#Girls of Great Britian and Ireland tiara

[royallookbook]

Princess Beatrice's Wedding Dress

The Wedding Dress of Princess Beatrice, first worn at the Lawrence of Arabia Premiere on 10 Dec 1962, then at the Opening of State Parliament in 1967, then finally at the 2020 wedding of Princess Beatrice.

10 Dec 1962: The Queen Elizabeth II wore the dress with the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" tiara. This crown was gifted to her in 1947 for her Wedding from her Grandmother, Queen Mary of Teck.

31 Oct 1967: The Queen wears the Imperial State Crown, the Current version of which was made in 1937. This crown is worn for important events such as Coronations and- obviously- the Opening of State Parliament.

19 Jul 2020: Princess Beatrice paired the Dress with the "Queen Mary's Fringe" tiara. This tiara was previously worn by both The Queen and the Princess Royal on their wedding days.

[royalpain16]

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A post shared by House Of Garrard (@houseofgarrard) on Apr 18, 2020 at 4:23am PDT

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[tiaramania]

Do you think Camilla will wear some of QE2's tiaras or she will keep wearing hers out of respect at least for the first couple of years? If so, do you think she will upgrade the Dehli Dubar adding the Vladimir emeralds on top?

I go back and forth on how I think the Duchess of Cornwall will handle wearing tiaras when she becomes queen.  On one hand she has every right to wear any tiara in the vault that she wants and I think she looks amazing in tiaras so I want her to wear all of them.  On the other hand, she doesn’t seem like the kind of person that wants to loudly proclaim that she is queen and their pr ‘she’s going to be called the princess consort’ thing makes me think that she’ll keep things pretty low-key.  I’m most looking forward to her wearing Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet and Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara which I think would both be fine for her to wear without too much blow back.

The one tiara that I think may go back in the vault for awhile is the Girls of Great Britian and Ireland Tiara.  It is so iconic and strongly associated with Queen Elizabeth II that it would make the most people notice if she wore it which seems like something they may want to avoid.

I don’t think that the Delhi Durbar Tiara can still be worn with the emeralds.  The top of the tiara has been altered since Queen Mary wore it that way so the attachements may not still be there.

[crownedlegend]

Her Majesty wearing the Girls of Great Britian and Ireland Tiara

[royalpain16]

BRAZILIAN AQUAMARINE TIARA

After receiving an aquamarine necklace and pair of earrings from the president and people of Brazil in honor of her coronation, the Queen had Garrard and Co., the former Crown Jeweler of the United Kingdom, make this matching tiara in 1957. She's continued to update it through her reign, adding even more aquamarines and diamonds to the (already stacked) piece.

DELHI DURBAR NECKLACE

The Delhi Durbar was India's answer to a coronation, a massive gathering to celebrate the succession of a new Emperor or Empress of India. And just like at a coronation, there are jewels aplenty – including this diamond-and-emerald necklace made for Queen Mary for the event.

DIAMOND FRINGE TIARA City of London Necklace

*edited* The Queen is shown wearing the Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara in this picture. The necklace is the City of London Necklace, which was a wedding present from the City of London. Thanks to @europesroyals I learned something new!

GIRLS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND TIARA

Originally purchased for the future Queen Mary by a committee of girls from Great Britain and Ireland to celebrate her 1893 wedding, this tiara is now a staple in Queen Elizabeth's rotation – many even say it's her favorite. It's been through many changes in its life: There were originally pearls on top of the points, which now are a part of the Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara, and it can be worn both with or without a base. The Queen received the tiara as a wedding gift from her grandmother in 1947.

GRAND DUCHESS VLADIMIR OF RUSSIA TIARA

This diamond-and-pearl tiara is a relic of a lost monarchy: It originally belonged to Grand Duchess Vladimir, the aunt of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. It currently has a alternate of emeralds to replace the pears on any occasion. She was temporarily separated from the tiara after fleeing St. Petersburg during the Russian Revolution, but was reunited with the piece a few years later when a British Secret Intelligence Service member rescued her jewels from Russia. After all that, she gave the tiara to her daughter, Princess Nicholas of Greece, who sold it to Queen Mary after her mother's passing. When Mary died, the Queen inherited it – and still wears it today.

KING GEORGE IV STATE DIADEM

This piece was created way back in 1820 for the coronation of King George IV. Now, people may recognize it from the State Opening of Parliament – Queen Elizabeth wears it in the procession to the event every year.

RUBY BANDEAU NECKLACE

This diamond-and-ruby necklace with floral detailing was another wedding gift to Queen Elizabeth from her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (and all your parents got you was a blender). It was frequently worn by the Queen in her younger years.

QUEEN MARY DIAMOND STOMACHER

This piece is a stomacher – best described as an enlarged brooch worn on the front of a dress. Queen Mary handed it down to her granddaughter, then-Princess Elizabeth, as a wedding present back in 1947, although due to changing fashions, the entire stomacher is rarely worn nowadays.

