Harewood Fringe Tiara

Today marks the 125th Anniversary of the Birth of Princess Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, who was born on this day in 1897! The only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary who married into the prominent Aristocratic Family, Princess Mary had an enormous jewellery collection, which including this splendid Diamond Fringe Tiara!

Made around 1890, the spectacular Diamond Fringe Tiara was a wedding gift to Princess Mary when she married Viscount Lascelles in 1922, a gift from the later Earl and Countess Inchcape. The Tiara was among the wedding gifts displayed to the public at St James’ Palace, along with the Harewood Scroll Tiara and Queen Victoria’s Sapphire Tiara.

Princess Mary began wearing her Diamond Fringe Tiara soon after her wedding, most notably for a series of portraits taken in the early 1920, when the Tiara was paired with two diamond rivieres and a diamond brooch. The Fringe Tiara was also chosen to be reproduced for the character portraying Princess Mary in the Downton Abbey Film, set in the late 1920s.

Though it was never a favourite like the Harewood Scroll Tiara, Princess Mary continued to wear her Diamond Fringe Tiara with some regularity in the years after the Second World War, including at Gala Performance at Covent Garden, held during the French State Visit to Britain in 1950, as well as for the Opening of the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Princess Mary was much more frequently photographed wearing the Harewood Fringe Tiara in the 1960s, including for a Gala during the Greek State Visit in 1963, as well as when she granted Independence to the nations of Trinidad and Zambia on behalf of the Queen.

After Princess Mary’s death in 1965, the Diamond Fringe Tiara was sold at Auction at Christie’s in 1966, eventually entering the collection of Dukes of Westminster. The Fringe Tiara has not been pictured on the current (Dowager) Duchess, and though the Tiara has been photographed and exhibited, lets hope it makes an appearance when the current Duke gets married.