Wikimedia Commons |
Wikimedia Commons |
Wikimedia Commons |
Grand Ladies Site |
Grand Ladies Site |
Wikimedia Commons |
Illustrated London News, Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons |
Don’t Miss a Single Sparkling Moment! Sign up for The Court Jeweller Newsletter
Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
Wikimedia Commons |
Wikimedia Commons |
Wikimedia Commons |
Grand Ladies Site |
Grand Ladies Site |
Wikimedia Commons |
Illustrated London News, Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons |
Grand Ladies Site |
Royal Collection Trust/Wikimedia Commons, MICHAEL KAPPELER/DDP/AFP via Getty Images |
One of the most classic and beautiful tiaras in the British collection, Queen Mary received this one as a wedding present in 1893. And although it is an all-diamond tiara today, it was originally topped by fourteen large pearls. Mary later had those pearls replaced with diamonds and used the pearls on her new Lover’s Knot Tiara. Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, as a wedding present, and it’s still one of the Queen’s most-worn tiaras today.
Royal Collection, Governor-General of New Zealand |
Made in 1919 using gold, silver, and diamonds recycled from a tiara she received from Queen Victoria, Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara is a classic and elegant example of the fringe design. In 1936, Mary gave it to her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), who then lent it to two famous royal brides: her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, and her granddaughter, Princess Anne. The present Queen inherited the tiara in 2002.
Wikimedia Commons, ARTHUR EDWARDS/AFP via Getty Images |
Given as a silver wedding present to Queen Alexandra in 1888 by a committee of aristocratic ladies, the tiara was made to mimic the Russian kokoshnik tiaras popular at the court of Alexandra’s sister, Empress Marie Feodorovna. Alexandra wore the tiara at Queen Mary’s wedding, and then bequeathed it to her in 1925. She passed it along to her granddaughter, Elizabeth II, a quarter century later. The Queen still owns and wears the tiara today.
Wikimedia Commons, Toby Melville-Pool/Getty Images |
This diamond tiara of interlocking circles and pearl pendants was made in the 1870s for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, sister-in-law of Czar Alexander III of Russia. After the revolution, her daughter sold the tiara to Queen Mary, who had it adapted to take either the original pearl drops or a set of drops from the Cambridge emerald collection. Queen Elizabeth II inherited the piece in 1953, and she still wears it regularly today.
Wellcome Images/Wikimedia Commons, MATT DUNHAM/POOL/AFP via Getty Images |
Queen Mary’s husband, King George V, called this sparkler her “best tiara.” It was made in 1911 for the Delhi Durbar, the celebration of the couple’s coronation in India. Mary recycled diamonds from another dismantled tiara to make the piece, which was originally also set with some of the famous Cambridge emeralds. In 1912, Garrard altered the piece so that it could be worn with the Cullinan III and IV diamonds. Mary gave it as a long-term loan to the Queen Mother, who kept it until her death. Today, it’s now on loan to the Duchess of Cornwall, who has so far only worn it in public once.
Royal Collection Trust/Wikimedia Commons, Victoria Jones – WPA Pool/Getty Images |
Mary commissioned this tiara in 1913 to mimic the design of a sparkler that belonged to her grandmother, Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge. The new lover’s knot tiara recycled pearls that had once been atop the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, as well as other pearls from Mary’s collection. The tiara once also had upright pearls fixed atop the piece, although those have since been permanently removed. The Queen inherited the tiara from her grandmother in 1953, but later it became primarily associated with another wearer: Diana, Princess of Wales. Today, it’s worn by Diana’s daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge.
PA Images/Alamy, JONATHAN BRADY/AFP via Getty Images |
This diamond bandeau-style tiara was made in 1932 to accommodate one of Mary’s wedding gifts, the County of Lincoln Brooch. The round diamond cluster brooch forms the centerpiece of the tiara. The bandeau was later inherited by the Queen, who famously loaned it to the Duchess of Sussex as a bridal tiara in 2018.
Grand Ladies Site, LEON NEAL/AFP via Getty Images |
Queen Mary commissioned this tiara, which features honeysuckle elements throughout in diamonds, in 1914. Later, she had the size of the tiara’s peak reduced. Originally the piece was made to hold one of the Cullinan diamonds; that centerpiece stone was also interchangeable with a sapphire and diamond jewel. When Mary gifted the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Princess Alice, she had a new diamond center element made. Today, the piece is worn by the current Duchess of Gloucester with that diamond, an emerald, or a third stone that is either a kunzite or a pink topaz.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images |
Mary received this tiara, which has a coordinating suite of turquoise and diamond jewels, from her parents as a wedding present in 1893. Never one of her most-worn pieces, she had the height of the tiara adjusted in 1912. Two decades later she gave the turquoises to her new daughter-in-law, Princess Alice, as a wedding gift. It’s been with the Gloucesters ever since, and today it’s worn by the present Duchess of Gloucester.
Wikimedia Commons, ALASTAIR GRANT/AFP/Getty Images |
This lovely kokoshnik-style tiara was given to Queen Mary as a wedding present by Lord and Lady Iveagh in 1893. It’s one of the only pieces of wedding-gift jewelry that she never significantly altered; with its beautiful, balanced shape, she didn’t really need to. Mary bequeathed the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Today, it’s still worn by Alice’s daughter-in-law, Birgitte, and it was also a wedding tiara for Alice’s granddaughter, Lady Rose Gilman.
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images, Ron Bell/PA Images/Alamy |
Queen Mary bought this small diamond bandeau from Garrard in 1925, and she used it for a time with emerald toppers from the Cambridge emerald cache. After her death, the tiara was inherited by her daughter-in-law, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. It’s been worn by several of the Kent ladies, including Princess Alexandra; it was also the present Duchess of Kent’s wedding tiara. Many believe this tiara was partly dismantled to create the small pearl and diamond fringe tiara currently in the Kent collection. That version of the tiara is still with the Kents today, and was used as a wedding tiara by Lady Helen Taylor in 1992.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
The little grand duchy of Luxembourg has a tiara collection to rival most other royal families in Europe. Today we’re looking an interesting subsection of their sparklers: their collection of mid-century bandeaux.
Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS/Alamy |
We’ll start out journey through the bandeaux with a look at the family’s bandeau tiara set with oval amethysts. In the photo above, taken in 1977, Princess Marie-Astrid (sister of the present grand duke) wears the bandeau with a necklace featuring another oval-shaped amethyst as a pendant.
Cour grand-ducale |
More recently, the current generation of the family has worn the bandeau with its coordinating earrings and full necklace. There’s some debate about which stones are set between the amethysts; many believe they are seed pearls, but the rather odd, square setting makes them seem like they might be other gems instead.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
Seed pearls are definitely a major part of another bandeau and its matching parure. Here, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie wears the citrine and pearl suite at the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013.
Cour grand-ducale |
The citrine bandeau has become a favorite tiara of Stephanie’s, and it’s easy to see why: the color of the gems looks lovely with her hair. Most recently, she wore them for the Belgian state visit to Luxembourg in 2019.
Mark Renders/Getty Images |
It’s rarer to spot this family bandeau out in the world. The piece is a convertible sapphire and diamond bracelet placed on a tiara frame and worn as a bandeau. Most recently, we saw it on Princess Margaretha (sister of the current grand duke) during a state visit to Belgium in 2007.
Cour grand-ducale |
Here’s a view of the same jewel in its bracelet form. Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte wears it on her right wrist in this official portrait.
Christian Aschman/Cour grand-ducale |
Here’s one of the newest bandeau-style tiaras in the royal vaults: the diamond and ruby bandeau that belongs to Princess Claire. She wears it here in an official portrait with the coordinating earrings and necklace from the suite, which interestingly are much more substantial than the tiara itself.
NICOLAS LAMBERT/AFP via Getty Images |
My favorite tiara from the family’s bandeau collection has to be the aquamarine and diamond bandeau. The piece features large rectangular aquamarines interspersed with diamond-set lattice designs. Above, Princess Margaretha wears the bandeau for the dinner held the night before Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume’s wedding in October 2012.
Albert Nieboer/Royal Press Europe/DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy |
More recently, Princess Alexandra sparkled in the aquamarine bandeau for the National Day gala in June 2018.