My friend Hans Nadelhoffer told me the Niarchos/Frederica story in the early 1980s around the time his definitive history of Cartier was published (1984).At the time he had attended a dinner party at the swiss home of King Michael and Queen Anne(who had shown him the dismantled diamond chain in the bottom of her jewel casket).
--Previous Message-- : Well, I never knew it was Niarchos : specifically that gave that fab gift to his : queen. : : There are several others generous rich Greek : men, such as the one who supported the : Crown Prince of Serbia Alexander, when he : was still living in London. : : Those are all information I read in Royal : magazines of the 80's. : : --Previous Message-- : Niarchos gave Federica the 438 carat : sapphire : that originally had belonged to Queen Marie : of Romania and had been sold (without the : Cartier chain necklace) by Marie's : daughter-in-law Queen Helen (Frederica's : sister in law) and her son King Michael soon : after their exile from Romania in 1948 : : --Previous Message-- : I think Onassis gave a ruby necklace/tiara : to : Princess Sophia for her wedding. : : --Previous Message-- : A strange story indeed. : Firstly I wonder about the alleged recipient : of the gift. Wedding gifts are usually given : to the bridal couple, not their parents. Why : wouldn’t Onassis give the gift to the bride? : As for MC’s fringe tiara: Vincent once : informed us, that Mrs. Miller bought this : tiara. So we have a fairly good source : saying that it does not originate from : Onassis. : Afaik, the source of Alexia’s tiara cannot : be traced. But it would be really strange, : if the tiara had been lying in a safe all : the time between the wedding and its first : appearance in the 1990’s. Admittedly there : weren’t many tiara occasions for Queen : Federica during the exile. But the family : had to sell jewels in order to fund : themselves. And it seems illogical, that : they sold family heirlooms while keeping a : tiara of no historical value. : : : : : : : :
on July 9, 2013, 11:25 am, in reply to "