Today marks the 140th Anniversary of the Birth of Nancy, Viscountess Astor, who was born on this day in 1879! The fascinating American Heiress who became the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat in the British House of Commons, so mark the Anniversary (ahead of the Centenary of her taking her seat later this year), we are featuring her illustrious Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond!
Astor Tiara | Cartier Turquoise Tiara
The Tiara featured the legendary 55.23 carat Sancy Diamond, which comes from India, and was earliest recorded with Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, passing to his cousin King Manuel I of Portugal and being taken by António, Prior of Crato when he fled Portugal, selling the diamond to Nicolas de Harlay, the Seigneur de Sancy, who loaned it to King Henry III of France to decorate his cap and as security for financing an army. Reportedly, a messenger carrying the Diamond never reached his destination, but de Sancy was convinced that of the man’s loyalty and searched his murdered body, where the jewel was found in his stomach.
The Sancy Diamond was sold to James I around 1605, described in the Tower of London’s 1605 Inventory of Jewels as “…one fayre dyamonde, cut in fawcetts, bought of Sauncy,” and briefly set into his Mirror of Great Britain. It eventually came into the possession of the future King James II, who was forced to sell it in exile Cardinal Mazarin in 1657, who bequeathed the diamond to the latter’s cousin, King Louis XIV of France in 1661. The Sancy Diamond remained a part of the until the French Revolution and the famous theft of the Royal Treasury in 1792, when it was stolen along with many famous diamonds. The Sancy was in the collection of Vasiliy Rudanovsky until 1828, when it purchased by Prince Demidoff for £80,000, and then sold to Indian Industrialist Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy for £100,000 in 1865, and sold the following year and being exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1867 before disappearing for a few decades.
In 1906, the Sancy Diamond was bought by William Waldorf Astor, the 1st Viscount Astor, the American-born British socialite, from famous Russian collector A.K.Rudanovsky, and the Sancy Diamond was set by Cartier into this striking Belle Epoque Diamond Tiara. Lady Astor’s maid described:
Apart from the Sancy diamond and the pearls, the other special pieces of jewellery were the tiaras. Her ladyship had five. The most beautiful and valuable was the Astor heirloom, the second was a bandeau of diamonds and pearls, the third aquamarines and diamonds, the fourth she bought herself — it was of spiky diamonds – and the fifth was an imitation of the first. It was used by her for the less important occasions and she also often lent it to her friends. All her most precious jewellery was expensive to wear because from the moment it left the bank until its return there was a special insurance premium in operation. Not that she ever stopped to think about that. She loved wearing it and she often used too much for my taste. She’d turn round to me and say, ‘How do I look, Rose?’ and I’d reply, ‘Haven’t you forgotten the kitchen stove, my lady?’ earning myself the customary, ‘Shut up, Rose!’
Viscount Astor gave the Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond to his new daughter-in-law, Nancy Langhorne, a divorced mother of a young son who he apparently disapproved of, but nevertheless gifted her the Cartier Tiara and the magnificent Cliveden Estate, where Mrs Astor, as she then known, became a prominent society hostess, wearing the Tiara at a plethora of grand occasions during that period, also wearing, and loaning, the Sancy Diamond separately.
Mr Lee informed me. ‘It happened; he said, some years before you joined, Miss Harrison; there was a ball at St James’s Square and Lady Astor had lent the diamond to her sister, Mrs Nora Phipps, to wear on a gold chain. In the early hours of the morning her ladyship came up to me and whispered, “Mr Lee, the Sancy diamond is missing.”
She went to his lordship but he wouldn’t hear about calling in the police. It was just as well. I informed all the staff that it was missing and the next morning at seven one of the under-housemaids came to my room with the Sancy diamond in her hand. “Mr Lee,” she said, “is this the thing there’s all the fuss about?” She’d found it under a carpet. It had probably been swept under by the ladies’ long dresses. And that, Miss Harrison,” said Mr Lee, “was the mystery of the Sancy diamond.”
In 1919, her husband succeeded his father as the 2nd Viscount Astor, and was forced to forfeit his seat in the House of Commons, which was contested and won by his wife, who became the second woman elected to the House of Commons and the first woman to take her seat. Lady Astor wore the Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond for a variety of portraits and Galas.
The Astors in particular entertained grandly; at a big evening party in 1921 following a dinner in honour of the retiring American ambassador, Mr Davis, and his wife at her house in St James’s Square Viscountess Astor stood out in a black dress with diamond necklace and brooches and the historic Sancy diamond – now in the Louvre – flashing out from the centre of her tiara.
