What do Aishwarya Rai and Pope Clement VIII have in Common?

In case you didn't know, Aishwarya Rai  is a former Miss World winner, and a currently Bollywood superstar. Last year, Oprah proclaimed her the most beautiful woman on the planet. Here is a picture from her reign as Miss World 1994:

Here is a more recent photo of her:

And if you don't believe me from the pictures that she is gorgeous, she just recently landed her third international Vogue cover. Not a big deal or anything. Now, what can the stunning Aishwarya Rai possibly have in common with Clement VIII, a pope who ruled from 1592-1605?

Answer: they both wore really awesome tiaras/crowns. Aiwarya of course because she was Miss World 1994, and Clement VIII because popes get to wear these really sweet papal tiaras (also called triple crowns). Here is Pope Clement VIII depicted in a mosaic with his awesome crown/tiara:

Although popes today can pick any papal tiara they want to wear for their coronations and other special occasions (there are 22 currently in existence today), Clement VIII got a new (and rather snazzy) one donated to him from his former see. That being said, he didn't have many to choose from, because Clement VII, who presided a few decades earlier, melted down all of the tiaras to raise money for an army against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Part of what makes the papal tiara so cool/silly looking is the whole "triple crown" part of it. Why three crowns- it has to be symbolic, right? Well... not exactly. The story goes that popes started adding crowns to their regalia some time in the 9th century and became really common some time in the mid-1100s. Apparently, a second crown was added to the getup by Pope Boniface VIII around 1300 to symbolically show that popes had more authority than any secular king (this apparently was the result of a scuffle between Boniface VIII and Phillip the Fair, King of France). The third crown was added in the mid-14th century after Holy Roman Emperors decided to go for a double crown (so normal kings with one crown < Holy Roman Emperors with a double crown < Popes with triple crowns).

So now you know, the connection between Aishwarya Rai and Pope Clement VIII is that they both were really sweet crowns/tiaras. I'll admit that its a strange connection (and Matt would like to point out that the connection would work for any monarch), but I would hazard a guess that its more of a connection than you thought they would have at first glance.