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Queen Victoria Jewels | Queen Victoria's Oriental Circlet | Royal Opal and Diamond Tiara| Royal Jewel History
after the sketch of Prince Albert, see in the picture below from the Royal Collection "pen and ink drawing with the following words inscribed beneath it 'By Prince Albert when giving directions to Mr Garrard'. "
The Ledger of Garrard from the year 1853, when it was finished:Making a Diamond Tiara of Oriental design with Opal centres. The outer frame ornament and the spires and such Ornaments made to remove with screw springs and the spires to be replaced by large single Diamonds to complete the Ornament when a lighter and more simple Tiara is required.
The whole containing 1348 Brilliants
1330 Roses
17 Opals
Total 2695
For setting the above 406
Furnishing 328 Brilliants (illegible) 334 17 ?
Do 1102 Roses 82 13 ?
Do 17 Opals 38
Used in the above belonging to Her Majesty.
7 Brilliants 18ct 4 8
8 Do 18ct 4 8
7 Do 14ct
5 Do 8ct
Carried over 2200 19 3
In the year 1888, alterations are noted; probably the opals were changed by Garrard for the Romanov Rubies and in the year 1902 the tiara was prepared for the coronation and related events in London for which the Grand Duchess needed her grandest jewels as she did in 1911.
Prince Albert's Golden Fleece....
The Golden Fleece was the first foreign order received by Prince Albert after his marriage. The orders he had received earlier were from relatives, but after February 1840 the acceptance of any award - even from a relative - could be deemed a political gesture favouring a particular state, with implications for British foreign policy. Honours which would have been offered to the Queen by foreign sovereigns and governments had she been male were unavailable to her, and so the Prince was given orders that she could not be offered. This brought with it concerns on the part of both the Queen and the Prince that reciprocation would invariably be assumed. The offer of the Golden Fleece to the Prince in 1841 by the Regency government of Spain, on behalf of the 11-year-old Queen Isabella II, epitomised these problems. After much diplomatic negotiation, it was agreed that the Prince would accept the Order and would be invested by the Duke of Wellington, acting as Isabella’s proxy in his position as a Grandee of Spain and a Knight of the Golden Fleece. The Queen wrote to King Leopold, describing the ceremony of 27 April 1841:
Albert has rec’d the Golden Fleece; … he was invested by the Duke of Wellington, whom the Regency had charged as Grandee of Spain and having the Order, to present it to him. The old Duke and Alva [the Spanish Ambassador] … were delighted at this, & the old Duke … appeared in a new Spanish Uniform made for the occasion.
The original badges of the Golden Fleece featured the Order’s symbol, a ram’s fleece - an allusion to the Burgundian wool trade as well as to the Golden Fleece of Greek mythology - hanging from a shower of sparks or flames emanating from a flint being struck by a fire steel (or briquette). By the nineteenth century the separate elements had become stylised and in Prince Albert’s badge the opals form the centre of the ‘briquette’ and the ‘flint’. The light, original setting of this badge has been adapted to take the opals in the slide, flint and sparks - particularly the middle stone in the flint. The incongruity of this later setting suggests that it may have been adapted from an earlier one. Just as the Prince’s Garter badge was an earlier piece reset for the Queen in 1840, it is possible that this was once the ‘Golden Fleece in brilliants’ sold to Rundell, Bridge & Co. in 1830. Opals were the Prince’s favourite stones (Journal, 4 July 1866). This and a second badge of the Order were the badges of foreign orders most often worn by the Prince. The opal badge can be seen in his portrait by Winterhalter of 1842 and in photographs by Fenton.
Royal Oriental Circlet Tiara of Marie Grand Duchess of Russia, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, Duchess of Edinburgh and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha |Wedding Present of Queen Victoria
When HRH Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh married HIH Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, there were limited reports as to the wedding gifts the Duchess received. Apart from a description of the jewels given by the Duke to his bride, no details of the gifts from Queen Victoria were made public. The Queen's diary is also uninformative. However, given the diplomatic importance of the wedding, it is highly unlikely that Queen Victoria did not present her new daughter-in-law with a significant wedding gift.
Giving the Grand Duchess Marie the Oriental Opal and Diamond tiara would fulfill the Queen's sentimentality. The tiara was designed by Prince Albert, which allowed the gift to be from the deceased prince and his wife to the future Grand Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Albert's beloved home. It also used opals, reputedly Albert's favourite stone.
The tiara, with its opals replaced by rubies, descended to Marie Alexandrovna's fourth daughter, Princess Alexandra, wife of Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who inherited all the ruby jewels belonging to her mother.
The removal of the Oriental Ruby tiara from Queen Victoria's collection meant that the tiara was not available for either Queen Alexandra or Queen Mary which explains why these two Queen Consorts lacked a ruby and diamond tiara to wear in public. Yet, Queen Elizabeth is pictured, probably for the first time, publicly wearing the tiara on Coronation Day evening, May 12, 1937. (Beth, History of Famous Jewels and Collections, 31 January 2020)
In 1937, upon becoming Queen, the Duchess of York was in need of a tiara to go with the Crown rubies. According to private information, George VI bought the Oriental tiara from descendants of Grand Duchess Marie.
Since the Oriental Ruby tiara was the personal property of Queen Elizabeth, her daughter, HM the Queen did not have a ruby tiara. Taking the 96 rubies from the gift she received from the people of Burma, she had the modern Ruby Tiara made by Garrard in 1973. The Queen Mother continued to wear her Oriental ruby tiara until her death when it passed to Queen Elizabeth II who has worn the Oriental Ruby tiara once in public.
Sources:Royal Collection; Garrard Archive;Archive Ursula Butschal;Rebuild with the opals from the golden fleece from U.Butschal;Private information; Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Oriental circlet worn on Coronation day, History of Royal Jewels and Collections, Beth, January 31 2020;
Thank you Laura for your help and translation of the orginal ledger from Garrard.
Royal Oriental Circlet Tiara of Marie Grand Duchess of Russia, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, Duchess of Edinburgh and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha |Wedding Present of Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria's Wedding Brooch| Prince Alberts Sapphire and Diamont Brooch| Royal Jewel History Crown Jewels Britain England
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The Diamond Jubilee Bracelet|Royal Jewels of Queen Victoria
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Queen Victorias Diamonds | Royal Jewels History Diamanten der englischen Königin Victoria
Queen Victoria's Diamond Fringe Brooch | Royal Jewels England |Königin Victoria's Diamantbrosche
Queen Victoria's Emerald Jewels | England Royal Jewelry |Königin Victoria's Smaragd Schmuck
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Queen Elizabeth II.& Elizabeth Queen Mother | Queen Victorias Eleven Pearls and Diamond Brooch | Pearl Brooches Royal Jewel History
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The Brooch worn at Queen Elizabeth II Funeral Queen Victoria's Hesse Diamond Jubilee Brooch|Queen Consort Camilla - 2022
Royal Weddings | Hochzeiten im englischen Königshaus
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