And of course it was kitchen stove night; fixing the Astor tiara was a business with a bobbing excited figure; and I’d have been having kittens all day with the thousands of pounds’-worth of jewels in my safe. I practically lived in her room. When I’d thought we’d finished her ladyship would examine herself inch by inch. She was particular when she was entertaining in her own house, but when she was going out she was obsessional. Eventually, when she was satisfied, she’d rush to the door, say ‘Goodnight, Rose; and down she’d run to the hall, like Cinderella after the ball, thinking she’d only got seconds to spare.
In the 1930s, Lady Astor wore Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond for a Court Presentation at Buckingham Palace, pictured alongside, her daughter, the Countess of Ancaster, sister, the Hon. Mrs Robert Brand, and niece, Nancy Tree.
In 1935, Lady Astor loaned the Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond to her niece Nancy Tree Lancaster, the influential tastemaker, for King George V’s Silver Jubilee Ball at Buckingham Palace, apparently during the middle of a rift, she she recounted:
Nannie loaned me some of the Astor diamonds for the ball. We were in the middle of one of our fracases then and I was not speaking to her, so when she very kindly offered to loan me the diamonds, I said I would wear them only if it meant a temporary truce and did not mean I would have to speak to her afterwards. Magnanimously, she agreed, and I sallied forth wearing a huge tiara which had the famous Sancy diamond at its center.”
Viscountess Astor wore the Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond for the Coronation of King George VI in 1937. A prominent hostess at Cliveden and No. 4 St. James’s Square in London, Lady Astor was known for being a lavish hostess, though she did have her enemies, including Sir Winston Churchill, with whom she had this famous exchange with Lady saying, “If I was your wife, I would poison your coffee,” and Sir Winston snorted back, “If I were your husband, I would drink it.”
During the Second World War, the Tiara, in particular the Sancy Diamond, were removed from eh Bank in London and taken to Maidenhead, near the Estate at Cliveden.
When I used to handle it I thought of all the places it had been, particularly the messenger’s stomach. Talk about Jonah and the whale! It caused a bit of excitement while it was with the Astors, and me a few anxious moments. When war was declared in 1939 his lordship decided that everything of value should be moved from London to Maidenhead. Mr Lee came to me and said, ‘I’ve just had a message from Lord Astor saying would you take the Sancy diamond to Cliveden when you next go.’
‘It’s in the bank, I said.
No it isn’t. His lordship’s cleared the bank and he says you must have it.’
Well, I was nearly out of my mind with fright, yet I knew I was right. After all I wasn’t likely to forget whether I’d got a few hundred thousand pounds worth of diamond in my possession, was I? I phoned Miss Jones, Lord Astor’s secretary. ‘Oh, he’s just spoken to me about it, Rose, she said. ‘He put it in his pocket and forgot that it was there.’
Put it in his pocket and then said that I’d got it, I shouted down the phone. ‘Wait till I see him, I’ll give him a piece of my mind!’ ‘You can do it now, Rose, came the reply in his lordship’s voice. He’d taken the phone from Miss Jones. ‘It was very naughty of me.’
Forced to abandon her political career by her husband after the Second World War, Viscountess Astor most notably wore the Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond for State Opening of Parliament in 1948, when a series of portraits were taken.
After being widowed in 1952, it was to her surprise that Lady Astor was personally invited by the Queen Mother to attend the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, where her granddaughter, Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, served as a Maid of Honour. Rose recalled:
Then the jewels had to be selected and the Astor tiara cleaned. I must say my lady looked an absolutely perfect picture. She understood how to carry costume and how to move in it. It was the actress in her. She practised too, not leaving anything to chance. It has always astonished me how few peers ever managed to look anything in robes. They’re supposed to add dignity to the occasion, but more often than not they do the opposite.
A few years later, Lady Astor wore the Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond for a Ball held at the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh.
I must say that before my lady went down to the banquet she looked particularly beautiful in a wonderful pale lavender taffeta dress which her diamond tiara and earrings shone over like glistening stars. It was as if she was a delicate piece of china. As I looked at her my mood changed to one of sweet sadness and I felt the tears behind my eyes. For the first time I realized that she’d grown old. It had at last become noticeable to me. When later I heard the pipers playing outside the Palace their plaintive notes matched my feelings. ‘I shall remember Holyrood for more reasons than the discomfort,’ I thought.
