bride. (Click here to learn more about the Queen's tiara collection - and which one is the current Kate frontrunner).

I love the idea of a NEW tiara making it's debut (along with an Alexander McQueen wedding gown, fingers crossed!) and InStyle's wily editors apparently agree since they recently asked some of the jewelry world's top designers to sketch out their vision for a Kate Middleton wedding tiara in an awesome pictorial.

I love this one by Chopard (of course).

And that wacky Alexis Bitter's interpretation is just crazy enough to drive the Queen to an early grave.

So what will mack out the mellon of this most famous bride? We'll just have to ride the neverending Royal Wedding pre-party wave - and keep the guessing games going until the big day on the 29th.

In the meantime, JewelClub is getting in the spirit with the launch of their Royal Sample Sale today - with lots of great Kate-inspired sapphire sample sale steals, royal watchers!

And YES the Royal Wedding Live Tweet party is ON! We're using #royaljewelry for anyone who wants to join the fun. And YES - I will be getting up at 4AM to see it live. And YES - I think I may have a jewelry addiction problem.

Royal Wedding Round-up

The diamond tiara set is out and about again - this time at the royal wedding of Prince Nikolaos of Greece to longtime love, Miss Tatiana Blatnik (an event planner for Diane von Furstenberg).

While the bride was the only one with a tiara to triumph (check out Jewelry.com for details), the usual suspects showed up in their summer best.

Who is your favorite royal?

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden:


Princess Letizia of Spain:


Queen Sofia of Spain:


Princess Madeleine of Sweden:

Queen Margrethe of Denmark

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark:


Prince and Princess Michael of Kent:


Infanta Elena of Spain: