Fascinating Fridays (Heraldic Crowns)

No symbolic object embodies the concept of Royalty more than a crown. Yet the singular physical crown is not available to appear at every opportunity as a symbol of its country. Today at least we have photography that can produce limitless images for the enjoyment of and the representation of the nation. In days gone by when photography didn't exist, artistic representation were used in the form of paintings, engravings and flattened sculptures called reliefs that could be hung on the walls of government buildings. Even fully 3-dimensional sculptures were also employed atop carriages and the like. The discipline of depicting the real crown of a monarchy developed into a very stylised skill that we call "crown heraldry". 

Heraldry as a complete artistic discipline involves the design and depiction of a Family or National Crest. These designs can be very intricate and must be extremely accurate as to avoid confusion or faults. In the case of a Royal Crest or Coat of Arms as it is also known, a Heraldic Crown is inevitably included which would be a recognisable yet simplified representation of the actual crown of the monarchy. Let us take a look at some of these Heraldic Crowns and their application in Royal Crests as officially used today. 

This clear depiction of the Heraldic Crown of Swann has many uses in the official correspondence and other "logo" requirements of the monarchy and office of the Duke of Swann. It is most often seen preceding a Royal Statement in newspapers and indeed on this blog. 

One can easily see the resemblance of the Heraldic Crown to the actual Crown of Swann on the cushion next to the Duke. Also note the heraldic representation above the Swann emblem. Heraldic Crowns are not photo realistic depiction of real crowns but rather stylized simplifications that strongly evoke the image of the real crown. They are above all supposed to be easily recognisable, even to an untrained eye. For that purpose simple colours reminiscent of national colours are used. The heraldic Crown of Swann is somewhat of an anomaly as is many other aspects of the Swanobian monarchy. The Heraldic Crown is strictly speaking that of a Grand Duke while the real one is that of a Prince Regent or even a Noble Duke. This is in keeping with the unusuality of the Duke's title. He is in rank and power, a Sovereign Grand Duke. He is by blood a Prince Royal and referred to as Prince Daniel, the Duke of Swann. Yet the office that rules Swann is traditionally called, Duke of Swann, regardless of technicalities with power etc. 

Again the Heraldic Crown in the Royal Crest can be compared to the real one. 

The Heraldic Crown of Swann is also represented on the national flag and Royal Standard. 

Normandia's Royal Crest, like most others includes a heraldic representation of the Crown of Normandy. It is not included in the flag. 

Comparing the two "crowns" is again made posible in this State Portrait of Queen Gloria. 

Royal Crests and heraldic crowns form part of Royal documents as can be seen in the top left of this invitation issued by Queen Gloria of Normandia

The Kingdom of Syldavia's flag includes above the bull's head on the left, what is meant to be the Heraldic Crown of Syldavia. This representation is furthest removed from depicting the real crown than any other heraldic representation but as such strangely triggers the memory in connecting it with Syldavia. The historic records of Syldavian heraldry do not record why the crown isn't more accurately portrayed. 

Compare the real Crown of Syldavia in this photo to its heraldic counterpart and see if you agree with our analysis of its "erroneous" depiction. 

Some monarchies do not employ crown jewels or heraldic representations of crowns. The Islands of Arcwhite is an example of such a country. You will therefor never find crowns used in any way as is the tradition with other monarchies. 

In contrast with Syldavia, the Heraldic Crown of Hispania is quite an accurate representation as can be clearly seen from the Royal Crest and the photo of the Crown below. 

The Royal Crown of the Kings of Hispania.

We will not display every monarchy's Heraldic Crown here today as we hope that now you will enjoy keeping your eyes peeled in order to appreciate this detail of Royal tradition. You may view preceding blogs concerning State Portraits, Royal Statements or invitations to see where these have been employed especially in the monarchies not mentioned in this post. Regardless, you will probably also be far more aware when they pop up in future. happy crown hunting.

What's Up Wednesday (Upcoming Events)

Upcoming events for the first quarter of 2013 are promising to be very exciting and even controversial. We have some happy, some political and some tenuous events to look forward to.

First up the engagement party, somewhere in February and then the wedding of the Countess Dysart and the Duke of Argyle to follow later in the year, will be the next in a sequence Royalist event the nation of Scotney has seen on its now republic shores. 

