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| Queen Sonja wears the Maltese Circlet (Photo: Matthew Peyton/Getty Images) |
Queen Sonja of Norway wears the bandeau setting of the Maltese Circlet at the American-Scandinavian Gala Dinner in New York, 15 Oct 2002
The Delhi Durbar Tiara
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| The Delhi Durbar Tiara (Photo: Bethany Clarke/Getty Images) |
Let’s wrap up May with a look at one of the crowning achievements of Queen Mary’s impressive collection: the tiara she had created for the Delhi Durbar in 1911.
The durbar was a massive celebration held in Delhi to mark the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary as Emperor and Empress of India. It was also the only one of the Indian coronation durbars to be actually attended by the royals themselves; on other occasions, the viceroy general stood in. Here’s newsreel footage of the 1911 Durbar to give you an idea of its vast scope. You can see Queen Mary is wearing the tiara in the film.
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| Queen Mary wears the tiara with the emerald toppers (Photo: Grand Ladies Site) |
For such an event, the new empress needed a truly impressive tiara. She had one of her other sparklers, the Boucheron Loop Tiara, dismantled so that the diamonds could be used by Garrard in 1911 to create this piece. Originally, the tiara was also topped by several pear-shaped gems from the Cambridge emerald cache. But ever crafty with her jewels, Mary had those emeralds removed in 1922; they were then remade so that they could be used in the Vladimir Tiara.
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| Queen Mary wears the tiara with the Cullinan stones (Photo: The Royal Collection) |
The Cambridge emeralds weren’t the only stones that May sometimes wore with the Durbar tiara — she also occasionally wore it with the Cullinan III and IV diamonds (the two “Lesser Stars of Africa” or “Granny’s Chips” — the queen today wears these two diamonds as a brooch, and it’s the single most expensive piece of jewelry she owns).
Queen Mary gave the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, as a permanent loan in 1946; the Queen Mum wore it on the family’s tour of South Africa the following year. She kept the tiara until her death, when it was inherited by the current queen. Elizabeth II has never worn this particular tiara in public.
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| Camilla wears the tiara (Photo: MATT DUNHAM/AFP/Getty Images) |
In 2005, it was one of three tiaras that she loaned to her new daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cornwall (the others are the Greville Tiara and the Teck Crescent Tiara). Camilla has so far worn the Durbar tiara only once, in October 2005 — here’s hoping we see it again someday soon!
A Queen Letizia Earring Update!
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| Queen Letizia attends the opening of the Madrid Book Fair (Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images) |
Time to check back in with Queen Letizia of Spain, who has been doing some serious earring-wearring this weekend in Madrid.
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| Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images |
On Friday, Letizia wore a new pair of statement earrings by Coolook for the opening of the Madrid Book Fair. The modern earrings feature amethysts, moonstones, and green amethysts.
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| Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images |
To mark Armed Forces Day on Saturday, Letizia wore her Tous freshwater pearl drop earrings.
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| Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images |
On Monday, Letizia wore a pair of elaborate floral earrings to the ‘El Bosco’ 5th Centenary Anniversary Exhibition at the Prado in Madrid.
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| Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images |
And a bonus royal alert: it’s Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands! She also made the trip to Madrid to view the Prado exhibition. She’s wearing understated beads with the ribbon of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Why, you ask, was Beatrix there? Here you go: the “El Bosco” being celebrated here is Hieronymus Bosch, who was a famous Dutch painter. Some of Bosch’s most famous work is held at the Prado, because one of the most important early collectors of his work was King Felipe II of Spain. (And that concludes your very brief art history lesson of the day!)