Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara

Happy Birthday to Princess Caroline of Monaco and Hanover, who turns 65 today! The elder sister of Prince Albert II and only beneficiary of her grandmother, Princess Charlotte, and mother, Princess Grace, who is also the Consort of the Head of the illustrious House of Hanover, Princess Caroline has a magnificent jewellery collection, one of the highlights of which is the Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara!

A wedding gift to Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois when she married Count Pierre de Polignac in 1920, the intricate diamond, gold, and platinum Cartier Tiara is composed of large pearl drops suspended en tremblant from elaborate arches, the design being almost identical to Thurn und Taxis Emerald Tiara.

The Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara was worn by Princess Charlotte for a series of portraits in the 1930s, and more notably for the Gala held on the eve of the Wedding of her only son, Prince Rainier III, and American Actress Grace Kelly at the Opera House in Monte Carlo in 1956.

Princess Charlotte was not a fan of her daughter-in-law, Princess Grace, and thus did not pass on any jewels to her, leading the new Princess to establish her won jewellery collection. However, it seems that Princess Grace was painted wearing the Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara (with liberal artistic license) in a portrait soon after her marriage in 1956, with the full expectation that she would eventually inherit the Tiara and wear it.

On the continent the last tragically widowed princess is Princess Caroline of Monaco. After her first marriage was annulled and her mother was killed in a car crash, Caroline started a romance with Italian businessman Stefano Casiraghi. https://t.co/5d5xHPVOE6 pic.twitter.com/Ckq6YiqluM
— Cheryl (@palaceprincess) January 4, 2020

Inherited by Prince Rainier after Princess Charlotte’s Death in 1977, the Tiara entered the ‘Palais Princier Collection’ and after Princess Grace’s death in 1982, the leading lady of the Princely Family was Princess Caroline, who began wearing the Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara and her Diamond Fringe Necklace in the 1980s, with one of the earliest appearences in a series of portraits in the mid-1980s.

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One of Princess Caroline’s most iconic appearences in the Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara came in 1996, when she wore it with her Diamond Fringe Necklace for King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden’s 50th Birthday Banquet at the Royal Palace of Stockholm .

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More recently, the Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara was again paired with thee Fringe Necklace when Princess Caroline represented the Princely Family at the Wedding Gala of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Countess Stephanie de Lannoy in 2012, which is the last time the Tiara was worn publicly to date.

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However, the Cartier Pearl Drop Tiara has been exhibited at Exhibitions around the world, including one on Princess Grace’s Jewels at the Grimaldi Forum in 2007 (despite having never been worn by Princess Grace) as part of the ‘Palais Princier Collection’. Lets hope we continue to see this spectacular Heirloom for years to come, hopefully on Princess Charlene.