Duchess of Fife’s Diamond Earrings

Today marks the 65th Anniversary of the Death of Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, who passed away on this day in 1959! King Edward VII’s granddaughter who became a Duchess in her own right, married a Connaught Prince and became a nurse, Princess Alexandra possessed many spectacular Royal Heirlooms, including these Diamond Earrings!

Fife Tiara | Fife Fringe Tiara | Connaught Fringe Tiara | Diamond Earrings | Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Chain

A striking pair of Diamond Earrings composed of a Diamond Frame set with large Diamonds, with a flowing internal Diamond Pendant, the origin of these jewels is unknown but they no doubt dated from the 19th century and could have been inherited from either her mother, Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, or her mother-in-law, Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught.

Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife and Princess Arthur of Connaught was pictured wearing these Diamond Earrings with the Fife Tiara in the Royal Box at the Coronation of her first cousin, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.

Around the same time, Duchess of Fife wore the Fife Tiara and the Diamond Earrings again, for a series of portraits taken in her Coronation Robes.

Following Princess Alexandra’s death in 1959, the Diamond Earrings were among the jewels inherited by her nephew and heir, the 3rd Duke of Fife, and were worn by the new Duchess with the Fife Tiara for a spectacular Ball.

The Duke sold some heirlooms, like Queen Victoria’s Turkish Diamond Parure, during the 1970s, but the eventual fate of these Earrings is unknown. Following the death of the 3rd Duke of Fife in 2015, the Fife Tiara was accepted by Her Majesty’s Government in lieu of tax, and has now gone on display in the Jewel Room at Kensington Palace along with the Fife Fringe Tiara and Queen Victoria’s Emerald Parure, which are still owned by the Duke of Fife.