Lady Astor passed away in 1964, and the Sancy Diamond remained with the family until 1978, when her grandson, the 4th Viscount Astor, sold the Sancy Diamond to the Louvre Museum for $1 million, and where it is exhibited with many of the French Crown Jewels in the Galerie D’Apollon. The rest of the Cartier Tiara might still be in the possession of the family, with a different centre, but ultimately, the fate of it is unknown.
Astor Tiara | Cartier Turquoise Tiara
The Astor Tiara
Cartier Turquoise Tiara
Today marks the 140th Anniversary of the birth of Nancy, Viscountess Astor, the fascinating American Heiress who became the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat in the British House of Commons. It is also the Birth Anniversary of her husband, the 2nd Viscount Astor, with whom she shared a birthday. To mark the Anniversary (ahead of the Centenary of her taking her seat later this year), we are taking a look at her illustrious Astor Tiara-
Created by Cartier around 1906, the Tiara features the legendary 55.23 carat Sancy Diamond, which comes from India, and was earliest recorded with Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, passing to his cousin King Manuel I of Portugal and being taken by António, Prior of Crato when he fled Portugal, selling the diamond to Nicolas de Harlay, the Seigneur de Sancy, who loaned it to King Henry III of France to decorate his cap and as security for financing an army. Reportedly, a messenger carrying the Diamond never reached his destination, but de Sancy was convinced that of the man’s loyalty and searched his murdered body, where the jewel was found in his stomach. The Sancy Diamond was sold to James I around 1605, described in the Tower of London’s 1605 Inventory of Jewels as “…one fayre dyamonde, cut in fawcetts, bought of Sauncy,” and briefly set into his Mirror of Great Britain. It eventually came into the possession of the future King James II, who was forced to sell it in exile Cardinal Mazarin in 1657, who bequeathed the diamond to the latter’s cousin, King Louis XIV of France in 1661. The Sancy Diamond remained a part of the until the French Revolution and the famous theft of the Royal Treasury in 1792, when it was stolen along with many famous diamonds. The Sancy was in the collection of Vasiliy Rudanovsky until 1828, when it purchased by Prince Demidoff for £80,000, and then sold to Indian Industrialist Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy for £100,000 in 1865, and sold the following year and being exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1867 before disappearing for a few decades.
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In 1906, the Sancy Diamond was bought by William Waldorf Astor, the 1st Viscount Astor, the American-born British socialite, from famous Russian collector A.K.Rudanovsky, and gave it to his new daughter-in-law, Nancy Langhorne, a divorced mother of a young son who he apparently disapproved of, but nevertheless gifted her a Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond and the magnificent Cliveden Estate (where Meghan Markle stayed the night before her wedding to Prince Harry on this day last year). Mrs Astor, as she then known, became a prominent society hostess, wearing the Tiara at a plethora of grand occasions during that period.
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In 1919, he husband succeeded his father as the 2nd Viscount Astor, and was forced to forfeit his seat in the House of Commons, which was contested and won by his wife, who became the second woman elected to the House of Commons and the first woman to take her seat. Lady Astor wore the Astor Tiara for a variety of portraits and Galas, including the Coronation of King George VI in 1937 and the State Opening of Parliament in 1948. A prominent hostess at Cliveden and No. 4 St. James’s Square in London, Lady Astor was known for being a lavish hostess, though she did have her enemies, including Sir Winston Churchill, with whom she had this famous exchange with Lady saying, “If I was your wife, I would poison your coffee,” and Sir Winston snorted back, “If I were your husband, I would drink it.”
In 1935, Lady Astor loaned the Tiara to her niece Nancy Tree Lancaster, the influential tastemaker, for King George V’s Silver Jubilee Ball at Buckingham Palace, apparently during the middle of a rift, she she recounted:
Nannie loaned me some of the Astor diamonds for the ball. We were in the middle of one of our fracases then and I was not speaking to her, so when she very kindly offered to loan me the diamonds, I said I would wear them only if it meant a temporary truce and did not mean I would have to speak to her afterwards. Magnanimously, she agreed, and I sallied forth wearing a huge tiara which had the famous Sancy diamond at its center.”
Embed from Getty Images
Lady Astor passed away in 1964, and the Astor Tiara remained with the family until 1978, when her grandson, the 4th Viscount Astor, sold the Sancy Diamond to the Louvre Museum for $1 million, and where it is exhibited with many of the French Crown Jewels in the Galerie D’Apollon. The Cartier Tiara might still be in the possession of the family, with a different center,
