Fife Tiara

This glittering Diamond Tiara was a wedding gift from an aristocratic groom to his royal bride, who wore it for glittering royal events in the Edwardian era. Worn by their daughter at a coronations, it is still owned by their great-grandson, the Duke of Fife. To check out our post on Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, click HERE.

This Tiara, composed of pear-shaped diamonds hanging from a diamond framework, topped with more pear-shaped diamonds over a diamond base, was made by Parisian jeweler Oscar Massin, and given by the Earl (soon elevated to Duke) of Fife as a wedding gift to Princess Louise of Wales, eldest daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), in 1889.

Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife (later the Princess Royal), wore the Fife Tiara in Official Portraits and at Royal events, including the wedding of her sister Princess Maud, later Queen Maud of Norway, and the Coronations of her father, King Edward VII, in 1902 and her brother, King George V, in 1911. The couple had two daughters, Princess Alexandra and Princess Maud. The Duke of Fife died in 1912, soon after the family was shipwrecked off the coast of Morocco, en route to Egypt.He was succeeded by Princess Alexandra.

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Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, who was married to Prince Arthur of Connaught, wore the grand Fife Tiara at the Coronation of her cousin, King George VI in 1937. She also wore it for a series of official portraits taken afterwards. The Duchess was predeceased by her only son, so upon her death in 1959, her title, and the Tiara, went to her nephew, Lord Carnegie, who became the 3rd Duke of Fife.

After being worn by the 3rd Duke’s wife, Caroline during her tenure as Duchess, the Fife Tiara was worn by Caroline Bunting, when she married their son, now the 4th Duke, in 1987. The Duke and Duchess were seen at Ascot last year. It was also worn by her sister-in-law, Lady Alexandra Etherington, at her wedding in 2001. The Tiara still belongs to the family, and was last seen at Geoffrey Munn’s Tiara exhibition in 2002.

UPDATE- It was discovered by 992234177 on RJWMB that the Fife Tiara has been accepted by Her Majesty’s Government in lieu of tax in 2017, and was valued at £1.4 million. This possibly comes after the death of the 3rd Duke two years ago. Unfortunately, this is a common fate for tiaras, but on a positive note, under conditions attached to the offer, the Tiara has been permanently allocated to Historic Royal Palaces and will be displayed at Kensington Palace.

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For more information, check out:

Royal Magazin

Tiara Mania

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