Duchess of Cornwall Jewellery 1: Feb 2004 - Oct 2005


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Ennyllorac said:
No matter what she wears in jewellry she will never have class.


I posted this comment over a year ago and I have to say that she has really impressed me. She is filling her role with finesse and I do have to say class.

I am interested to see what tiara she does wear.
 
Given that Diana wore the Spencer tiara and the Lover's Knot Tiara (and Earl Spencer has taken his tiara back), which tiara do you think Camilla will show up with? Is there one of the Queen Mother's that Charles might want her to wear? Or do you think he'll buy her a new one and give her a "fresh" start free of any memories?

I was looking in a book the other day and saw a small tiara that the Queen Mother wore in the 1920's, later worn by Margaret and then Anne. It might be an obvious choice, but I didn't think it was grand enough for Camilla. (When I say "grand" I think Charles would like it to stand out and, practically, Camilla has a lot of hair, a small tiara would be lost on her.)
 
I kept looking. The honeycomb or Boucheron tiara has been raised as a possibility. Or perhaps, didn't the Queen Mother have a lovely tiara with rubies -- that would stand out on Camilla's hair.
 
The ruby one, the Oriental Circlet Tiara.
 
The ruby one is part of the jewels that Queen Victoria specified as being reserved for use by queens and future queens, so it'll be interesting to see if Camilla does wear it.

Perhaps the Queen will take that one over and Camilla will get the use of the Burmese ruby tiara, although I'm not sure the red stones would be the best colour for her.
 
The Burmese ruby tiara would be an interesting choice; it is large although not very attractive IMO. (Of course, I don't have any rubies and no diamonds bigger than a chip!)
 
I think Camilla will have a new tiara, either purchased by Prince Charles or newly designed for her using stones from the royal collection. I doubt very much she will be given a tiara associated with the Queen Mother or reserved for use by a Queen or Consort.
 
I'm hoping for the Strathmore Rose or one of the tiaras that Queen Mary recieved as wedding gifts.
 
Burmese Ruby Tiara

iowabelle said:
The Burmese ruby tiara would be an interesting choice; it is large although not very attractive IMO.
I used to be underwhelmed by this tiara until I saw saw close-up pics of it when she wore it on a visit to France some years ago. The upsweep diamond bars on each side of the central ruby motif give it "lift". I think it is one of those pieces that need to be seen in the right light to "catch the glint" and the detail.

A point about the "Tiara for Camilla" debate is that quite possibly Charles presented her with a (probably newly-purchased) tiara on their wedding day; if not there are so many mystery tiaras in the vaults that The Queen would not have to resort to recycling the Queen Mother's tiaras. I think we can be confident there are plenty from which to choose!
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iowabelle said:
The Burmese ruby tiara would be an interesting choice; it is large although not very attractive IMO. (Of course, I don't have any rubies and no diamonds bigger than a chip!)

Camilla will not be given a tiara designed for the Queen during her reign. The Burmese tiara was created using rubies and diamonds from gifts (one from the Sultan of Brunei and the other an Indian maharajah) to the Her Majesty.

By royal tradition, this tiara (like the Brazilian aquamarine parure) would be reserved for use by a Queen or Queen Consort since the stones were gifts to the Sovereign from another head of state.
 
Warren said:
if not there are so many mystery tiaras in the vaults that The Queen would not have to resort to recycling the Queen Mother's tiaras. I think we can be confident there are plenty from which to choose!
.

The Queen Mother really didn't have much in the way of tiaras anyway. The Papyrus Motif Fan Tiara was given to Princess Margaret, the Rose Strathmore Tiara hasn't been used in over fifty years and her Cartier Aquamarine Tiara was given to Princess Anne. Two of her remaining tiaras (the King George III diamond tiara and the Indian Ruby tiara) were part of the Crown's collection.

Her main tiara, the Boucheron diamond one, was a gift from Lady Greville, but later augmented and altered by Cartier with additional royal diamonds. Since it was associated with the Queen Mother so much, I doubt the Queen will be willing to give it to Camilla, but maybe she will.
 
