Some jewels are worn; others are passed down with a story attached. At the 2026 Princess of Asturias Awards in Oviedo on Friday 23 October, Princess Leonor of Spain, 20, stepped onto the famous blue carpet wearing a pair of ruby and diamond drop earrings lent by her grandmother, Queen Sofía. According to Spanish royal reporters, it was the first time Sofía had ever lent them to anyone, not even to her daughters, the Infantas Elena and Cristina, or to Queen Letizia.
A wedding gift with three generations behind it
The earrings date back to 1962, when Sofía married the future King Juan Carlos in Athens. They are reported to have been a gift from her mother, Queen Frederica of Greece, chosen to match a spectacular wedding present from the shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos: a Van Cleef & Arpels suite of Burmese cabochon rubies and diamonds that can be worn as necklaces or even as a tiara. Vanity Fair Spain explains that none of the pieces in that suite could be worn as earrings, which is why Frederica added a pair of her own. Each earring pairs a ruby cluster with marquise and brilliant-cut diamonds, ending in an oval cabochon ruby framed in diamonds.
Leonor wore her hair up so nothing hid them, and she skipped a necklace and tiara altogether. Her dress, by the Spanish label Hannibal Laguna, was a fitted, iridescent burgundy-magenta midi with a full skirt, a shade that changed with the light and echoed the deep red of the stones.
The rest of the royal wardrobe
Across the three days of events, the Spanish royals stayed loyal to home-grown fashion. Leonor favoured sharp trouser suits by the sustainable Spanish brand Mirto, while Infanta Sofía chose a garnet-red suit by Mango and later a blue slip dress by Bruna. Queen Letizia chose black for the ceremony: a long-sleeved dress made by the palace workroom in a fine lyocell knit by the Madrid company Pyratex, made from 30% recycled textiles and 70% wood pulp. Queen Sofía wore ivory brocade by Alejandro de Miguel with a brooch depicting Our Lady of Covadonga, patron saint of Asturias.
For those who love a deep red stone, our ruby earrings, ruby pendants, ruby rings and ruby bracelets offer a little of that heirloom glow, or browse our full collection of earrings.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, “Letizia di Spagna con l’abito realizzato con tessuti riciclati e pasta di legno e la principessa Leonor per la prima volta con gioielli da regina” (24 October 2026); Vanity Fair Spain, “La princesa Leonor recupera los pendientes de rubíes que Federica de Grecia regaló a la reina Sofía” (23 October 2026); ¡HOLA!; El Español. Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
