When Princess Louise of Wales, the eldest daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), married the 6th Earl (and 1st Duke) of Fife in 1889, she received this stunning Diamond Fringe Tiara, “of alternating and graduating rays, varying from nearly two inches long in the centre to half an inch at the extreme ends” as a Wedding Gift from her parents.
Princess Louise usually wore the Diamond Fringe as a Necklace with her Fife Tiara, like at the Wedding of her brother, the Duke of York, and Princess May of Teck in 1893.
Princess Louise also wore the Diamond Fringe as a Necklace with her Diamond Floral Tiara at the Wedding of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and her cousin, Princess Margaret of Connaught, at Windsor Castle in 1905.
Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife was only pictured wearing the Fringe Tiara for an Official Portrait at some point in the 1910s, and retained it until her death in 1931.
The Fringe Tiara was among the jewels inherited by Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife and Princess Arthur of Connaught who already owned a Diamond Fringe Tiara inherited from her mother-in-law, the Duchess of Connaught but seems to have worn the Fife Fringe Tiara at the Wedding Ball of her niece, Princess Ingrid of Sweden, and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 1935.
The Duchess of Fife seems to have loaned the Fife Fringe Tiara to her sister-in-law, Lady Patricia Ramsay, for the Coronation of King George VI in 1937. Judging by the shape of the elements, it appears it was the Fife Fringe, not the Connaught Fringe, which belonged to her late mother.
While the Connaught Fringe Tiara was auctioned after the Duchess of Fife’s death in 1959, the Fife Fringe was inherited by her successor, the 3rd Duke of Fife, and still remains with the family. It is currently on long-term display with the Fife Tiara and Queen Victoria’s Emerald Tiara at the Victoria Revealed Exhibition at Kensington Palace.
In 2020, for the Wedding of the Earl of Southesk, Heir to the Dukedom, and Camille Ascoli in France, the Fife Fringe Tiara was taken off display at Kensington Palace, being taken out again in 2021, for their Wedding at Kinnaird Castle in Angus, which was told to us on a visit to see the Tiara at Kensington Palace in 2022.
The Fife Fringe Tiara was also worn by Tilly St Aubyn for her Wedding to Lord George Carnegie in June 2025.
Fife Tiara
Fife Fringe Tiara
Diamond Floral Tiara
Fife Tiara
Fife Fringe Tiara
Connaught Fringe Tiara
Diamond Earrings
Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Chain
Diamond Tiara
Honeysuckle Tiara
Fringe Tiara
Connaught Diamond Bow Brooch
Connaught Pearl Brooch
Maple Leaf Brooch
Art Deco Diamond Brooch
This glittering diamond fringe tiara was given by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of Great Britain to their eldest daughter as a wedding gift in 1889. Worn by her as a tiara and as a necklace, it was also worn by her daughter and granddaughter-in-law, before being auctioned in 1959. Click HERE for the post on Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, and HERE for the post on the Fife Tiara.
This stunning fringe tiara, “of alternating and graduating rays, varying from nearly two inches long in the centre to half an inch at the extreme ends”, was given by the Prince and Princess of Wales (later Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) to their eldest daughter, Princess Louise when she married the Duke of Fife in 1889. Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife wore the Fringe tiara for an official portrait, but otherwise wasn’t pictured wearing it as a tiara. However, she often wore the fringe as a necklace with her diamond tiara.
Embed from Getty Images
In 1931, the Fife Fringe Tiara was inherited by her eldest daughter, Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, who wore it at the wedding ball of her niece, Princess Ingrid of Sweden and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 1935. The Duchess also owned a Diamond Fringe Tiara that she inherited from her mother-in-law, the Duchess of Connaught.
Embed from Getty Images
In 1937, the Duchess of Fife loaned the Fife Fringe Tiara to her sister-in-law, Lady Patricia Ramsay, for the Coronation of King George VI. Judging by the shape of the elements, it appears it was the Fife Fringe, not the Connaught Fringe, which belonged to her late mother, that was loaned.
While the Connaught Fringe Tiara was auctioned after the Duchess of Fife’s death in 1959, the Fife Fringe was inherited by her successor, the 3rd Duke of Fife, and still remains with the family. It is currently on long-term display with the Fife Tiara and Queen Victoria’s Emerald Tiara at the Victoria Revealed Exhibition at Kensington Palace, which marks the 200th Anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth, and the displays feature personal objects and an intimate account of her fascinating life and long reign. You can go see it until 2020.
The Fife Fringe Tiara remains on display at Kensington Palace, though it was taken out in 2020, for the Wedding of the Earl of Southesk, Heir to the Dukedom, and Camille Ascoli in France, being taken out again in 2021, for their Wedding at Kinnaird Castle in Angus, which was told to us on a visit to see the Tiara at Kensington Palace in 2022.
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