About the tiaras -- do you think that Charles is going to give Camilla a new one then? We've seen a fair amount of digging into the Queen Mother's jewel box so fair. (I think it's a fair assumption that if the Queen Mother left these items to Charles, she knew who would wear them eventually.)
 
iowabelle said:
About the tiaras -- do you think that Charles is going to give Camilla a new one then? We've seen a fair amount of digging into the Queen Mother's jewel box so fair. (I think it's a fair assumption that if the Queen Mother left these items to Charles, she knew who would wear them eventually.)

In my opinion, I think it is very likely Camilla will be given a new tiara, probably designed especially for her, but using stones reset from old tiaras and pieces not currently in use in the royal vaults (of which they are many). Given that Sarah and Sophie both were given new tiaras by the Queen, I think it likely this tradition will continue.

Diana was given the honour of a gift of Queen Mary's Lovers Knot Tiara, which the Queen herself wore on many occasions in the 50's and 60's, as a future Queen Consort. I doubt the Queen will do the same for Camilla, but perhaps she will over time.
 
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Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara

Elspeth said:
I've seen a couple of photos of it. I preferred it to the ruby one, which strikes me as rather heavy-looking (design-wise, I mean).
Here:
http://www.royal-magazin.de/england/queen/nizam-of-hyderabad.htm

Thanks Elspeth. Yes, Royal Magazin is something else for fabulous jewels - I've got lost in this site many times!

What I meant to say earlier was that I've never seen a colour pic of HM wearing the Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara.
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In "Tiaras, A history of Splendour" Geoffrey Munn gives the impression that this tiara still exists. Does anyone know the original source that tells us it was broken up to fashion the Burmese Ruby Tiara?????
 
Nizam Tiara

wymanda said:
In "Tiaras, A history of Splendour" Geoffrey Munn gives the impression that this tiara still exists. Does anyone know the original source that tells us it was broken up to fashion the Burmese Ruby tiara?????
Hi Wymanda, no idea what the original souce was. Perhaps because the ruby rose motifs on both tiaras appear very similar the assumption they were one and the same was made. I've seen it a few times, including in a P de V, and repeated it without researching. :eek:

I have just checked "Garrard The Crown Jewellers" by Charlotte Gere & John Culme 1993. They write "The Burmese Ruby tiara ordered in 1973... the ninety-six rubies were a wedding gift from the people of Burma." And of course Munn says the same. So that rules out the rubies from the Nizam.

Mr Munn is correct. The Nizam of Hyderabad tiara survives! (although kept very much in the dark in those mysterious vaults).

:)
W
 
Charles was evidently very close to his grandmother the Queen Mother and vice versa. Is it just speculation that she did not approve of or like Camilla or did she ever state anything to that effect in public? The Queen Mother's various residences seems to have been and continue to be some of Charles favorite places to visit so considering how long C & C have been together the QM must have ended up spending time with her.
My guess is that perhaps even the first tiara we'll see Camilla wear will be something from QM's jewelry collection. Camilla is after all in line to be the next Queen and Charles has no reason to hold anything back anymore.
grevinnan
 
I think that Charles and Camilla were guests of the Queen Mother at Birkhall.

And even if Charles took Camilla to Birkhall while the Queen Mother was absent, I am sure he had her permission to take her there.
 
iowabelle said:
I think that Charles and Camilla were guests of the Queen Mother at Birkhall.

And even if Charles took Camilla to Birkhall while the Queen Mother was absent, I am sure he had her permission to take her there.

Charles had permission to use Birkhall with Camilla, but never when the Queen Mother was in residence. The Queen Mother never approved of Camilla and refused to receive her, despite her great love for her grandson. That was the end of that.
 
branchg said:
Charles had permission to use Birkhall with Camilla, but never when the Queen Mother was in residence. The Queen Mother never approved of Camilla and refused to receive her, despite her great love for her grandson. That was the end of that.

The Queen Mother would have regularly recieved Camilla whilst she and APB were married as A was her godson. Considering that they divorced in about 1997 there would have only been a few years before her death when the QM "May" have refused to recieve her.
 
