could it be that the Princess Louise in question is not Princess Louise (1848-1939), duchess of Argyll and daughther of Queen Victoria, but her niece, also named Louise (1867-1931), Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, daughter of King Edward VII?
We know that this latter Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, got the emerald and diamond tiara which had belonged to Queen Victoria, and had been made by Joseph Kitching in 1845 after a design by Prince Albert himself. I have not counted all the diamonds and emeralds, but the pear-shaped emeralds on the top of the tiara could be the "solid drop emeralds" described in Bob's book.
It was worn by Queen Victoria on Winterhalter's famous painting The Royal Family in 1846:
It was later lent by Queen Victoria to her grand-daughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, maybe for a fancy-dress ball to celebrate the wedding of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, to Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont in 1882:
Decades later, it was seen in 1960 at the State Opening of Parliament, worn by the then Duchess of Fife (née Caroline Dewar), who was married from 1956 to 1966 to James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife and 12th Earl of Southesk (Princess Louise's grand-son):
As a side-note: we can see on this double-portrait that there was not only a tiara, but a full parure, with matching necklace and brooch, which were inherited by the Duchess of Fife too.
It seems that the tiara has been shortened at some time (don't know when exactly, but probably after the 1960 picture), turning it from a coronet-style to a more traditionnal tiara-style diadem.
More info can be found on the "Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor" website (http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.fr/2012/12/my-ultimate-tiara-collection-queen.html) (all the above pictures come from this website), as well as in Geoffrey Munn's book Tiaras, A History of Splendour (pages 72-76 of the "mega-Munn" version).
--Previous Message-- : Hello Bob, : thank you for sharing your informations. : It's a lifetime puzzle, so if we found some : news we can correct the old, hidden or : public tales and stories. : Much better are pictures of course :-), well : probably there is anything in that archives : it would be fine to found more about it. : When it is given to Princess Louise? : : : : : --Previous Message-- : The Royal Collection recently released : "Treasures of the Royal Archives", : and interesting book with many tidbits of : information on the content of the Royal : Archives. : : One item discussed in the book is Queen : Victoria's inventory of jewels. This refers : to an emerald tiara given by QV to Princess : Louise. It is described as: : : "A rich diamond and emerald diadem with : solid drop emeralds, containing 1,248 : brilliants, 116 rose diamonds, 102 emeralds : and 23 solid emeralds." : : :
on July 10, 2014, 8:53 am, in reply to "
