My collection so far (that I've seen, not own!)
I kept getting tiara youtube videos recommended to me and then realised I've seen quite a few of the recommendations in real life. So as I like putting together collections, here are the ones I've seen.
Cartier Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia held a Cartier exhibition in 2018. I travelled to Canberra and was able to see this exhibition, on display were some tiaras as well as other jewels and Cartier objects. What made this exhibition special was that the items on display were not just those owned by Cartier but also loaned to Cartier for the exhibition, including jewels owned by Queen Elizabeth II.
Once such item was the Scroll tiara, ( the Halo Cartier tiara) which the Queen loaned to Kate Middleton on her wedding day. The tiara was originally bought by the Queen's father King George VI for his wife Elizabeth for their wedding anniversary in 1936. It was given to the then Princess Elizabeth for her 18th birthday and it's remained a tiara for a young princess. It was worn both by Princess Margaret and Princess Anne when they were in their 20s.
This tiara is probably one of my favourites, the 'Indian' part of its name comes from the Indian inspired design. Princess Marie Louise, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria had the tiara made for her to wear to the coronation of King George the VI and she also wore this tiara to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. After she died in 1956 the tiara was inherited by her godson Prince Richard of Gloucester, who is the current Duke of Gloucester. He lent the tiara to the exhibition.
Princess Marie Bonaparte was a descendent of one of Napoleon's younger brothers. In 1907 she married Prince George of Greece and this tiara was made by Cartier as part of her trousseau. (Such a wonderful old word!) She was a great character, trained to be a psychoanalyst and was a friend of Sigmund Freud's. This is another tiara that was worn at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Marie represented King Paul of Greece at the coronation. After she died in 1962 the tiara was sold and it's now owned by the Albion Art Institute and they loan it out for exhibits such as the Cartier one.
This tiara was exhibited with other jewellery belonging to Princess Grace of Monaco. Although Grace apparently owned or had access this tiara she never wore it publicly. The tiara's first owner was her mother-in-law Princess Charlotte of Monaco. Princess Charlotte had Cartier make this tiara for her, in recent years it's been worn exclusively by her grand-daughter Princess Caroline.
Victoria and Albert Museum
This tiny tiara or coronet was designed by Prince Albert for his wife Queen Victoria early in their marriage, it features in an early portrait of the young Queen Victoria. The coronet was passed to Princess Mary, the daughter of King George V and she wore it consistently during her lifetime. It was inherited by her son the 7th Earl of Harewood and was worn at times by his wife. The 8th Earl sold the coronet and it was bought for the Victoria and Albert Museum by some benefactors. It first went on display in 2019, which was the 200th anniversary of the birth of both Victoria and Albert. I think that it's in the museum named for them is a nice touch. I saw it in the V&A jewellery gallery, and was surprised as how small it was! Regardless it's a very pretty tiara.
Kensington Palace
Prince Albert was quite the busy jewellery designer, in 1843 he designed a necklace, brooch and earrings for his wife. Two years later he added a tiara to the set. I saw it on display at Kensington Palace, which in 2019 had major exhibitions on the life of Queen Victoria as it was the bicentenary of her birth. The sign said the jewels were on loan from the executors of the 3rd Duke of Fife. The jewels were inherited by Queen Victoria's grand-daughter Princess Louise, the Duchess of Fife. After Princess Louise's death in 1931, they went to her eldest daughter Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, who wore the tiara to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. (I should start a subsection of 'Tiaras I've seen that have been to QEII's coronation!')
This tiara was made in 1887 and given to Princess Louise on her wedding day by her husband the Duke of Fife. It's a beautiful tiara as the diamond drops move and catch the light when the wearer moves. An interesting little aside is the note that the tiara was passed to Kensington Palace as it was given to HM government in lieu of inheritance tax from the estate of the 3rd Duke of Fife and was allocated to Kensington Palace. I've seen this before where large estates with surrender a major piece of jewellery in lieu of inheritance tax.
Another tiara belonging to Princess Louise, this one was given to her as a wedding present from her parents, the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. When taken off its frame it can also be worn as a necklace. The sign for this one said it was on loan from the executors of the 3rd Duke of Fife.
That's it so far! Maybe I'll be able to see some other tiaras in future exhibitions, I do love a good tiara!
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