This week (April 21), Queen Elizabeth II would have turned 100. In honour of Her Late Majesty’s life, which she famously devoted in to public service, we look back at some of her most glittering jewellery moments.
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Wearing Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara on her wedding day
Crafted by Garrard in 1919 at the request of Queen Mary, this Fringe Tiara is widely known as the tiara that Queen Elizabeth wore on her wedding day in 1947, and was reportedly one of her favourite tiaras.
Queen Mary passed the kokoshnik-style tiara to Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother in 1936, who later loaned it to Queen Elizabeth (then Princess Elizabeth) for her marriage to Prince Philip. Famously, as the diadem was being arranged onto the bride’s head its antique frame snapped, and it had to be rushed under police escort to Garrard’s central London workshop, where it was mended in under two hours (though a small gap between the central two spikes is still visible in wedding pictures from the day).
Luckily, by the time Queen Elizabeth II loaned the tiara to her own daughter, Princess Anne, for her first wedding in 1973, the tiara had been fully restored to its former glory. It was last seen on the head of Princess Beatrice for her wedding in 2020.
Dazzling in The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara
The Queen glistened in the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara, otherwise known as the Russian Tiara or simply the Vladimir Tiara, at several state banquets, including on a trip to the United States in 1976 and on an overseas tour of Germany in 1978. The ornate pearl and diamond diadem was created for Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia, by the imperial court jewellers Bolin.
Following the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, the jewel was amongst a trove of pieces smuggled out of Russia by an aristocratic British art dealer (and family friend) Albert Stopford, who brought them to London for safe keeping. It was later inherited by the Grand Duchess’s only daughter, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, who became Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark in 1902.
In 1921, Elena Vladimirovna sold the tiara to Queen Mary of England, who was an enthusiastic collector and admirer of jewellery, and over the years she commissioned Garrard to make repairs and alterations to the piece – including adapting the piece so that it could be worn with interchangeable emerald drops.
The tiara was eventually passed from Mary to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth, who wore it often throughout her reign, including for an official portrait by Sir William Oliphant Hutchison in 1956.
Beaming in King George IV’s Regal Circlet
One of the most iconic of all the Queen’s tiaras, this regal Circlet of gleaming roses, thistles and shamrocks (plants which are emblematic of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) was actually created for a king.
The silver and gold-lined headpiece was ordered from Rundells in 1820 for King George IV, and was created with rows of gleaming white pearls and 1,333 diamonds, including a four-carat pale yellow brilliant. The King wore the headpiece at his coronation in July 1821 over a large velvet hat.
Since then, the circlet has only ever been worn by queens regnant and consort – never again by a king. Queen Elizabeth first wore the sparkling diamond piece to her first State Opening of Parliament in 1952, combined with a pearl and diamond necklace given to Queen Victoria at the Jubilee in 1887. She subsequently wore it to all State Openings, and for official photographs including those used for coins, banknotes and postage stamps – making it one of the most widely recognised diadems in the world today.
Smiling in the Lover’s Knot Brooch at the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
Queen Elizabeth was famously aware of the messages that could be telegraphed via a strategically placed jewel. Set with over 100 diamonds, this bow-shaped brooch was part of Queen Mary’s collection, acquired by her from Garrard in 1932, and is known as the Lover’s Knot. It was worn by Queen Elizabeth throughout her reign, most famously to the wedding of her grandson, Prince William, and Kate Middleton in 2011.
Sparkling in the Crown Jewels on Coronation Day, 1953
Arguably her biggest jewellery moment, Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation in 1953 saw her bedecked in the Crown Jewels, the most famous and symbolic of British treasures (usually housed at the Tower of London). For the moment of crowning, she was adorned with St. Edward’s Crown, made for the Coronation of Charles II in 1661, then changed into the Imperial State Crown to leave Westminster Abbey after the ceremony (as seen in the picture below).
IMAGE CREDIT: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
She also wielded the Sovereign’s Sceptre and Orb, wore symbolic gold cuffs known as ‘bracelets of sincerity and wisdom’ (and placed on her by the Archbishop of Canterbury), and Queen Victoria’s diamond Coronation necklace and earrings.
Adorned in the Burmese Ruby Tiara
In 1973, the Queen dismantled the Hyderabad tiara – a wedding gift from Cartier gifted to her by Asaf Jah VII, the Nizam of Hyderabad, to celebrate her wedding. She removed its diamonds and instructed Garrard to combine them with a collection of blood-red Burmese rubies to create the Burmese Ruby tiara, which was one of only two major ruby headpieces she was photographed wearing during her reign, including on a visit to the Elysee Palace in Paris in 1992. The new diadem featured the rubies set in heraldic rose motifs.
Wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
This tiara takes its name from a committee of women, led by Lady Eva Greville, who raised money for its creation and purchased it from Garrard, in June 1893. The transformable headpiece is made of diamonds set in silver and gold, and features classic fleur-de-lis and festoon motifs. Its top half can also be taken off its frame and worn as a necklace. The original design, which was created for Princess Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary) on the occasion of her marriage to Britain’s Prince George, Duke of York, was additionally topped by fourteen large white pearls, giving it extra height.
When the-then Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, her grandmother, Queen Mary, presented her with the top half of tiara as a wedding gift and it quickly became one of her favourite jewels – though she still fondly referred to it as ‘Granny’s tiara’. Later, after she was crowned, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara became one of The Queen’s most recognisable jewels, as she frequently wore it to important state occasions.
For her official visit to Bangladesh, the Queen paired her favourite tiara with her eye-catching Japanese pearl choker. The striking piece was designed by Garrard for the Queen using a set of lustrous pearls gifted to her by the Japanese government during her first visit to Japan in 1975. It also features a unique curved diamond clasp and now holds historical significance, having also been famously worn by Princess Diana in the 1980s and now by the current Princess of Wales – who notably donned it for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022.
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