For a special press release the Duke of Argyle poses with his fiancé the Countess Dysart in front of her ancestral home, Castle Glen Coe. The castle was the venue for the groundbreaking Birthday Celebrations for the Crown Prince Imperial in2012. The Prince is the claimant to the currently deposed throne of Scotney. 

To be hosted in Normandia, we can expect the wedding of the Duchess of Roswind to Prince Valmont D'Pont du Lac to take place somewhere in March/April. Official invites should be out forthwith. 

The engaged couple at their engagement party in 2012.

The office of the King of Syldavia has released to the press that Her Majesty Queen Maxima is with child. A short press conference with the reigning couple expressed their joy at the news and a speculated date for the birth. The heir to the throne is expected to arrive somewhere in August/September 2013. Queen Gloria of Normandia is expected to deliver her baby and heir in May of this year as well. 

The King and Queen of Syldavia pose in front of Ploch Palace during their recent press conference. 

The Upcoming State Tour of the Grand Duke of Hanoveria to Hispania and Wallachia with a stop over at the controversial Serbieski/Wallachia border, off-shore Natural Gas Refinery is set to run from mid till end March.

His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hanoveria will take a much belated State Tour in 2013.

The Hanoverian monarch will visit the Principality of Wallachia and the Kingdom of Hispania respectively with hopes of increasing trade and strengthening political friendship.

In other news, the delayed Royal Art Gallery of Swann  that was due to open in 2012 will see its grand opening and debut exhibition of the Duke of Swann's photographic and fine art, take place in April 2013. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Empress Crystobel's Diamonds Part 2)

We are back after another week to discuss more diamonds. As if all previous posts on the jewellery of Empress Crystobel wasn't enough, here is our next instalment on more of her diamond treasure. We are currently only focusing on the colourless stones in the Empress' collection. Today we are viewing the very lavish Birthday Diamond Tiara and Bracelet that was made in 1993 to match a 19th century De Resile Necklace and Earrings and presented to the Empress on her birthday from her direct family. The Birthday Parure as it is known, was also considered a celebration of the 1993 foundation of the new United Empire of Scot-Britania as the Empress wore it for her first official Birthday Party as Empress. In 2011, the Empress' family also added a brooch to the parure which she has worn a couple of times since. 

The original jeweller's archive photo from 1993 shows the diamond parure in full except obviously for the recently added brooch which was designed in 2011 specifically to match the set. 

One archive photo that predates the Revolution still exists in the Swann Archives that shows the Empress wearing the diamond parure in the parade at her birthday celebration.

The old photo shows the Empress just as she alighted from her carriage.

Empress Crystobel loves to mix and match different pieces of jewellery together and we tried to find a recent photo of her wearing the complete parure but couldn't find one. We will have to also mix and match our photos in response in order to cover the topic. 

The 2012 "Concert in the Park" in Scotney saw the Diamond Tiara and Necklace being worn in spectacular style, paired with some of the Empress' rubies. Rubies, as we know, seems to be the Empress' preferred gemstone. 

This 2011 photo shows the Empress wearing her new brooch on her hip to the wedding of her niece Princess Kirsten of Hanoveria to the Prince Youssopoff. 

Getting a detailed shot of the bracelet is rare as inevitably a close-up of the Empress does not always include the hands and she seems to wear it rarely. It is however clear from photos, that she wore the bracelet to the 2011 Chrismas Ball and the 2012 Knights of the Realms Meeting. 

One nice photo at an Opera in 2011 shows her wearing the bracelet, brooch and tiara but not the necklace or the earrings. 

Finding a recent photo of the Empress wearing the earrings has entirely alluded us. We hope to see them or perhaps the full parure being worn at once, somewhere in 2013. 

"To be or not to be" Thursday (Princess Oktavia von Hohen und Silberstein)

On the 1^st of January 1980 in the Syldavian Province of Silbertein the Palace of Reichsburg hosted a New Years Day celebration along with the birth of the 10^th Prince von Hohen und Silbertein’s firtsborn. Her Serene Highness Princess Oktavia Frederika Maria von Hohen und Silberstein, Countess Von Reichsburg and Freiherrin Zu Germania, was brought out for presentation to the revelling crowd in the Palace ballroom at 40 minutes past 12. Such was to be the life of Princess Oktavia; one of glamour, wealth, parties and being the centre of attention but not without an akward discomfort.

