Queen Letizia wears historic diamond heirlooms at El País gala

Queen Letizia turned a black off-the-shoulder dress into a stage for one of Spain’s most storied diamond parures, wearing Victoria Eugenia’s historic chaton collar and matching earrings at EL PAÍS’s 50th anniversary celebration in Barcelona. The look worked because it did not try to modernize the jewels by shrinking them or softening their impact. Instead, it let the collar sit high and bright at the base of the neck, where old-cut diamonds and a closely fitted silhouette create the kind of formal tension that makes antique jewelry feel newly relevant.

The gala took place at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona, the former royal shipyards, where King Felipe VI joined Queen Letizia alongside Yolanda Díaz, Salvador Illa and Jaume Collboni, among other political, social and cultural figures. EL PAÍS marked the anniversary of its first issue, published on May 4, 1976, and the evening also coincided with the newspaper’s Ortega y Gasset awards, which it has presented since 1984. For Letizia, the setting added another layer of resonance: she holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in audiovisual journalism, giving her appearance a pointed connection to the institution being celebrated.

The jewels themselves belong to Spain’s joyas de pasar, the crown-jewelry tradition reserved to pass from queen to queen. EL PAÍS has reported that the diamond chaton collar was created by Ansorena in 1906 and was originally assembled from diamonds Alfonso XIII gave Queen Victoria Eugenia, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and wife of the Spanish king. That provenance gives the necklace more than decorative value. It carries the visual language of European dynastic jewelry, where compact diamond settings, refined geometry and solemn scale were designed to read clearly in candlelight, portraiture and state occasions.

Letizia has worn the earrings before, including at the 2024 Premio Planeta gala, and HOLA! noted that the necklace began as a double-strand rivière-style piece later modified over time. Seen now, the set feels especially current because the collar format is having a quiet revival in high jewelry and bridal dressing: not as a throwback, but as a way to frame the face and shoulders with authority. Against bare skin and a dark neckline, the effect is exacting, architectural and unmistakably regal. In Catalonia, where she wore the full set for the first time, the choice also read as a meaningful nod to her role as condesa de Barcelona, while reminding modern clients that archival diamonds still have the power to command a room.