A New Outing for the Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace

Last night the Duchess of Cambridge attended the annual Portrait Gala at London's National Portrait Gallery. While the dress was no surprise for dedicated Kate-followers, as it was a repeat Jenny Packham piece, debuted only a few months ago to the 100 Women in Hedge Fund gala in October last year (and, frankly, even back then I found it a bit...well, meh, lacking that certain something for an evening function!), what really excited me this time was that she had accesorised it with a stunning necklace, on loan from the Queen: the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace.

 

 

It was the first time the Duchess had worn publicly this particular piece and, yes, it does make a welcome change from seeing her in costume jewelry! Although I, for one, am thrilled to be able to pop to my local Zara and buy the exact same necklace she wore, I'm equally chuffed to see her embracing a different side of her royal role by raiding the Palace jewel vaults, so to speak, and appear in public adorned with some serious, heavyweight bling!

 

The history of this piece dates back to the time of the Queen's (then Princess Elizabeth's) own wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. The Nizam of Hyderabad was the monarch of the historic Indian State of Hyderabad. The last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, reigned from 1911 until the end of British colonial rule in 1948 (below, on the cover of TIME magazine, 22 February 1937).

 

 

Wishing to present Princess Elizabeth with a suitable gift on the occasion of her wedding, the Nizam left instructions with Cartier's London branch and the Princess choose a necklace and a tiara, whose design was (aptly) based on an English rose.

 

The tiara was later broken up: the three main rose motives were detachable and were kept and used as brooches by Her Majesty, while the rest of the stones were used to create what is known as the Queen's Burmese Ruby tiara.

 

 

The Queen attending the 2011 edition of the Chelsea Flower Show, wearing the largest rose brooch dismantled from the Nizam of Hyderabad tiara (photo Telegraph)...

 

 

...and in Australia, during the royal tour of 1954, wearing the two smaller twin brooches (photo Pinterest).

 

 

The Queen wearing the Nizam of Hyderabad tiara and another wedding present, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Bandeau necklace, part of the famous Mrs. Greville bequest (photo Pinterest).

 

 

The Queen wearing the Burmese Ruby tiara, created using diamonds from the broken up Nizam of Hyderabad necklace (via Mad Hattery!).

 

 

The Queen painted by Sir William Dargie in 1954, wearing the necklace and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara (via Pinterest).

 

 

The necklace is made up of diamonds in a platinum setting and is currently 38.5 cm long (the chain, which was originally made up of 46 collet diamonds, was shortened at a later date to 38 to better suit the Queen).

 

 

Photo Royal Collection.



 

 

 

A stunning historic Cartier piece, which brings us nicely to my next post, about my recent visit to the Cartier exhibition currently on at the Grand Palais in Paris - stay tuned for updates!

 

(All photo of the Duchess are taken from the Daily Mail article you can read here).

 



 

 

Bridal Tiaras in the British Royal Family, Part III

Today brings us to the last instalment in our recent post series about tiaras worn by British royal brides in the past century or so.

So, after finishing last Monday with a look at the Countess of Wessex's wedding tiara, let's pick up where we left, with a closer look at the next royal bride, Autumn Phillips née Kelly.

The blonde Canadian married the Queen's eldest grandchild, Peter Phillips, in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on 17 May 2008. The bride chose a relatively simple gown (at least by royal standards. The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendour tells us that the dress reportedly costed about £ 2,500) and borrowed the Festoon tiara from her mother-in-law, the Princess Royal.

It is quite a dainty and delicate piece, and I was somewhat surprised to learn it's relatively modern, having been a gift to Princess Anne from the World Wide Shipping Company when she christened one of their ships in 1973 (more on the tiara itself can be found here).

Alas, it is not a particular favourite of mine, too spiky for my taste!

 

Next, of course, are the big guns, the tiara (and indeed the wedding!) that absolutely everyone will remember: that of Catherine Middleton to Prince William, on (do I even need to remind you of the date?) 29 April 2011.

 



As is widely known by now, the Duchess wore Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Halo tiara.

The marvellous "The Queen's Diamonds" book by Hugh Roberts has some background information on it: it's a piece by Cartier, which was purchesed by the Duke of York on 18 November 1936 as a present for the Duchess of York, who was to become Queen just a few weeks later. In fact, she first wore it in public while still Duchess of York.

It is made up of 16 graduated scrolls with a large brilliant cut diamond at the centre.

The tiara was then given to Princess Elizabeth on her 18th birthday in 1944. The Queen has since loaned it to Princess Margaret and Princess Anne.

At the time of Catherine Middleton's wedding, it was reported in the press that the Queen had offered her a choice of tiaras to choose from; the Duchess' choice, reportedly the most simple among those on offer, is of course now widely recognized (and replicated!) the world over.



Later that same year, the tiara took centre stage at an exhibithion of the wedding dress and jewellery
at the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace.


A few months later, on 30 July 2011, it was Zara Phillips' turn to wed Mike Tindall in Edinburgh, so another splendid opportunity for some tiara-watching!

