Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Farida of Egypt, who was born on this day in 1921! The Aristocratic Schoolgirl who became the second last Egyptian Queen and then an artist after her divorce due to the lack of a male heir, throughout her ten-year tenure as the Egyptian Queen Consort, Queen Farida wore some splendid jewels, which included these Art Deco Diamond Chandelier Earrings!
Queen Farida’s Diamond Peacock Tiara | Art Deco Floral Tiara | Art Deco Diamond Chandelier Earrings
A magnificent pair of Art Deco Diamond Chandelier Earrings, they were a part of a suite of Jewels, which included her Diamond Peacock Tiara and a Boucheron Diamond Necklace, that was given to Safinaz Zulficar when she married King Farouk of Egypt in 1938. While the maker is unknown, the Earrings date around the same time as Princess Fawzia’s Van Cleef & Arpels Tiara and Queen Nazli’s Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Parure, so Van Cleef & Arpels is a possible creator, as is Boucheron, where Queen Farida’s magnificent Diamond Necklace was from.
16-year old Safinaz Zulficar wore the Art Deco Diamond Chandelier Earrings with her Diamond Peacock Tiara and a Boucheron Diamond Necklace for her Wedding to King Farouk of Egypt in Cairo in 1938.
In the years after her wedding, Queen Farida wore the Diamond Chandelier Earrings with her Diamond Peacock Tiara and Art Deco Floral Tiara for numerous Portraits and Banquets, including for the Shah of Iran and Princess Fawzia of Egypt’s Wedding Banquet in 1939.
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone visited Egypt in the late 1930s and described meeting Queen Farida:
The little Queen, who was very sweet and gay. She was dressed in semi-evening with lots of diamonds of which she was very proud.”
Queen Farida often wore the Diamond Chandelier Earrings with both the Diamond Peacock Tiara and Art Deco Floral Tiara for King Farouk’s Birthday Banquets in the 1940s, as well as for daytime events since the Egyptian Court was very formal.
In 1948, King Farouk divorced Queen Farida due to a lack of male heir, and she returned all of her Jewels back to the King. Following the abolition of the Monarchy in 1953, the Earrings were among the Jewels that remained in Egypt and retained by the Government. Recently, Queen Farida’s Art Deco Diamond Chandelier Earrings are among the jewels on display at the Royal Jewelry Museum in Alexandria, where you can go see them on display along with her Art Deco Floral Tiara!
Queen Farida’s Diamond Peacock Tiara | Art Deco Floral Tiara | Art Deco Diamond Chandelier Earrings
