Queen Mary and the Delhi Durbar Tiara |
In 1911, King George V and Queen Mary were to be proclaimed Emperor and Empress of India. This was the first and only time that a British
sovereign attended the durbar, which was considered to be the largest gathering of princes, noblemen and landed gentry in India to pay homage to their sovereign. The king and queen should never be outdone by the native chiefs. They were sure these local princes would come garbed with all the gold and diamonds from their treasure chest. It was decided that they should showcase the crown jewels with them. But British law prohibits anyone from
taking these treasures outside of the British soil. A new set of coronation
regalia had to be made! Thus, the India Office commissioned Garrard and Co. to make the Imperial Crown of India for King George V. It has eight arches, with 6170 exquisitely cut diamonds, and covered with sapphires, emeralds and rubies, with a velvet and miniver cap all weighing 34.05 ounces (965 g).
However, Queen Mary was without the empress' crown. She commissioned the famed jeweler to make a grand tiara for the coronation, paying the cost of this splendid jewel out from her own pocket! Thus, while the emperor's crown forms part of the Crown Jewels, the Delhi Durbar Tiara remains a private possession of the British Royal Family.
However, Queen Mary was without the empress' crown. She commissioned the famed jeweler to make a grand tiara for the coronation, paying the cost of this splendid jewel out from her own pocket! Thus, while the emperor's crown forms part of the Crown Jewels, the Delhi Durbar Tiara remains a private possession of the British Royal Family.
For a truly grand tiara for this occasion, the queen had the old the Boucheron Loop tiara, dismantled and the remnants, in addition
to smaller jewels, be fashioned into one that fits the queen’s taste.
The dismantled tiara was originally a gift of De Beers to
her when, as princess of Wales, she joined her husband in a 1901 visit to
South Africa.
The new Delhi Durbar Tiara was set in platinum and gold,
with diamonds forming lyres and s-scrolls, overlapped by diamond festoons. The
tall piece is a complete circlet, wrapping entirely around the head.
According to the blog The
Order of Royal Sartorial Splendor, the tiara was topped by 10 cabochon
emerald drops, which consisted the Cambridge
emeralds. These gems were acquired by the queen’s grandmother, Princess Augusta, Duchess
of Cambridge, and were passed on to her brother who left them to his mistress, Constance
Countess of Kilmorey. Knowing the
heritage of these jewels, Queen Mary reacquired the emeralds and gave the
countess £10,000.
In 1922, these ten emeralds were removed from the tiara and most
of these were used as dangling drops in the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara. Some served as the upright of the small diamond bandeau which was passed on to her daughter-in-law, Princess Marina, Duchess of
Kent.
Queen Mary later commissioned Garrard to modify the tiara to
make it flexible for jewel swapping and future alterations. The Cullinan III
and IV stones were later used as temporary centerpieces. Provisions were made
to allow the queen to wear the tiara with our without the diamonds or without
any other centerpiece at all. In fact, since her death in 1953, the tiara has been
worn without the Cullinan diamonds. The tiara has seen further, minor changes
before she permanently loaned the jewel to another daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, who wore it when
she and King George VI visited South Africa in 1947. That was the first and
only time that the Delhi Durbar tiara was worn by Queen Elizabeth, although she
kept it until her death in 2002. It was passed on to Queen
Elizabeth II, who never wore it on public.
PS: You may also visit this blog, another interesting source of information about royal jewelry
0 Comments