Countess of Wessex Jewellery


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wymanda said:
... and the Queen has a sensational Opal that was given to her by the Australian government in the 1950's.
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But that particular opal is 3 or 4 times the size of the stone in Sophie's tiara - and I don't think Austraila would be very happy at HM carving up their gift to make it fit!
 
GillW said:
It was the same one she wore to her own wedding... Sorry I can't find a site for it, to point you to.
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Sophie's three tiaras can be seen in this thread at posts:

1 - Wedding and Norway
28 - Denmark
47 - Monaco
 
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kelly9480 said:
BP said that Sophie's wedding tiara was from the vaults, an old one of Queen Mary's. But people have always commented on how strange it was the QM had something so small and dinky when she was so grand, so there's thought that part of the tiara had been dismantled.

I think the new tiara is something Edward bought her, rather than something EIIR gave her.
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I discovered a stamp from Newfoundland advertised in Scott's Stamp Catalog showing Queen Mary wearing the Wessex Wedding Tiara.

royals01cb.jpg



It looks PREETY similar to me :)
 
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The stamp image above shows a modified version of the Rundell Tiara.

Sophie's wedding tiara is made from the four anthemions that were detachable from Queen Victoria's Regal Circlet.
 
Warren, that is what I had read somewhere, too. Any pictures of the circlet in its original form?
 
jcbcode99 said:
Warren, that is what I had read somewhere, too. Any pictures of the circlet in its original form?
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There are no pictures of the Regal Circlet with anthemions, just descriptions.
The evidence of the provenance of Sophie's tiara came from the Regal Circlet's case, where the indentations match the shapes of the four detachable anthemions.
 
Sorry to go off topic, but since you mentioned the Rundell tiara, I'd love to know if it still exists. A tiara that was a wedding present to a Princess of Wales shouldn't just disappear like some unwanted tawdry gift.
 
Elspeth said:
Sorry to go off topic, but since you mentioned the Rundell tiara, I'd love to know if it still exists.
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No doubt it's languishing in the fabled vaults along with other known and unknown pieces. A treasure-trove indeed. Pic here. :)
 
Hmmm...not to stay off topic, but I wonder if it might have been a casualty of some new creation...what about one of the consort crowns?
 
:ohmy: please tell me, which necklace you can turn into a tiara? i never heard of that.
thanks
 
sydney00 said:
:ohmy: please tell me, which necklace you can turn into a tiara? i never heard of that.
thanks
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I think shy andy wants to mention about the tiara which the Countess wore at the enthronement gala of Prince Albert II in November 2005. The Countess then charmed us when turning the tiara into a necklace at a Banquet in March 2006 when she attended along with Prince Albert II as well.
 
HRH Kimetha said:
So, did the Queen or Prince Edward give her the diamond tiara?
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Like all three of Sophie's tiara's, very little is known. The provenance of her wedding tiara has been worked out; the second (bandeau) is purely supposition; and the most recent ("Monaco") is anyone's guess.
 
It is all quite a mystery but I too love all three she is very lowkey when it comes to her jewels but I like the way she surprises every now and again as in Monaco. I did think her whole appearence that evening was so gracious and the tiara was as has been said just the icing on the cake so to speak.
 
It is interesting the way the one website displays the (new) tiara alongside a bandeau of Queen Mary's. Is there some relationship between the two pieces that I am just missing?
 
Prince of Chota said:
It is interesting the way the one website displays the (new) tiara alongside a bandeau of Queen Mary's. Is there some relationship between the two pieces that I am just missing?
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Ursula's site (according to Ursula when she posted at the Royals Jewels of the World Message Board) is just showing the very similar types of tiaras with a nice centrepiece/stone in the middle. The Countess of Wessex's tiara is not the same as Queen Mary's.

-Ayvee
 
My take was that since Ursula (like us) has no idea of the provenance of the newest tiara, she added the backshots of some of Queen Mary's bandeau tiaras purely as "something extra". I too initially wondered if she was inferring a connection, but there is none.
 
