The Mountbattens are an illustrious family that have close links with the British Royal Family. The first Lord Mountbatten was not only the uncle of the Duke of Edinburgh, but also the brother of Queen Louise of Sweden and a nephew of the last Empress of Russia. His wife was a famous figure who was a society figure during the 1920s and 30s, but is remembered for her relief-work during WWII and later as the Vicereine of India during Independence and Partition. Today, we are taking a look at the Mountbatten/Hicks Tiara worn by their younger daughter.

Mountbatten Tiara | Mountbatten Pearl Tiara | Pearl Star Tiara | Art Deco Diamond Necklace | Emerald Necklace | Diamond Floral Necklace | Aquamarine Suite | Diamond Bow Brooch

The spectacular Belle Epoque Tiara composed of pearl buttons inside a scrolled diamond frame, topped with pear-shaped pearls, is of unknown provenance but likely originates around the time of the marriage of Colonel Wilfrid Ashley to Amalia Mary Maud Cassel, the only child of financier Sir Ernest Cassel, in 1901. Over a decade after her mother’s death, when Edwina Ashley married Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1922, she received her mother’s jewels, soon having the Edwardian designs reset into the Mountbatten Tiara and Art Deco Diamond Necklace, but some pieces, like this Tiara must have survived.

Countess Mountbatten notably wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara with her Art Deco Diamond Necklace for the Dominion Day dinner at the Canadian Women’s Club in London, in February 1950.

In 1953, the Pearl and Diamond Tiara was loaned to Countess Mountbatten’s younger daughter, Lady Pamela, for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, after she had likely taken the Tiara with her on a Commonwealth Tour the previous year, which was cut short upon the Queen’s Accession to the Throne, when Lady Pamela recounts how when embracing the Princess, she realised that she was now Queen, and fell into a curtsey to her new sovereign.

India asked what a lady-in-waiting would do if she did not have a tiara to wear to official events. “You borrow from your family.” And if your family don’t have a tiara? Well, they wouldn’t be in the business of supplying ladies-in-waiting. “That kind of family are not,” said Lady Pamela, firmly

After the Coronation, Countess Mountbatten wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara with her Emerald Necklace for a Coronation Gala Performance of ‘Gloriana’ at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

 Lady Pamela was again chosen as the Queen’s Lady-in-Waiting for the post-Coronation Commonwealth Tour of 1953-4, which spanned six months and covered 44,000 miles. Lady Pamela accompanied the Queen and Duke on official engagements, notably wearing the Pearl and Diamond Tiara on countless official engagements, including when she attended the Queen at the State Openings of Parliament in New Zealand, Australia, and Ceylon, but found the experience tiring, especially:

“donning evening dress and tiara at 10 in the morning.”

Lady Pamela was notably pictured wearing the Pearl and Diamond Tiara when the Queen opened Parliament in Wellington in New Zealand, where she can be seen in numerous shots.

In Sydney, Lady Pamela wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara for the Lord Mayor’s Ball at the Sydney Town Hall, recalling:

In fact so much so that at the Lord Mayor’s Ball I was asked to dance, and when I returned to the dais, instead of pushing and shoving my way back, I asked a dignified-looking gentleman if he minded if I passed in front of him. Glaring at me in fury he said, “I most certainly would, young lady. You haven’t a hope in hell of queue barging here.”

A few days later, Lady Pamela wore the Tiara again for the Opening of the Australian Parliament at Parliament House in Canberra, when she was immortalised in a painting as well.

In Tasmania, Lady Pamela can be spotted wearing the Pearl and Diamond Tiara for the State Ball at the City Hall in Hobart.

Then it was on to Melbourne, where Lady Pamela wore the Tiara to join the Queen as she opened the Second Session of the 39th Parliament of Victoria in the Legislative Council Chamber at Parliament House, which was followed by a Reception in the Library.

Lady Pamela, again wearing the Pearl and Diamond Tiara along with her Diamond Necklace, was also seen helping the Queen at the Ball hosted by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne and the Lady Mayoress  at the Melbourne Exhibition Building.

In Brisbane, Lady Pamela not only joined the Queen for a Procession, but also wore the Tiara for a Civil Ball hosted by the Lord Mayor at the Brisbane City Hall, as well as a Ball held by the Governor of Queensland.

Lady Pamela also wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara to join the Queen as she opened the Parliament of South Australia at Parliament House in Adelaide.

Next, Lady Pamela donned the Tiara as the Queen opened the third session of the Second Parliament of Ceylon at the Independence Hall in Colombo, as well as for a Banquet hosted by the Governor General.

A few weeks later, Lady Pamela was pictured wearing the Pearl and Diamond Tiara at the Governor’s Ball in Valetta during a stop in Malta.

The Maltese nobility were in their element at the state ball, where they danced their famous maltija in powdered wigs and eighteenth-century costumes. It was so windy that the queen and I were nearly blown off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Eagle, and the archbishop got so cold during the final brilliant firework display that my mother had to wrap her striped silk stole around him.”

The following year, Countess Mountbatten wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara with her Diamond Floral Necklace for a Banquet at Royal Naval College in Greenwich in honour of King Gustaf VI Adolf and Queen Louise of Sweden, the sister of Lord Mountbatten, in 1955.

Lady Pamela last wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara when she married interior designer David Hicks in the midst of a snowstorm at Romsey Abbey in 1960.

Countess Mountbatten passed away just a few weeks later, as the couple returned from their honeymoon, and since Lady Pamela inherited the Mountbatten Tiara and Art Deco Diamond Necklace, which she primarily wore in the 1960s and 1970s, the Pearl and Diamond Tiara remained unworn.

However, Edwina Hicks, the eldest of the three Hicks children, wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara at her Wedding to Jeremy Brudenell in 1984, which was the last public appearance of the Tiara, which was not worn when her younger daughter, India Hicks, got married in 2021.

Since the Pearl and Diamond Tiara has not been seen in the years since, it may have been discreetly sold, unlike the public sales of the Mountbatten Tiara, Art Deco Diamond Necklace, and Emerald Necklace. However, the Tiara could also have been among the jewels which Lady Pamela had forgotten about in a bank vault, as recounted by her daughter, India Hicks:

We were crisscrossing London in search of my mother’s jewels. She has not been robbed, it was just that she could not remember exactly in which bank they had been left. We went to the first bank. When they offered us cappuccinos and custard creams, I thought something was up. They came back apologetic, “So sorry Lady Pamela, but we don’t seem be holding anything more than this box.” We opened the box. It was a strange ornate headdress. “When on earth do you wear THAT?” I asked. Apparently, it was for when you did not want to wear your tiara. Tiara’s are heavy, require hairdressers and lots of insurance. Once traveling from England to Sweden for a grand ball, my mother wore her tiara under a huge hat – in order to make certain she did not lose it.

Tiaras also require you to be married in order to wear them. I will never get to wear my mother’s Tiara because I remain a sinful unmarried woman, but the Tiara got sold a few years ago, anyway, so that is the end of that.

By the third bank, we were hopeful. “I clearly remember having a safety deposit box here,” my mother said, despite the bank having changed. Quite a bit. There was no longer a doorman in a top hat greeting valued-longstanding customers.

Instead, there was a young chap from Poland who kept asking my mother for her online banking details to get into the system. The system could tell him if there was anything downstairs in their Batcave that might belong to my mother. The system was upset when we could not give any security codes or passes or online details. The more the system became upset, the more my mother remembered the case being in this bank, the more I asked to see the manager.

The young chap from Poland sensed trouble brewing. He went to get the manager. She was also from Poland and also very young. We spent quite a bit of time with the manager trying to convince her to get someone into the Batcave, to look for a handmade leather jewellery case with the initials EM for Edwina Mountbatten engraved on the front, with a small French lock by the handle. “The key to which I have here,” said my mother proudly, producing a small brass key. No online details, but a small brass key.

“Wait here,“ she said. There were no cappuccinos in this bank, but sometime later, triumphantly returning from the Batcave, came the manager with my grandmother’s jewellery case in hand.

Of course, Edwina Mountbatten having travelled the world extensively, had amassed quite a collection of jewellery. I had underestimated the size of the case, the fact that it was raining, my mother’s wheel chair, the revolving door, and London foot traffic. Getting her to the far corner of Iceland was easier than this exit.

Once home, there was excitement as the time came to open the case. The small key was produced again and fitted into the lock and turned…and turned and turned. No amount of effort could get the key to open the case. Eric was called. Eric arrived from the garden with a dramatically sized drill in his hand. “Stand back Lady Pamela,” he said gruffly, as the drill forced its way into the poor case.