Zara borrowed from her mother the Princess Royal a piece which had been in her great-grandmother possession, the Meander tiara.

It has a Greek key design, with diamonds in the shape of a laurel wreath as a centrepiece. I have to say I was not a fan of this style on Zara, maybe her hair should have been dressed differently, but as it was the tiara looked as though it were sitting on top of her head without particular purpose (it didn't even serve to keep her veil in place).

 

 

 

Much prettier when worn by Princess Anne, who has much bigger hair and so suits the tiara best, in my opinion!

So, now we've gone through all the most significant recent royal Weddings, if I were to rank my favourites, first would be Princess Diana's Spencer tiara, followed by Sarah Ferguson's tiara and Princess Margaret's Poltimore tiara! Special mention to the Strathmore tiara, which isn't tecnically a bridal tiara, as the Duchess of York didn't wear it on her wedding day, but made it on this list as it's a special favourite of mine!

Least favourites? The Meander tiara as worn by Zara Phillips, the Countess of Wessex's tiara and Autumn Phillips' Festoon tiara.

Have you got a special favourite yourself? Or a piece you utterly dislike and don't want to see out in public ever again? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know!

Bridal Tiaras in the British Royal Family, Part II

After taking a look last week at bridal tiaras of days gone by, let's start off today with something a little closer to us in time, and a piece most of you will warmly remember for the sense of momentous historic occasion associated to it: the Spencer family tiara, as worn by Lady Diana on her wedding day, 29 July 1981.

The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor has a lot of background information on this piece which, in its present form, dates back to circa 1935.

 

 

 

Princess Diana never owned the tiara, which was in fact her family's property: she borrowed it when needed first from her father, then from her brother. This, and the fact that the Princess wore the tiara quite often, sometimes preferring it to the other piece she had available, on loan from the Queen, the Cambridge Lovers Knot tiara, because it was somewhat lighter and less encumbrant to wear, was reportedly the source of some family tensions.

 

In fact, the Princess was seen many times during the years of her marriage wearing the tiara, sometimes on State occasions or other important official functions.

 

 

Nowadays, due to the Princess' unweavering popularity, the tiara is widely replicated, so that every bride can look the part on her own special day (or on an any ordinary day, really, as even sterling silver rings in the shape of Princess Diana's tiara are now available!).



Five years later, on 23 July 1986, it was Sarah Ferguson's turn to marry into the Royal family, when she wed Prince Andrew.


 
Her choice of headwear was extremely original, as she chose to wear a floral garland on top of her veil, which she removed after she had signed the wedding register to reveal a rather splendid diamond diadem, which had been bought especially for her by the Queen from Garrard & Co.

The Duchess wore her tiara at a number of State functions in later years.

Then it was quite a long time before we got to see any other new bridal tiaras, and that was at Prince Edward's wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones thirteen years later, on 19 June 1999. The new Countess of Wessex wore a piece which had been remodeled for her using jewels from the Queen's private collection.

Well, I have to say I'm not a particularly huge fan of the Wessex wedding tiara...It really still looks like four separate pieces haphazardly thrown together, and it does look as though it's perched precariously on her head and probably fixed in place with kirby grips (agh!). And do I even mention the dreadful black-and-white pearl parure designed by Prince Edward as a wedding present? Thought not. I just hope we won't have the misfortune of seeing the necklace in public ever again!

The tiara has grown on me a bit over the years, though, as it's probably the piece the Countess wears more often among the tiaras in her possession, so we get to see it out a lot. It's not that bad, but it's definitely not my favourite either!

 

I'll see you on Wednesday with a look at the most recent royal weddings!

 To be continued...

Belgian Tiaras

After the announcement was made yesterday afternoon that King Albert II of Belgium will abdicate in favour of his son later this month, I thought it might be nice to have a closer look at some of the tiaras associated with the Belgian royal family, some of which we might well catch a glimpse of at the upcoming coronation of the new king!

Let's start with Queen Elizabeth's diamond diadem, created by Cartier in 1910. Queen Elizabeth was born a duchess in Bavaria and married Prince Albert, second-in-line to the throne of Belgium, and later became Queen of the Belgians in 1909, upon her husband's accession to the throne following the death of his father King Leopold II.

 

Photo from the Swedish book Kronprinsessan Astrid, 1926, from Wikipedia.

Official portrait to commemorate the wedding of the Queen's daughter Princess Marie-José to Prince Umberto of Italy, 1930, from the book Gioielli di Casa Savoia, Electa, 2002.

 

 

Queen Elizabeth also often wore her diamond bandeu tiara, a very simple geometric Art Deco piece which is nowadays frequently seen gracing the present Queen's head. It can be worn as a necklace as well and was lent by Queen Paola to Princess Mathilde to be worn on her marriage to Prince Philippe in 1999.

 

Princess Astrid and Queen Paola (who is also wearing the meander bandeau, part of the Nine Provinces tiara, as a choker).