NIZAM OF HYDERABAD NECKLACE

This Cartier-crafted piece was given to Queen Elizabeth, again as a wedding present, by a dignitary. It was most recently seen on Princess Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during an event at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

- People.com

[royalpain16]

Queen Elizabeth II, portrait by William Alexander Dargie, 1954

[royalpain16]

QUEEN MARY’S COUNTY OF SURREY TIARA

05.15.2022 by THECOURTJEWELLER

Our May survey on the jewels that belonged to May of Teck—better known to history as Queen Mary—continues today with another wedding gift that was dismantled to make two spectacular royal tiaras.

When Princess Victoria Mary of Teck married Prince George, Duke of York in July 1893, she received a haul of wedding gift jewelry that was certainly fit for a future queen consort. Among the gifts displayed at White Lodge, her parents’ home in Richmond, was this stylized diamond floral fringe tiara. On Monday, July 3, the Earl and Countess of Lovelace had presented the tiara to Princess May and her parents at a garden party held at White Lodge. Lord Lovelace was the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, and the gift was offered on behalf of the people of the county (and notably, he was also the widower of Ada Lovelace, the famous computer programmer and daughter of Lord Byron).

During the presentation, the Evening Standard reported that the Duke of Teck told Lord Lovelace that the gift was “an additional testimony to the good feeling shown by the people of Surrey to members of his family.” The Duchess of Teck added that “she hoped she might add her thanks to the people of Surrey on behalf of her daughter, who would still often be seen among them.” (I find it interesting that the Duchess spoke on May’s behalf when May was standing right beside them, holding the new diamond tiara in her hands.)

Funds for the tiara (pictured above as part of an illustrated list of the wedding presents) had been collected from Surrey residents by subscription, with Lovelace’s second wife, Jane, helping to organize the effort. Contemporary newspaper reports described the tiara as designed “in the Empire style. The centre is formed of a tapering upright, two and three-quarter inches in length, with scroll sides, holding large single diamonds, and supported by a fleur-de-lis base surmounting a band of single diamonds. On each side of the centre there is an upright ray, with three important single brilliant. The same design is repeated in gradations throughout, and has an unusually graceful effort, whether worn as a tiara or as a necklace. The gift, which cost £1,200, contains over 300 brilliants, many of large size.”

Mary wore the tiara setting of the piece for a famous series of portraits taken in London by W. & D. Downey in March 1901. The photographs were taken ahead of Mary and George’s eight-month tour of the Empire, visiting all corners of the globe following the accession of King Edward VII. In the images, May still wears a dark dress and gloves, as the court was still in mourning for Queen Victoria. Indeed, an entire wardrobe of black clothing was made for her to wear on the tour.

Here’s one more photograph from the March 1901 session, showing off the design details of May’s gown quite nicely. You’ll also spot a diamond leaf brooch pinned to her bodice, and a diamond floral bracelet on her right wrist. I believe the diamond flower was later reset as part of a new pearl bracelet, now worn by the Queen.

With the dark ensemble, she wore diamonds and pearls, including the County of Surrey Tiara. Other jewels worn in this portrait session include her eleven-row pearl choker necklace, with its distinctive diamond spacer sections, and the Kapurthala Stomacher, a grand diamond ornament given to her as a wedding present by the Maharajah of Karpurthala. The choker necklace is now worn by the Duchess of Gloucester, while the stomacher was redesigned and now belongs to the Queen.

After Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, George and May had held the rather clunky title of Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. At the end of their imperial tour in November 1901, King Edward VII offered his thanks by upgrading them to the title of Prince and Princess of Wales. The new Princess of Wales wore the necklace setting of the Surrey Tiara a few months later during her father-in-law’s 1902 coronation festivities.

In this portrait from the time of the coronation, she pairs the Surrey Necklace with two new-to-her jewels: the Love Trophy Collar (made by Garrard in 1901) and the Boucheron Loop Tiara (made in 1902 using diamonds that had been given to her by De Beers during the imperial tour). The Love Trophy Collar is still in the Buckingham Palace Vaults today, but the Boucheron Loop Tiara was later broken up (to make the Delhi Durbar Tiara).

Eventually, May decided to have the County of Surrey Tiara dismantled as well. In 1913, the piece was broken apart, and the diamonds were used to construct and improve other jewels. Thirteen of the largest diamonds from the Surrey Tiara, for example, were used to replace the upright pearls which had once sat atop the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (worn here by the Queen in 2004).

[tiaramania]

What about the fringe tiara Queen Elizabeth wore at her wedding? It wasn’t on your list either.

Similar to the Spencer Tiara, Meghan Markle could wear it but I don’t think she will.  Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara was made using the diamonds from the tiara she wore to her own wedding which was given to her by Queen Victoria and it was then worn by Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne on their wedding days.  I had hoped that that tradition would carry on to the next generation but as it wasn’t worn by the Duchess of Cambridge or Zara Tindall, it seems like that tradition ended before it really even got started.

There is a precedence to these things that has nothing to do with how much QEII may feel about her personally.  The tiara is just too historically important to be loaned to the wife of the sixth in line to the throne.  Meghan also won’t be loaned other important pieces like the Girls of Great Britian & Ireland Tiara, Queen Adelaide’s Hanover Fringe Tiara, or Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara.

You can find all of my posts about what tiara Meghan might wear on her wedding day here or ask me questions here.