Tiara Tuesday: Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara

Diamond Jubilee Week has started here! And we kick the weeks off with Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara:

Queen Mary’s fringe tiara is also referred to as the King George III Fringe Tiara, or the Hanoverian Fringe Tiara.This tiara was commissioned in 1830 using diamonds that had belonged to George III. She goes on further to state that Queen Victoria left the piece to the Crown, Queen Mary inherited it in 1910, and that Mary gave it to Queen Elizabeth (the future Queen Mother) in 1937.

The Royal Collection tells a different story, and since they are the authorities, I'm buying their version of the tale. They state that Queen Mary had the piece made in 1919 from a necklace she received from Queen Victoria as a wedding present. They also dispel the Hanoverian myth by specifying that Victoria bought the necklace from Collingwood & Co. jewelers in 1893.

According to the Royal Collection, it was given to Queen Elizabeth in 1936.

Elizabeth lent it to her namesake daughter for its history-making appearance atop the bridal veil. There was also a story about the wedding tiara. Before the wedding ceremony, the hair snapped, yes, snapped. Luckily Buckingham Palace had an replacement.

And then she lent it out again to her granddaughter, Princess Anne, for another bridal appearance.

Apart from these weddings, this piece remained out of the public eye for decades as the Queen Mother seemed to prefer two of her other tiaras for her own use in her later years. But then, in a thoroughly uncharacteristic move, Queen Elizabeth brought it out after the Queen Mother's death.

This also, was my choice of wedding tiara of Zara Phillips who married Mike Tindall on July 30, 2011 but, went for the Meander Tiara.