A very young Queen Paola, complete with 1960s beehive, and Princess Mathilde on her wedding day.



 

Queen Elizabeth's daughter-in-law Princess Astrid of Sweden, who was Queen of the Belgians as wife of King Leopold III for just over a year between 1934 and her tragic death in a car accident in August 1935, got a number of gifts on the occasion of her wedding to Prince Leopold in 1926.

 

One of them is the rarely photographed Stockholm tiara, so called because it was a gift to the Princess from the people of Stockholm. More on the history of this exquisite Art Deco piece can be found at A Tiara a Day.

 

From Royal Jewels of the World Message Board.

 

Astrid wore it bandeau-style on the forehead, as was the fashion at the time, while King Leopold's second wife, Lilian, Princess of Rethy, sometimes wore the central, detachable pearl drop as a brooch.

 

Another wedding gift to Princess Astrid was the Nine Provinces tiara, so called from the nine provinces of which Belgium is made up, which has now become a sort of staple for Belgian royal ladies.

 

Made in 1926 by Belgian jeweler Van Bever, it was a gift from the Belgian people. The tiara originally given to Princess Astrid consisted of a meander bandeau, a style which was extremely popular at the time, topped by eleven detachable diamonds on spikes. The Royal Order of  Sartorial Splendor offers an interesting explanation as to why the diamonds are indeed eleven.

 

Princess Astrid wearing the tiara in its original setting, both with...

...and without spikes in this engagement photograph with Prince Leopold.

 

The Princess later had the tiara altered with the addition of diamond arches on top. In this version, the piece has been passed down the generations and been worn by subsequent Belgian Queens.

 



Queen Astrid.

 



 

Queen Fabiola wearing the complete piece and the lower part only.

 

Queen Paola.

Queen Elizabeth's daughter, Princess Marie-José, married the Italian Prince of Piemonte in 1930, as mentioned above, and brought with her to Italy a number of tiaras and diadems.

Among them was the pearl and diamond diadem, which she had inherited from Empress Charlotte of Mexico. Princess Marie-José later had it modified to be worn low on the forehead, as was the fashion.

 

Princess Marie-José from the book Gioielli di Casa Savoia, Electa, 2002.

 

She wore it quite often, both before and after her wedding, and even had a pair of matching pearl and diamond earrings made in the late 1920s.

 







 In a commemorative postcard issued to celebrate the birth of the couple's first son, Prince Victor Emmanuel in 1937, from the book Gioielli di Casa Savoia, Electa, 2002 (as the earrings below).

 

 

The Princess also inherited from the Belgian side of her family a magnificent Fabergé diamond tiara, which, alas, she never wore (more info and a splendidly detailed close-up can be found here):

 

 





And an early XIX century parure of turquoise and diamond jewellery which she inherited from her paternal grandmother, the Countess of Flanders. Princess Marie-José later had the necklace broken up and the stones used on a new diadem, which you can see below in a photo from the wonderfully informative book Gioielli di Casa Savoia:

 

 

Fast forward a few years and we find the Belgian Scroll tiara, which is not part of the Belgian royal family collection as such, because it was a gift to Princess Joséphine Charlotte, daughter of King Leopold III and Astrid, from the Société Général, Belgium National Bank, upon her marriage to Prince Jean, then heir-apparent to the throne of Luxembourg, in 1953.

 

 

 

In 1960, the Spanish Wedding Gift tiara came along, a present from the Spanish government to Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón on the occasion of her marriage to King Baudouin. It is a wonderfully versatile tiara, which can be converted into many different combinations; moreover, the stones at the centre of each flower can also be interchanged: Queen Fabiola has worn her tiara with rubies, aquamarines and other precious stones.

 

 

 

 

The piece can also be converted to be worn as a necklace, as shown below:

 

 



One of the most modern additions to the Belgian royal family tiara collection, and one of the most frequently seen, along with Queen Elizabeth's diamond bandeau tiara, is the Laurel Wreath tiara. The piece itself is rather old, having been made by London jewellers Hennel & Sons in 1912, but it made its entrance into the Belgian collection in 1999, when it was presented to Princess Mathilde upon her wedding to Prince Philippe. This tiara, too, can be worn as a necklace, an arrangement most famously seen on the Princess at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding in 2011.

 

 

 

And last of all, when Princess Claire married King Albert's second son, Prince Laurent, in 2003 she received as a wedding gift from the King and Queen a lovely, delicate diamond tiara.

 

Princess Claire has also been photographed wearing another tiara, a diamond scroll with pearls, a much prettier piece than her wedding tiara in my opinion. Mad Hattery! reckons it was bought especially for her.

 

So, that's it, a roll call of tiaras in the Belgian royal family, by no means complete or defintive, but much fun to put together nonetheless! My own personal favourite, the one I'd wear absolutely every day if I had the chance (well, a girl can dream...) is Queen Elizabeth's diamond diadem, so I'll leave you with one final photo of this beauty.

What about you, have you got a favourite? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know!