The lid opened and velvet cushions were removed to reveal staggering sparking gems.

“Your grandmother certainly knew how to outshine everyone,” said my mother.

Mountbatten Tiara | Mountbatten Pearl Tiara | Pearl Star Tiara | Art Deco Diamond Necklace | Emerald Necklace | Diamond Floral Necklace | Aquamarine Suite | Diamond Bow Brooch

Mountbatten Tiara

Pearl and Diamond Tiara

Pearl Star Tiara

Art Deco Diamond Necklace

Emerald Necklace

Diamond Floral Necklace

Diamond Bow Brooch

Mountbatten Tiara

Pearl and Diamond Tiara

Art Deco Diamond Necklace

Aquamarine Suite

Diamond Necklace

Diamond Floral Necklace

Diamond Bow Brooch

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The first Lord, Louis, was born Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1900, and was a great grandson of Queen Victoria. He became Lord Louis Mountbatten, after the family renounced their german titles during WWI. He married Edwina Ashley in 1922, and later became the last Viceroy of India and First Sea Lord. He was made first Viscount and later Earl Mountbatten during the 1940s. Lord & Lady Mountbatten had two daughters, Lady Patricia and Lady Pamela. This antique pearl and diamond tiara first appeared on the head of the infamous Edwina, Countess of Mountbatten. She wore it at the Dominion Day dinner at the Canadian Women’s Club in London, in February 1950. It was probably a new acquisition (it hadn’t been seen previously) bought as a replacement for the Pearl and Diamond Star Tiara given as a wedding gift to Lady Patricia in 1946. Lady Mountbatten also wore it at a gala performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on the eve of the Coronation of Queen Elisabeth II, and at a Banquet given for her sister- and brother-in-law, the King and Queen of Sweden, in 1955.

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In 1953, Lady Mountbatten loaned her Pearl and Diamond Tiara to her younger daughter, Lady Pamela, for the Queen’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey. Lady Pamela is a fascinating figure. She accompanied her parents to India, and published her experiences in India Remembered: A Personal Account of the Mountbattens During the Transfer of Power. She was appointed as a Lady-in-waiting to her cousin-in-law, Princess Elisabeth, in 1952 for a royal tour. While in Kenya, the Royal party received news that the Princess’s father, King George VI, had died in London, and that the Princess was now Queen Elisabeth II. Lady Pamela recounts how when embracing the Princess, she realized that she was now Queen, and curtsied to her new sovereign.

Photo: Fairfax Media via Getty Images

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Lady Pamela later accompanied the Queen on the Post-Coronation Commonwealth Tour of 1953-4. The tour spanned six months and covered 44,000 miles. Lady Pamela accompanied the Queen and Duke on official engagements, notably wearing the Pearl and Diamond Tiara as she attended the State Openings of Parliament in New Zealand, Australia, and Ceylon. She found the experience tiring, especially “donning evening dress and tiara at 10 in the morning.”

India asked what a lady-in-waiting would do if she did not have a tiara to wear to official events. “You borrow from your family.” And if your family don’t have a tiara? Well, they wouldn’t be in the business of supplying ladies-in-waiting. “That kind of family are not,” said Lady Pamela, firmly

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Lady Pamela borrowed the Tiara for her wedding in 1960 to interior designer David Hicks. When, Edwina, Lady Mountbatten died during their honeymoon, Lady Pamela inherited this tiara as well as the more famous Mountbatten Tiara. David and Lady Pamela Hicks lived a very interesting life during the 1960s and 70s. David was known for his spectacular gardens and furnishings as one of the world’s leading interior designers.

  Photo: Pinterest

In 1984, Edwina Hicks, the eldest of the three Hicks children, wore the Tiara at her wedding. The youngest daughter, India Hicks, was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer as as godchild of the Prince. When Lady Pamela sold the Mountbatten Tiara and other jewels in 2002, this tiara was not among the lots on the sale at Sotheby’s, and has not been seen at other auctions, leading me to assume it is still with Lady Pamela. It may be worn by Lady Pamela’s daughters or daughter-in-law at an upcoming Gala event, though we might have to wait to see it on Lady Pamela’s granddaughters at their weddings.

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For more Information, check out the autobiography of Lady Pamela:

Daughter of Empire: My Life as a Mountbatten