The Von Hohen und Silbertein family’s transport and banking businesses began in the early 1700’s. Due to their service across the borders of several kingdoms they were granted the title of Prince. Thus the Princes von Hohen und Silbertein never ruled a country but had title and rank. The family businesses over time grew into multi-billion dollar enterprises and upon her father’s death in 1985 Oktavia became the youngest billionaire in the world. The Bloody Revolution of 1996 hit the Kingdom of Syldavia very hard but the Princely family of Von Hohen und Silberstein were only affected by "losing" their titles. Their international business allowed for certain concession to be granted after severe taxing of course. International laws however were passed after the revolution declared that descendants of old Royal and Noble families could only retain titles as part of their surnames but internal family laws on titles and inheritance were private affairs.

The death of Princess Oktavia’s father, combined with her mother’s weak character brought the family wealth under a trust managed on her behalf by extended family members. When she reached her early teens the revolution struck. This was the emotional breaking point and opportunity the Princess needed. Her hatred for her uncle and board of trustees was made clear in a well publicized restaurant altercation. To henceforth embarrass the trustees while at the same time snubbing the insubordinate “democratic” attitude of commoners, that fueled the revolution, she was seen to dress in outrageous vulgarity with a matching spendthrift lifestyle. She exploded in a teenage rebellion like only a billionaire heiress could, expressing her angst before the whole world and did so in the way she knew best; to party. Drugs, sex, rave parties and shopping became the hallmark of the “Punk Princess”. She hit the A-list social set with nuclear force and upstaged a well known Hotel heiress several times, resulting once in a cocktail party swimming pool “accident”.

Wearing Madame Frumesetta and an antique family ruby parure, we see the Princess in her punk heyday. 

The Princely Jewellery Collection is of typical Royal standards, beautiful, valuable and embued with history. This particular ruby tiara bears a striking resemblance to one owned by Empress Crystobel. However the rubies seen here are of a square cut and not round like in the case of the Empress' tiara. 

Upon her 25^th birthday Princess Oktavia assumed full control of her vast wealth and with it came an unexpected new sense of responsibility. She had seen life on drugs in nightclubs and even lost friends to addiction and suicide. Now she wanted to give back. She immediately patronized every drug rehab in Europa and became the outspoken “face” for Dance Against Child Abuse. This unique international charity consists of musicians, and other celebrities working to aid orphans and other children who have been abused. Oktavia has been engaged twice and prospects for the future are left with this 2007 quote; “If I die unmarried I will do so having raised as many children as I can.”

Under the current restored monarchy of Syldavia, The Hohen und Silberstein titles have been newly recognized. This means that we might see more of this style phenomenon in an official capacity even though she prefers to work rather than to party. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Empress Crystobel's Diamonds Part 1)

Diamonds, diamonds, diamonds are a girls best friend. However when you are Royalty they are probably mere accessories or sentimental trinkets as our title implies. The interesting part is that these valuable baubles often carry more history with them than the actual wearer as they are often much older than the Royal owner. As stated last week we will be presenting far more about the jewellery of the Royals on this blog and in keeping with that promise we will do a series on the diamonds that belong to Empress Crystobel in her private capacity. We start with her oldest set and also the first set that her mother received when she married Prince Christopher of Hispania in 1957.  

We present to you the Queen Crystobel Wedding Gift Diamond Parure or more accurately, the Ladies of Scotney Diamond Parure. The confusion with the name stems from the fact that this parure was indeed the young Queen Crystobel's Wedding Gift but it is more appropriate to honour the giver than the receiver or the event. Thus seeing as all the aristocratic ladies of the Kingdom of Scotney arranged for the gift to be created and presented to the Queen, it is officially named the Ladies of Scotney Parure. 

The gift of this grand set of jewellery, made from indigenous Scotney Pearls and rare Indiana Diamonds was a grand gesture from the Scotney Nobility. The Duchess of Argyle, Countess Dysart and Baroness Ferguson headed up the committee of prominent Ladies who raised the capital for purchasing the Parure as a gift to be presented as a symbolic blessing from the women of the "entire country" as it were. The enterprise took 10 long months of planning and eventual manufacture but the set was then finally presented to the young bride a week in advance of the wedding ceremony. After the great day it went on a national tour of exhibits while its new owner was on honeymoon. 

