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.
In 1920,Princess Louise loaned the Fife Fringe Tiara to her eldest daughter, Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, who wore it in an official portrait with her husband, Prince Arthur of Connaught, upon their appointment as Governor General and Viceregal Consort of South Africa. It was also worn in a hand-coloured picture and at the pre-wedding ball of her niece by marriage, Princess Ingrid of Sweden in 1935. (It is also thought the Duchess might have worn her mother-in-law, the Duchess of Connaught’s, Fringe which will be the basis for a future post, for the portrait.)
In 1956, the Fife Fringe Tiara was worn by Caroline Dewar when she married Lord Carnegie, nephew and heir of Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife. However, when they succeeded to the title in 1959, the Fringe Tiara was auctioned at Sotheby’s for £4,200, probably to pay for death duties. It hasn’t been seen since.
For more information, check out:
Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife
