. . . an utter and hopeless romantic, there is, naturally, much breathless anticipation for the royal wedding -- after all -- what could possibly be more romantic than sweeping trains, yards and yards of silk taffeta, balcony kisses, true love and tiaras?
. . . to mark this historical occasion, kate middleton will be presented with her very own tiara, from the royal collection, as was the case with diana, or purchased from garrard, the royal jewellers, as was the case for the duchess of york . . . and so, a fascinating glimpse . . .
the beautiful swirls & scrolls of the spencer tiara
the spencer tiara
although she received the cambridge lovers knot tiara {see below} for her wedding, princess diana famously wore the spencer tiara as her something borrowed on her wedding day in 1981; made of gold in a repeating scroll design the family tiara is entirely set with diamonds; thought to be a family heirloom from the eighteenth century, the tiara is actually a composite of several elements: the central element was a gift from lady sarah spencer to cynthia, viscountess althorpe as a wedding present in 1919
it was later remounted and four other elements were made to match it in 1937; only the two elements at the end are old and said to have come from a tiara owned by francis, viscountess montagu and left to lady sarah spencer in 1875
after it was worn by lady diana spencer when she married the prince of wales in 1981, the spencer tiara was subsequently worn by victoria lockwood when she married the 9th earl in 1989 (the earl spencer); the tiara currently remains with the spencer family
princess diana attends a state reception in australia, wearing a suite of sapphire and diamond jewels presented by the crown prince of saudi arabia, and the spencer family tiara; (photography by tim graham)
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the cambridge lovers knot tiara
made in 1911 for queen mary {the queen consort & wife of george v}, from the diamonds and pearls she held in her collection, the cambridge lovers knot tiara was a copy of one owned by her grandmother, princess augusta of hesse; queen mary left it to her granddaughter, queen elizabeth II, in her will in 1953; the queen wore it a few times in the fifties, then gave the tiara to princess diana as a wedding present in 1981; although the princess did not wear it to her wedding, she debuted it during the opening of parliament that november
above: diana, princess of wales, wearing the cambridge lovers knot in new zealand, april 1983
above: the diamond & pearl tiara perfectly paired with a pearl-encrusted white gown and matching jacket by catherine walker
above: camilla, duchess of cornwall {formerly camilla parker bowles}, the queen, and diana, wearing the cambridge lovers knot tiara
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helen molesworth, a christie's specialist, holds the antique poltimore tiara from the princess margaret collection before auction in hong kong, friday may 26, 2006; (photography by kin cheung/ap)
the royal wedding of princess margaret and anthony armstrong-jones, lord snowdon, may 6, 1960
the poltimore tiara
"Acquired on the advice of Patrick Plunkett, Deputy Master of the Household, before the official announcement of her engagement to Mr Antony Armstrong-Jones, the tiara had originally been created by Garrard in the 1870s for Florence, Lady Poltimore, the wife of the second Baron Poltimore.
The Princess wore the tiara in its form as a stunning diamond fringe necklace and scroll brooches on several occasions prior to her marriage; yet it was arriving at Westminster Abbey by horse-drawn carriage on 6th May 1960, with the Poltimore Tiara holding her veil in place as a circlet of diamonds around her hair, that Princess Margaret fulfilled an image that was the epitome of the fairytale princess."
. . . the princess, who died in february of 2002, wore it for her wedding to anthony armstrong-jones, lord snowdon; the children of the late princess, viscount linley and lady sarah chatto, sold the tiara and other items at an auction at christie's {to offset the pinch of inheritance taxes} in 2006 for $1,704,576, much more than its estimate of $276,000 - $368,000
like many of the tiaras in the royal family, the poltimore tiara was seen in several alternative forms such as a diamond fringe necklace and as brooches; the tiara can be converted into a necklace and eleven brooches, and was offered with a screwdriver and the brooch fittings required to make the switch
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the nizam of hyderabad tiara
a flourish of delicate english roses, the nizam of hyderabad tiara was crafted by cartier and formed part of a parure that was given to queen elizabeth II on the occasion of her wedding in 1947 by the nizam of hyderabad; according to leslie feld's the jewels of queen elizabeth II, this tiara was dismantled and the diamonds used for the creation of the queen's burmese ruby tiara in 1973; however, the three large roses that can be used as brooches have been seen in recent years, creating much speculation and mystery surrounding the piece . . .
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the grand duchess vladimir tiara
laden with round brilliant-cut diamonds, the grand duchess vladimir tiara was inherited by the queen, from her grandmother, queen Mary, after her death in 1953; the tiara gets its name from grand duchess maria pavlovna of russia, wife of the grand duke vladimir alexandrovich, the third son of czar alexander II, and the brother of czar alexander III of russia
following the 1917 bolshevik revolution of russia, the grand duchess vladimir escaped to venice with her family, leaving her renown jewelry collection, including the tiara, behind, hidden in a vault in the vladimir palace in st. petersburg; a member of britain's secret intelligence service, and a friend of the family, helped to recover the jewels; the duchess died soon after, in august 1920; the vladimir tiara was purchased by queen mary in 1921, from princess nicolas of freece, the daughter of duchess maria vladimir
the original setting of the tiara at the time of its purchase in 1921, by queen mary, was with swinging pearl drops or pendants with small diamond set mounts, positioned inside each circle . . .
above: the queen, with prince phillip, wearing the vladimir tiara with emerald drops & inset: camilla, duchess of cornwallwears the tiara with the matching emerald suite, the cambridge and delhi durbar parure
. . . but queen mary, who was renowned for her collection of royal jewels, and had an intimate knowledge of jewelry and their designing, modified the vladimir tiara to make provision for the pearl drops to be interchanged with emerald drops, requesting the court jewelers garrard & co. to cut and polish fifteen of her remaining cambridge emeralds as drop shaped emeralds; the tiara was especially striking when worn with the matching emerald suite, the cambridge and delhi durbar parure
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above: princess anne borrowed this elegant tiara from the queen for a tour of australia & new zealand in 1970
the scroll diamond tiara
also known as the queen mother's scroll tiara, it was one of a handful of tiaras that the queen mother wore after she was married but before she ascended the throne in 1937; she then passed the scroll diamond tiara to the queen, who has never worn it publicly, but over the years, has lent to both princess margaret and princess anne
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girls of great britain and ireland tiara
a wedding present for princess may of teck (the future queen mary) from the ‘girls of great britain and ireland’, the diamond tiara was purchased from garrard with money raised by a committee chaired by lady eve greville; in 1947, mary gave the diamond and silver tiara to her granddaughter, the future queen elizabeth II, as a wedding present
a portrait of the queen wearing the girls of great britain and ireland tiara, designed by arnold machin, has appeared on many commonwealth currencies, including those of britain, australia, jamaica, canada and ceylon
{p.s.} it has been thought that kate may wear the the queen mother's george III tiara, (also known as the russian fringe tiara), a circlet incorporating brilliant diamonds that were formerly owned by george III; originally commissioned in 1830, the tiara has since been worn by many queens consort; when queen elizabeth {the queen mother}, consort of george VI, first wore the tiara, sir henry "chips" channon called it 'an ugly spiked tiara'; queen elizabeth later loaned it to her daughter, princess elizabeth {the future elizabeth II}, as "something borrowed" for her wedding in 1947 to to prince philip in westminster abbey; the queen mother later also loaned it to her granddaughter, princess anne for her marriage to captain mark phillips in 1973
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{prince william and kate middleton photographed mark cuthbert / press association; the spencer tiara history via marilyn's royal blog; all other sources: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen}
