Queen Mary’s Amethyst Tiara

Today marks the Anniversary of the Death of Queen Mary, who passed away on this day in 1953! The Teck Princess who lived through the reigns of six monarchs and was the Queen Consort for twenty-five years, as well as a Queen Mother to two Kings and the Queen Grandmother to Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mary assembled much of the British Royal Family’s massive Jewellery Collection, which included Queen Charlotte’s Amethyst Tiara and Parure!

A splendid Parure composed of a Tiara, a Necklace and a pair of Earrings, dating from around 1815 and a Ring from the 19th century, British Royal Jewels revealed that the Amethyst Parure originated from Queen Charlotte and was bequeathed to Queen Mary by Princess Catherine of Württemberg in 1898.

Not long afterwards, the Amethyst Tiara and Parure were notably worn by the then Duchess of York for a series of portraits.

A few years later, the now Princess of Wales wore the Amethyst Tiara with her Love Trophy Collar for another series of portraits.

Queen Mary was not pictured wearing the Amethyst Tiara and Parure in the late 1930s and the 1940s, most notably for a Gala Premiere of René Blum’s Ballet Company in 1937 and the Premiere of ‘The Passionate Friends’ in London in 1949.

After Queen Mary’s death in 1953, the Amethyst Tiara and Parure was inherited by an unknown member of her family, possibly the Queen Mother or Princess Margaret, who were not pictured wearing it and discreetly sold it, reportedly to settle debts.

Around 1980, a Ronald Fuhrer in London purchased the parure for his wife, who wore it for their wedding before it was sold to Moussaieff via Bond Street in 1982. The Amethyst Parure then belonged to the family of Rorik Ravel when it was worn by his wife for their wedding in 1983. He wrote:

As far as I know PM inherited it directly from QM . She sold it in the early 80s when her mother was still alive.’

The Amethyst Parure came up at Auction at by Sotheby’s in Geneva in May 1993, with an estimate of $75,000-125,000. At that time, Buckingham Palace killed the tabloid story that the Queen Mother was selling the Parure to settle debts. The Parure was eventually sold for £55,357 to an unknown seller. A few years later, the Amethyst Tiara and Parure appeared on view at the London Grosvenor House Antiques Fair for sale at £150,000.

In 2007, the Necklace of the Amethyst Parure was worn by Dame Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue, at the Golden Age of Couture Party at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2007, likely on loan from SJ Phillips. However, the current location of the Amethyst Parure remains unknown!