Unfortunately we have no photographic documentation of Queen Crystobel I wearing the parure except for this single photo from 1983. She is seen wearing only the tiara from the set. As we know the 1996 Revolution destroyed most of the historic records of the Kingdom of Scotney but some rare documentation and some jewels obviously survived. 

Queen Crystobel, who died in 1985 left the set to her daughter who became Queen Crystobel II of Scotney and later Empress of the United Empire of Scot-Britania. Pictured in the centre of the photo above we see the then Empress mere weeks before the Revolution wearing the parure. She managed to escape in secret, with her life and many of the family heirlooms. 

The set of spectacular diamonds makes for quite the regal display as can be seen in this photo taken at the 2011 Christmas Ball. Empress Crystobel, who inherited the parure from her mother wears it to very dramatic effect. She pairs it here with a diamond brooch from one of her other parures that we will discuss in an upcoming post. Even though it is of extreme sentimental and historic value the Ladies of Scotney Diamond Parure is not worn very often and was last seen here in 2011. 

The Empress enjoys mixing her jewellery so we at least spotted the earrings in 2012, at the Birthday Ball.... 

....and at the Knight's of the Realm Gathering

Perhaps 2013 will afford the whole set some limelight again. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (The Crown Jewels of Wallachia)

This year we will do far more posts focusing on the jewelry of the Royals as this is perhaps the part of this blog that I enjoy the most. For today we will feature the Crown Jewels of Wallachia. We already did a feature on the reigning Princess' private collection last year. There will also be a following feature on her mother's jewels to come soon.

The Crown Jewels consists of two crowns, one medieval tiara linked directly to the ancestors of the Princess and a set of earrings with necklace.

The Grand Princely Crown of Wallachia, seen here resting on the pedestal beside the Princess, is of a very early medieval design and manufacture. Manufactured in the 1300's from pure Wallachian gold and set alternatively with pear cut aquamarines and square cut amethysts there are also eight Fleur d' Lys topped with Caspian Sea black pearls. It was made for the legendary Prince Vlad III who needed new regalia after his treacherous brother stole and sold the original Crown Jewels to finance his rebellion.

The Royal Crest of Wallachia includes the heraldic representation of the Crown surmounting the shield.

A close up of the heraldic crown shows a remarkable likeness to the actual crown.

Due to Princess Xenia being the reigning monarch, it was appropriate and indeed expected by tradition that she wear the Crown, as the ultimate symbol of her office, on her wedding day. She paired it with the Crown Earrings. the effect was very successful even seen from a purely fashion point of view.

In this State Portrait from the era preceding the 96 Revolution we see the Consort Crown of Wallachia resting on the pedestal behind Princess Suzanna, the current Dowager Princess of Wallachia. This was probably the last time this crown was used. It was made at the same time as its larger counterpart. It is set with seven pear cut amethysts and seven square aquamarines set alternatively in the solid gold. It is decorated with seven white pearls instead of black like in the other crown. The Dowager Consort Princess wears the Crown Necklace and Earrings as well. This set was made especially for Princess Suzanna by the people of Wallachia upon her marriage to their Prince. The set was permanently added to the Crown Collection in thanks to the people in order that it remained a part of the national heritage in perpetuity.

This close-up shot of Princess Xenia shows the ancient medieval tiara that forms the final part of the Crown Jewel Collection. Called the Princess Bathoria Tiara it can also be seen in the two preceding State Portraits of Princess Xenia and he mother the Dowager Princess of Wallachia. The tiara was permanently entered into the collection when Prince Vlad III's daughter was stripped of wealth and titles in circa 1550 after she was declared mad by the Seer Mithrandir. The Princess purportedly murdered several servants and children after her husband the Count Bathoria cheated on her with a servant girl. She was left isolated in her remote castle while her husband conducted his "affairs" elsewhere and eventually her husband's neglect drove her insane. Today many superstitions surround the story of the Princess Bathoria and her tiara. One in particular states that if the tiara was ever lost that the curse of madness would befall another Princess of the Draculesti line.

