Unidentified, Mystery and Lost Royal Jewels


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Which tiara is Queen Marie of Romania wearing here?

Marie10.jpg


I like this tiara a lot but I have not seen it in any other pictures. Does anyone know what it is called, where it comes from, where it is now, and does anyone have any other pictures of it (being worn or by itself)?
 
If that pic of Queen Marie was taken before or during the early stages of World War I (she turned 40 in 1915), the tiara has been lost. The Romanian Royal Family entrusted their most important jewels to the care of the Russians during the war, only for the Bolsheviks to seize them when they came to power. Never recovered, all gone.

Here is a cropped portrait of the Queen taken in 1915, wearing one of her finest tiaras, subsequently stolen by the Bolsheviks.
(pic first published over 70 years ago; copyright expired)

Queen Marie of Romania 1915: a lost tiara

QueenMarie19152.jpg
 
That's terrible, what an outrage! These tiaras and other jewelry must still exist somewhere. The Romanian Royal Family should uncover where they are and demand them back. God I hate the Bolsheviks. I think that photo of Queen Marie is taken before the First World War because she looks quite youthful, but she was always so beautiful. I like that one in the picture I posted because of those crosses, so wonderful. I haven't seen it in any other picture.
 
That's the problem with communist governments; they tend to destroy so much of the country's culture and replace it with...well...really boring concrete monuments to boringness. However, during any such turbulent time in history, there are bound to be these kinds of destruction...
 
There wouldn't be such turbulent times in history if horrid ideas such as communism were never thought of. Really I think that the missing royal jewels should be returned to their rightful owners. And the Romanian royal family and the Greek royal family should be restored.
 
Here's another postcard of Queen Marie.
For those interested check out this site: http://www.tkinter.smig.net/QueenMarie/Gallery/index.htm

There is an extensive collection of postcards of Queen Marie and the Romanian Royal Family, including this one showing the Queen wearing an intricate diamond and pearl tiara and a spectacular stomacher...

Queen Marie of Romania: lost jewels

QueenMarie6.jpg
 
Wow Queen Marie was so beautiful. Thank you for the link Warren. Would these jewels in the above postcard also be lost? Does anyone have any idea where they are?
 
quite nice, its such a pity that they a lot of these tiaras are missing probably never to be recovered
 
Dear Members, I have got to quit using the terms drop dead gorgeous. Let us say the above is just breathtaking. Once again the Most Noble Warren had delivered the goods. It only goes to prove what total duds the communists were and are. Cheers.
 
In the Winterhalter portrait below, Queen Victoria is wearing her ''Sunray" tiara. I like it a lot. Where is it now? Does the royal family still have it? If not, why?

CrystalPalaceWinterh.jpg
 
felicia said:
In the Winterhalter portrait below, Queen Victoria is wearing her ''Sunray" tiara. I like it a lot. Where is it now? Does the royal family still have it? If not, why?
Click to expand...
The tiara still belongs to the royal family - Queen Elizabeth II wore it at her wedding and so did Princess Anne, the Princess Royal at her wedding...
 
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You mean the George III Fringe Tiara? I know about that one. I think the Tiara in the painting is a different tiara because it is called the Sunray Tiara. If you look closely you can see it is different from the George III Fringe Tiara.
 
I also think that isn't the George III Fringe Tiara, but another.
 
I looked the painting up in the Munn Book and it is definitely NOT the George III Fringe Tiara that is still in the royal family. The latter tiara was made for Queen Mary, and in the painting the Diadem Queen Victoria is wearing was made for Queen Adelaide using diamonds supplied by Rundell's. So where is this stunning piece now, that Her Majesty was so fond of?????
 
I think that must be written by someone who didn't know that the tiara the Queen wore on her wedding day is called the George III Fringe Tiara, which I know for sure was made for Queen Mary, therefore it could not have been worn by Queen Victoria.
 
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Leslie Field writes about the King George III Fringe Tiara in her book "The Queen's Jewels" and one of the pictures showing this tiara is the Winterhalter painting of queen Victoria and prince Albert... In the book it is called both a fringe tiara and a sunray tiara... It is part of the jewels that passes from queen to queen left to the crown by Queen Victoria...
 
Well it seems to me that Munn's book indicates or says otherwise
 
felicia said:
Well it seems to me that Munn's book indicates or says otherwise
Click to expand...

Sorry - but I can only tell what I have read...
 
