If you don’t follow the British Royal Family closely, you might not know that this year is a milestone year. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Queen ascending the throne, the Platinum Jubilee. Only three other monarchs have reached this milestone- Louis XIV of France, Johann II of Liechtenstein, and Bhumibol of Thailand. I will be marking the Platinum Jubilee in several different ways on the blog, including here on Style File Friday! Each month I will be looking at a different aspect of the Queen’s style. Today I am kicking off 2022’s royal coverage with Queen Elizabeth II’s best diamond tiaras!
I do need to note- these are my personal favourites. There is no official ranking list, but I think each royal watcher has a quasi-list of their own.
Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
You often will hear this tiara referred to as “Granny’s Tiara”, as it was created for Queen Mary as a wedding gift in 1893. Lady Eve Greville formed a committee to raise money for a wedding gift for the future queen. They collected more than £5,000, and were able to commission a tiara from royal jeweller Garrard.
“The tiara was a diamond festoon-and-scroll designed surmounted by nine large oriental pearls on diamond spikes and set on a bandeau base of alternate round and lozenge collets between two plain bands of diamonds.” (The Queen’s Jewels, 39*). Mary had the pearls replaced with diamonds and it takes the form we still see today.
This was another wedding gift in 1947, and actually went on display at St. James’s Palace with thousands of other wedding gifts. It will be going on display again, this time at Buckingham Palace from 22 July to 2 October 2022 in an exhibition celebrating the Queen’s ascension.
King George III Fringe Tiara
Much of the Queen’s jewellery collection comes from her grandmother, Queen Mary of Teck. Mary was absolutely a royal magpie, and amassed a jewellery collection like you would not believe. (And her mother-in-law, Queen Alexandra of Denmark was no slouch in the jewellery department, either.)
The George III Fringe Tiara was created from one of George III’s fringe necklaces that could be worn as a collar or as a tiara. While most of the pieces in the royal jewellery collection date back to the late Victorian period (but much of it to the Edwardian), this predates all of it.
There is actually a Winterhalter painting, The First of May, where Queen Victoria is wearing it while she holds her son Prince Arthur as he is given a gift from the Duke of Wellington (his godfather). I have to say, there are few pieces in the British royal collection that have the same lifespan.
It also holds a notable place in royal history, as Princess Elizabeth wore this tiara for her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip. The base broke shortly before the ceremony, but Elizabeth refused to wear another, and she waited while a jeweller repaired it.
Greville Tiara
Originally I was not sure if I wanted to include this tiara or not, because we associate it with the Queen Mother and now the Duchess of Cornwall, but it does still belong to the Queen. The Hon. Mrs. Greville bequeathed the Greville Tiara to the Queen Mother in 1942. (Not the same Lady Greville as above.) Royal watchers will often refer to this tiara as the Boucheron Honeycomb Tiara but the royals simply call it the Greville Tiara.
This platinum and diamond tiara is set in a modern honeycomb pattern- Boucheron used an older tiara to create this new design in 1921. Greville left the tiara to the Queen Mother who frequently wore it throughout her life, and then passed it on to her daughter upon her death in 2002. The Queen has never been seen wearing it publicly; she has loaned it to her daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cornwall, who wears it quite often.
The King George IV State Diadem
This is a bit of a cheat on my list of best diamond tiaras, as it not only features diamonds but also pearls and gold. However, the name itself begged inclusion here. The King George IV State Diadem, aka the Diamond Diadem, is one of the Queen’s favourites. He had it created for queens (both consort and regnant) to wear during the procession to a coronation, as well as for State Openings of Parliament. The Queen wore the diadem during the procession to her own coronation in 1953. We have most often seen her wear it for the State Opening of Parliament though, and it has been featured on countless stamps and coins.
The Royal Collection Trust describes it as: “Openwork silver frame lined with gold and set transparent with diamonds; narrow band edged with pearls, surmounted by four crosses-pattée, the front cross set with a pale yellow brilliant, and four sprays representing the national emblems of the United Kingdom.” Specifically created to represent all four nations, its use for official occasions makes sense.
*Field, Leslie. The Queen’s Jewels: The Personal Collection of Elizabeth II. Harry N. Abrams, Inc,: New York, 1987.
What tiaras are on your list of Queen Elizabeth II’s best diamond tiaras?
Cheers,
The Historian
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