Wallachian tradition never included sceptres and spheres into its Royal symbolism or regalia. It has never been anything other than two Crowns. One for the Prince and one for his wife. The addition of the Tiara, earrings and necklace never attempted to alter the symbolic nature of the Crowns but have just added to the recorded history of a very ancient country. It is our pleasure to be able to see these beautiful jewels still in use and hope to do so for many years to come.

What's Up Wednesday (State Portrait of the Princess of Cataljone)

The first official event of 2013 is the from the Kingdom of Hispania who released the first ever State Portraits of the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hispania. Last year saw the coming-of-age birthday party of the Princess of Cataljone and she has been seen more regularly on the public Royal circuit. As such her country has felt it appropriate to acknowledge her officially by releasing a nationally recognised portrait in honour of her. Here follows that photo set. 

In keeping with official photos, this portrait shows the Royal Crest of Hispania and draws a line of continuity with the portrait of the last Prince and Princess of Cataljone in the background. 

The Princess also chose to reflect the present by wearing the  brand new set of jewellery given to her by her mother for her birthday in 2012. The valuable set of Yellow Diamonds and rare Fire Opals link very closely to Hispania which is one of only two countries where the rare gemstone is mined. The Princess also wears the Hispanian Order of the Triad with its three pronged badge and blue sash. She was inducted into this order of knighthood as another honour at her coming-of age. To show solidarity in the current economic crisis, the Princess decided to wear instead of a new gown, one of her mother's ball gowns albeit slightly modified with a new bold red ribbon detail. 

We hope to see a lot of the young heir to the throne in 2013 and look forward to seeing her future unfold. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (The Private Jewellery Collection of Queen Gloria of Normandia)

Happy 2013 everybody! This is our first post for the new year and I thought we would start it with a bang and in true style focusing on my favourite topic, tiaras and jewellery. 

We have done a blog post feature on the Crown Jewels of Normandia in 2012 and now we will discuss all the jewellery that belongs to Queen Gloria in her private capcity. This could be seen as the Van der Bilt Family Inheritance as some of the jewellery was bought by Queen Gloria's father for her mother and as gifts to Gloria. The rest are recent private purchases. Let's take a look at this sumptuous collection in detail now. 

Queen Gloria's mother, Lady Karen Van Der Bil, is seen here wearing what we will call the Van Der Bilt Platinum Parure. This photo dates from 2008 and was taken at a Big Apple evening function of which Lady Karen attended more than could be remembered.

In this recent jewellers archive photo we see that the jewels still exist even though Queen Gloria has not worn the tiara as yet. She has been seen to wear the earrings though. The necklace however has been altered, presumably to be of a more "queenly"configuration rather than the more modest previous design. 

The famous Lady Karen Amethyst Parure has been discussed in a previous post focusing specifically on the Amethyst as a gemstone. Please find that post under "Amethysts" in our Label Column. 

This jewellers archive photo is posted here for the first time detailing this historic and extravagant set of valuable pink diamonds and amethysts dating from the early 1980's. 

The design of the Amethyst Parure is very simple, almost modest but that belies the great value of the pink diamonds included in the design. This very chic design was typical of the Van Der Bilt's "understated" display of wealth. This has however changed since Gloria ascended the throne of Normandia where the queenly office requires a distinct show of pomp and grandeur. 

Lady Karen wearing pink, is seen here in 2009 wearing the Franconian Diadem. This Tiara used to be the most "Royal" and most impressive in the Van Der Bilt Collection. The Tiara is clearly more than 200 years old and claims provenance from the old Franconian Royal Court. It did not come to the family through Lady Karen's Royal heritage but was rather bought for her by her husband at auction as a gift. 

The Franconian Diadem is set with diamonds and pearls and is said to have belonged to the last Queen of Franconia who lost it along with her head when that monarchy fell during the famous Franconian Revolution more than 200 years ago.

Queen Gloria often wears the Diadem and pairs it here with a more modern choker.

When Gloria became Queen of Normandia she needed more jewellery for all the official functions she was now required to attend. Even though she already owned a very famous and valuable jewellery collection, she did decide to add some new pieces. All the new pieces she acquired at her own expense and as such they remain her personal property. All the official jewels from the Crown Collection of Normandia (discussed in a previous post) however is the property of the state but at her disposal to wear to official events.

