Regarding the
Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara, according to Leslie Field's book "The Queen's Jewels"
"One of the most charming tributes that Queen Maryh ever paid to the maternal side of her family was the tiara that she had made at Garrad in 1914 to her own design and from pearls and diamonds already in her possession. It was a copy of one owned by her grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse, who married the first Duke of Cambridge, seventh son of King George III, in 1918. She had been given it by her family prior to her marriage. There was a strong French influence in its neo-classical design of nineteen openwork diamond arches, each enclosing an oriental drop pearl from a lover's knot bow, and surmounted by single diamonds and upright oval spikes. Princess Augusta's tiara was set on a circular band of perfectly matched pearl, but Queen Mary chose a base of diamonds for hers. In the nineteenth century it was a popular design and there are five know versions in existence. WHen the Duchess of Cambridge's eldest daughter, and namesake, Augusta, marreid the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1843, she gave her the tiara as a wedding present. The Grand Duchess in turn, became godmother and ultimately closest confidant, to her niece, the future Queen Mary, whosaw her annually and knew the tiara well."
Loversknots Tiara |Das "Liebesknoten" Perlen Diadem this shows the different versions of the lover's knot tiara--
The third row down shows Queen Mary wearing the tiara in its original form, then with the upright pearl spikes removed, Queen Elizabeth wearing it around 1955, and the Diana, The Princess of Wales, wearing it.
The second row down, first two pictures, shows the tiara which was in Queen Mary's family that served as the inspiration for the Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara.
Here is a link to a lovely closeup--
Cambridge Lovers' Knot Tiara pictures from history photos on webshots
and this last link
Tale of A Tiara shows a close up of the original tiara (sorry, black and white), then pics of Queen Mary, Elizabeth, and Princess Diana. It's a cute site--
Oh, and the fringe tiara of
The Princess Royal, Mary, was auctioned off with multiple other pieces for death duties--