Just read the following on "Royal Insight" regarding the Delhi Durbah Tiara.

I was recently reading a biography of Queen Mary (the present Queen's grandmother) and wondered, is the tiara that she wore to the Indian Durbar still in existence? I can't recall the present Queen ever wearing it?
Queen Mary's Delhi Durbar crown is still in existence. It latterly belonged to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, but is now in the private collection of The Queen. The crown has been altered somewhat, as it no longer contains the Cullinan III and IV diamonds.

Maybe this means that this lovely tiara will be available for Camilla?????????
 
wymanda said:
Just read the following on "Royal Insight" regarding the Delhi Durbah Tiara.



Maybe this means that this lovely tiara will be available for Camilla?????????

It's rather old and the style is very high on the head, similar to a crown, rather than a tiara. I doubt it will be seen again on someone's head.

Also, the tiara has only been worn by a Queen Consort, which means it will not be seen on Camilla while she is still Duchess of Cornwall. That would be inappropriate in the royal tradition.
 
branchg said:
It's rather old and the style is very high on the head, similar to a crown, rather than a tiara. I doubt it will be seen again on someone's head.

Also, the tiara has only been worn by a Queen Consort, which means it will not be seen on Camilla while she is still Duchess of Cornwall. That would be inappropriate in the royal tradition.

I agree, I dont think the Dehli Durbar Tiara is appropriate for Camilla. Now when Charles is King, Camilla could wear this tiara instead of a traditional "crown" at such events like the State Opening of Parliament or something.
 
wymanda said:
Just read the following on "Royal Insight" regarding the Delhi Durbah Tiara.



Maybe this means that this lovely tiara will be available for Camilla?????????

Cullinan III and IV in their brooch form were on display as part of the Royal Treasures exhibition at Buckingham Palace a few years ago. I don't think there's any particular significance to the whereabouts of the tiara at the moment; it's just that it was made for the Durbar in place of the coronation crown, which couldn't be taken out of the UK, which means that it's a more "official" piece than most of the other tiaras. The Queen has worn the George IV circlet when she wants to be "official" so the Durbar tiara really hasn't had a lot of use.

It's possible that if Camilla becomes Princess Consort rather than Queen (unlikely IMO, but you never know) she might wear it rather than the George IV circlet for events like the State Opening of Parliament. I really doubt that, with its history, it'll be available to her during the Queen's reign.
 
Empress Camilla

Elspeth said:
It's possible that... she might wear it rather than the George IV circlet for events like the State Opening of Parliament. I really doubt that, with its history, it'll be available to her during the Queen's reign.
I can picture the headline now: "Camilla Wears Crown of Indian Empress!"

Followed by "What would Queen Mary think?"
:)
 
Elspeth said:
it's just that it was made for the Durbar in place of the coronation crown, which couldn't be taken out of the UK, which means that it's a more "official" piece than most of the other tiaras.

Actually, Elspeth, Queen Mary could have taken her crown to India for the Durbah. The problem was with the Imperial State Crown which the King was forbidden from taking out of the country. The Imperial Crown of India was made for the king & QM had the Durbah Tiara made at the same time. I understand that it was payed for by "Some Ladies of India"
 
Usually a Queen Consort wears the circlet created for their Crown to the State Opening of Parliament, although technically they are entitled to wear the George IV State Diadem as well. If Camilla becomes Princess Consort, rather than Queen Consort, I doubt she will wear anything but her own tiara to the State Opening.
 
branchg said:
Usually a Queen Consort wears the circlet created for their Crown to the State Opening of Parliament, although technically they are entitled to wear the George IV State Diadem as well. If Camilla becomes Princess Consort, rather than Queen Consort, I doubt she will wear anything but her own tiara to the State Opening.

And the Dehli Durbar Tiara would classify as one of her (many) tiaras since she would have access to The Queen's current collection. I agree that if she is only Princess Consort she will not wear the George IV Diadem and she would of course not wear the circlet of a crown becuase she wouldn't have a crown.
 
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