I think the tiara´s given to Sophie are probably new and are not from any royal collections. This is probably because the Queen would probably be keen to keep the Royal collection largely for the POW and William (ie the future monarchs) so that the core collection always remains with the ongoing monarchs. As history has told us, successive generations of minor royals often end up selling the jewellery to raise money (e.g. Margaret's children selling the Poltimore tiara).

HM has shown quite a lot of restraint in sharing the royal jewels with her children for precisely this reason. Sarah was given a new tiara, Sophie does not have very much jewellery with great history, and Anne has received smaller pieces from Prince Philip's mother and others from the Queen Mother. Despite her position in the BRF, Diana only received a limited selection, as her marriage was never viewed as being stable. The only exception is Camilla, and the bulk of the jewels she has received have been closely associated with the Queen Mother - probably on Charles´' insistence!
 
I believe that Sophie's wedding tiara is composed of pieces of Queen Victoria's regal circlet (or something like that). Sounds pretty royal to me.
 
jcbcode99 said:
I believe that Sophie's wedding tiara is composed of pieces of Queen Victoria's regal circlet (or something like that). Sounds pretty royal to me.
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Yes, Sophie's wedding tiara is made from the four anthemions which were detachable ornaments that could be inserted into the frame base between the crosses and fleur de lys of the Regal Circlet. Impeccable provenance! :)

There is/was a fifth anthemion of larger size which acted as a mount for the Koh-i-noor diamond and could be inserted into the circlet, or worn as a rather impressive (!!) brooch.
 
Wedding tiara

Hi,

If you take a closer look to the necklace and earring worn by Sophie at the wedding in Denmark(in the church), the pattern of these look very similar(IMO) to the pattern of the tiara. So I think they were purchased together, probably by the queen as a wedding gift. It seems logical to me, because if the queen had purchased a demi-parure+tiara to Sarah why wouldn't have done the same with Sophie?

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa4/andrewcs/DWF15-716532.jpg
 
The earrings and necklace are from Garrard's (Garrard. Established London 1735. Purveyors of Luxury Jewellery) from their Crown Collection. The necklace and earrings were on loan to Sophie for the Danish wedding. This info is from a response to my inquiry about the price of the necklace in 2005, after seeing a picture of Sarah, Duchess of York wearing the same necklace at an event. The necklace was loaned to Sarah as well.
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m319/ayvee/garrardnecklace.jpg

Also, this particular design is by Jade Jagger (the necklace is featured in this article)
TIME Magazine | Fashion Issue Fall/Winter 2002/3
who joined Garrard's after the Sophie and Edward were married.

So Sophie's earrings and necklace were definitely not a wedding present from the Queen.

-Ayvee
 
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Wedding present

If it is that way, then what was the Queen's wedding present?
 
andrew said:
If it is that way, then what was the Queen's wedding present?
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Sophie's wedding tiara was a present from the Queen. Whether Sophie owns it outright or whether it's a lifetime loan is something we don't know.

As for Sarah's wedding tiara, I have read on some posts on this board that her tiara was purchased by Sarah's family. Her wedding present from the Queen was the diamond flower necklace and matching earrings.

-Ayvee
 
Sophie's wedding tiara

The tiara was a wedding gift from The Queen and was designed by Garrard's using Victoria's pieces.
 
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I've heard that from several sources as well. The wedding piece is clearly created from an older piece, so this story seems to fit well. I would doubt that it is a brand-new piece that might have been purchased rather than created as a wedding present from jewellery already in the RF.
 
This is still a work in progress but here's a page I have created regarding Sophie's wedding tiara:
Sophie's Wedding Tiara
This page contains information that I have followed from The Royal Jewels of the World Message Board and will be updated once I get more information from posters who contributed the pictures. Anyway, I thought I'd share the page with everyone.

Apologies for the link not working due to high date transfer. Here it is again and hopefully, without any problems.
Sophie's Wedding Tiara

Thanks for your patience.

-Ayvee
 
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Sophie's Wedding Tiara

Does anyone have a picture of the countess wearing the one of the other elements of her tiara? I think that I can see it in one of the shots as a hair ornament in her French twist/pleat.

thanks Ayvee for all of your hard work! :)
 
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