 In this photo, Queen Gloria wears the new tiara that was made for her to wear to the Christmas Ball of 2010. it has now unofficially been dubbed the "Christmas Tiara" due to this fact and that its design alludes loosely to snowflakes. She paired the new tiara, when she wore it to the 2011 Knights of the Realm Meeting, with the most valuable single stone in the Van Der Bilt Collection. Seen in Queen Gloria's necklace we can see that stone, the Van Der Bilt Cognac Diamond.

The Christmas Tiara seems to be Queen Gloria's favourite as she is seen more often wearing it rather than any other at her disposal.

The Van Der Bilt Diamond Necklace, containing the 200ct Van Der Bilt Cognac Diamond. This stone has been in the Van Der Bilt Family for almost a hundred years since Queen Gloria's grand father bought it in the late 1920's and gave it as a gift to his wife. Gloria inherited the stone upon her father's death while she was still very young.

Queen Gloria was required to wear official jewels from the Normandian Crown Collection for her Investiture Ceremony as Queen. This ancient set of aquamarines and diamonds did not however have matching earrings. Queen Gloria immediately had aquamarine earnings made up to match the official set but ordered an entire parure along with it. In this photo we can see the complete new set as it was worn to the Duke of Swann's Anniversary Festivities early in 2012. The tiara is very modest in typical Van Der Bilt style and was made for that purpose as the official jewellery is very large and cumbersome.

The new Van Der Bilt Aquamarine Parure consists of a tiara, necklace, earrings, bracelet and a brooch.

Queen Gloria also ordered a new ruby necklace and earrings somewhere in 2011. She was seen to wear it for the first time at the Christmas Ball in 2011. 

Here is the jewellers catalogue photo for the ruby set. We will informally name this the Queen Gloria Ruby Demi Parure. 

Another new set made its appearance in 2012. This set is set with emeralds and diamonds and made its debut at the State Visit of Lady Arcwhite to the Kingdom of Normandia.

The Queen Gloria Emerald Demi Parure also includes a brooch which as yet has not been worn in public.

A very personal piece of jewellery that has come to the Queen is a bracelet from her husband. The former Count Szanguscko had to relinquish his title and family jewels to his younger brother when he married Queen Gloria and became the Prince of Northwold. He did however give her a bracelet that belonged to his mother. This single piece of Szanguscko historic jewellery now forms part of Queen Gloria'sd private collection.

Queen Gloria often wears the Szanguscko Bracelet as it has extreme sentimental value and its design lends itself to be paired with most other jewels.

Some of the famous Van Der Bilt Treasures are not currently in the hands of Queen Gloria.

A Tiara that has been lost to history is the Kent Diamond Tiara. Presumed to be another casualty of the 1996 Revolution, this tiara should otherwise have been part of Queen Gloria's inheritance as it belonged to Queen Gloria's maternal grandmother the Duchess of Kent. The tiara was last seen at the wedding of Queen Crystobel I of Scotney and Crown Prince Christian of Britania in 1986.

This very old archive photo shows the tiara in close detail. Its current whereabouts are unknown. It is rumoured that Queen Gloria has an antique broker scouring the market for its location and possible purchase.

Before Gloria even knew that she would be a queen she was still the head of a vast family fortune. Sometimes even the very wealthy are in need of ready cash and in 2009 this calamity hit Gloria Van Der Bilt.  She needed some cash for an immediate business venture and as such decided to sell some jewellery to raise the funds. She opted for the so called Van Der Bilt Diamond Collar. The extremely valuable set was sold with its matching earrings in a private sale raising the much needed cash flow.

This photo taken in 2008 is the last documentation of Gloria wearing the collar and earrings.

As the sale of the necklace was private, it wasn't even known by the public that it was sold. It was later however revealed along with its new owner when the Hispanian, Duchess of Aragon wore her new set to a movie premiere in 2009.

The Collar remains in the wealthy Duchess' collection to this day and was worn to the Christmas Ball in 2013 as seen in this photo.

The Van Der Bilt Collection counts as one of the largest and most valuable, intrinsically and historically, in the world. It is a pleasure to us the fans, that this collection is still used and not gathering dust in a museum. We look forward to seeing Queen Gloria wearing her sparklers on the red carpet in future, whether they are hers or belonging to the Crown Of Normandia.