Topic: Jewels
The famous Vladimir Tiara, originally owned by the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1854-1920), the wife of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847-1909) will go on display at a new exhibition hosted at Buckingham Palace this summer.
The Vladimir Tiara, sometimes referred to as the Diamond and Pearl Tiara, was purchased in 1921 by Queen Mary of Great Britain, who bought it from Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. The tiara was sold to Queen Mary along with a diamond riviere for a price of £28,000 (£984,200). Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, after her marriage to Prince Nicholas of Greece, known always as Princess Nicholas of Greece, had inherited it from her mother Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. The tiara had been smuggled out of Russia by a British diplomat during the 1917 Revolution. Over the years Princess Nicholas of Greece sold various pieces of jewellery from her personal collection; as a refugee, she had to sell the pieces to support her family and various charities.
Queen Mary had the tiara adapted to accommodate the attachment of fifteen of the Cambridge cabochon emeralds. The original Teardrop pearls, originally in the Vladimir Tiara, could be replaced easily as an alternative to the emeralds. Elizabeth II inherited the piece directly from her grandmother. The Diamond and Pearl Tiara is almost exclusively worn with the Cambridge and Delhi Durbar Parure, which also features large emeralds. Elizabeth II wore this tiara for her official photograph as Queen of Canada, as none of the Commonwealth realms besides the United Kingdom has its own crown jewels.
Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration runs from Saturday, 30 June 2012 to Sunday, 7 October 2012 at Buckingham Palace.
© Royal Russia. 06 May, 2012
Updated: Wednesday, 9 May 2012 7:57 AM EDT
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