Tiaras: A History of Splendour is very authoritative. I trust it is correct. Therefore the tiara in the painting is not the George III Fringe Tiara. They look different as well. The 'rays' are thicker and all the same width, unlike the George III Fringe Tiara, which has rays of thicker and thin widths alternating. You must look really closely to see this.
 
HM Queen Elizabeth II in queen Alexandra's fringe tiara and in sunray tiara on her wedding day
52103673.jpg
3326204.jpg

pictures from Gettyimages
 
mims111 said:
HM Queen Elizabeth II in queen Alexandra's fringe tiara and in sunray tiara on her wedding day.
Click to expand...
The first one is Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara and the next is the George III Fringe Tiara. Neither is the one Queen Victoria is wearing in the painting. Which is a diadem made for Queen Adelaide. And I am wondering where is this sunray diadem now?
 
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What's in a name?

mims111 said:
HM Queen Elizabeth II in queen Alexandra's fringe tiara and in sunray tiara on her wedding day.
Click to expand...
The fringe tiara design was very popular in its day, and virtually every Royal House has, or had, at least one. However, Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara is not to be confused with a fringe tiara although its elements are similar.

The problem is identity and description. The British fringe tiara can be referred to as "the King George III fringe tiara", "the Hanoverian fringe tiara" or "the diamond fringe tiara". The term "sunray" is more appropriate when this particular tiara is worn in necklace form.

The difficulty with the Winterhalter portrait is, quoting Geoffrey Munn from the Wartski 'One Hundred Tiaras' catalogue: "Winterhalter does not seem to have been overly fond of jewellery". Therefore his depiction of the tiara is not necessarily accurate due to the application of artistic licence.

To add another element of mystery, in one of her official 1897 Diamond Jubilee photographs Queen Victoria is wearing a spiked sunray tiara which is obviously neither the fringe tiara nor the "Winterhalter sunray" tiara.
 
Yes Warren you are right. Queen Alexandra's tiara is not a fringe tiara. It is a kokoshnik in the Russian style. And I know the spiked tiara you are refering to in the jubilee photos, I am wondering what happened to that one as well.

Anway I have got out my copy of Tiaras: A History Of Splendour (aka The Bible :D ) and this is what it says next to the painting:

Plate 48: The First Of May, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1851. At the opening of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, the Queen is attended by Prince Albert and the Duke of Wellington. In her arms is the infant Prince Arthur, who offers the Duke the traditional lilies of the valley. On the Queen's head is a diamond diadem of sunray form, said to have been set by Rundell's for Queen Adelaide using family diamonds. The diadem was one of Queen Victoria's special favourites, and she wore it with Queen Charlotte's crown for the opening of the exhibition.

(The Royal Collection. Copyright 2001 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)


Therefore it CAN NOT be the George III Fringe Tiara since in the same book it says on page 161 about the George III Fringe Tiara: She is wearing the Russian fringe tiara made for Queen Mary (refering to the Queen Mother wearing it). It is said to contain diamonds from the collection of King George III. The jewel, which can be convereted into a necklace, was supplied to Garrard in 1919 by E. Wolff and Co.

and later

Queen Mary's Russian fringe necklace/tiara mounted in gold, the damonds set in silver. When the tension is released at the back of the frame the tiara can be dismantled to form a flexible necklace. The present Queen has worn it as both.

Therefore, we can see that the George III fringe tiara was made in 1919 for Queen Mary, so it obviously cannot be worn by Queen Victoria in 1851! They are completely different pieces and that is a fact.
 
In the painting below, Her Majesty Queen Alexandrina VICTORIA is wearing the Sunray Diadem again. You can clearly see it is not at all similiar in appearance to the George III Fringe Tiara. But still my question has not been answered - where is the Tiara now and what happened to it? It was one of Queen Victoria's favourites.

johncallcott_horsley_queenvictoria.jpg
 
Ayvee, I agree it does look remarkably similiar to the tiara that Victoria of Sweden wears nowadays. But since hers is called the Baden Fringe Tiara it is probably not the same one.

Perhaps it could have gone into the Swedish Royal Family if Queen Victoria had left it to her son Arthur and then he gave it to his daughter Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden.
 
I think the Baden Fringe Tiara was a wedding present to princess Victoria of Baden from har parents when she married crownprince Gustave (V) of Sweden...
 
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So then it is not the same as the one Queen Victoria is wearing in the painting in 1851, but it is very similiar in design.
 
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