The Cambridge Sapphire Parure

Queen Mary, Princess Marina, and the Duchess of Kent wearing the Cambridge sapphire parure.

Worn by five generations of royal ladies, the Cambridge Sapphire parure is one of the most stunning jewelry sets to have passed on in the hands of a member of the British Royal Family. Originally acquired by Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge (nee Princess of Hesse-Cassel), wife of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, it was given as a wedding gift to Princess Augusta of Cambridge (the couple’s elder daughter) when she married Frederick William, later Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in 1843. This the princess wore on her wedding day and also when she posed for a miniature portrait by German painter Hermann von Hanstein in 1861. When Princess Augusta died in 1916, she willed the parure to her niece, Queen Mary, who also harboured a deep liking on the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara, also in the possession of her aunt. However, the piece was willed to her own daughter, Jutta, later Crown Princess of Montenegro. Queen Mary later commissioned a copy of the tiara and passed it on to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

Princess Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on a miniature portrait by Hermann von Hanstein in 1861.

In the 1920s, Queen Mary was seen wearing the Cambridge sapphires for a portrait. In 1934, she gave the parure as a wedding gift to her new daughter-in-law, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, when she married the queen's fifth child, Prince George, Duke of Kent. Newspapers of the day reported of the stupendous presents received by the new couple. In fact, "three giant rooms in St. James's Palace are filled with a bewildering display of the most costly treasures bestowed" on them.

The queen's own gifts were described as "the most splendid collection ever bestowed on a bride." And it consisted of "a complete set of sapphire and diamond ornaments, including a tiara, brooches, earrings, bracelets, and a necklet, for State occasions, also a modern ruby and diamond bow knot."

The Duchess of Kent has since frequently donned the parure on various occasions, adjusting and configuring them to suit her preference. She had worn the tiara and the other jewels from the parure on various state and formal occasions at home and abroad, including the banquets for the respective state visits of President de Gaulle of France in 1956 and King Mahendra and Queen Ratna of Nepal in 1960. She also donned it during the pre-wedding ball hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in honor of Princess Alexandra.

The tiara passed on to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, when Princess Marina died in 1968. It was then worn by his wife, Katharine, Duchess of Kent, when she was still a working royal.  The original tiara, however, was later sold and they had commissioned a new button-style tiara using the diamonds and sapphires from other parts of the set. Since her retirement in 2002, the jewels of the Duchess of Kent has not been seen in public. One is curious if these pieces ended up in the auction houses or still remains in the Kents’ jewelry boxes.