Queen Mary's Fringe tiara: Expert on Queen's wedding tiara
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Then Princess Elizabeth married the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in 1947, and her bridal ensemble featured a suitably royal ‘something borrowed’. The Queen’s beloved grandmother Queen Mary lent her a spiked diadem known as Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, and it has since proved to be a firm favourite of royal brides in recent decades.
Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara is considered to be one of the most famous tiaras in the Queen’s collection, and while estimates vary, one expert suggested it is worth a staggering seven-figure sum.
A spokesperson at Diamondsbyme said: “Worn by our Queen as a ‘something borrowed’, it was originally a diamond necklace given by Queen Victoria [to Queen Mary] for her wedding day in 1893.
“It features 47 bars of graduated brilliant diamonds and rose-cut diamond tapering bars which are separated by 46 narrow spikes. We value the tiara at £7.5million.”
While the Princess looked perfect on her big day in her custom-made Norman Hartnell gown, significant works had to be undertaken behind the scenes when chaos struck.
Eddie LeVian, CEO of celebrity jeweller Le Vian, whose ancestors guarded the royal jewels of Persia, explained: “A catch on [the tiara] snapped shortly before Her Majesty the Queen was about to walk down the aisle and the Crown Jeweller… expertly fixed it in time for the ceremony.”
The Queen Mother was reported to have quelled people’s emotions at this point by noting there were hours until the ceremony and “other tiaras”.
Since becoming monarch in 1952, the Queen has tended to wear other diadems like the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara.
But this hasn’t stopped the Queen from lending Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara out to other royals.
Mr Levian said: “Queen Elizabeth II later lent it to Princess Anne for her royal nuptials in 1973 and then loaned it to Princess Beatrice for her wedding in 2020.”
Mr LeVian added that the tiara’s diamond bars give “a modern, elegant and timeless style to whoever wears it”.
Queen Mary was famous for her love of jewellery, and many of the tiaras in the royal collection today were commissioned by her.
The former Queen Consort had a knack for repurposing her existing jewellery into new and exciting designs.
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Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara was created to reflect the kokoshnik style made popular at the Russian court.
The tiara can also be converted back into a necklace like it was originally intended to be.
Queen Mary’s Bandeau Tiara was another converted gem, and it was created to accommodate a brooch Mary received from the County of Lincoln.
The diadem’s most famous outing came in 2018 when Meghan Markle wore it to her royal wedding at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
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