Posted by Arthur on July 17, 2014, 6:20 pm, in reply to "Tiara alteration"
The alterations of the Durbar Tiara have been made at some time between 1947 (Royal visit to South Africa) and 2001 (publishing of Geoffrey Munn's book, in which the tiara is photographed in its altered form). As far as I know, the tiara has not been seen (at least in public) between these two dates.
Camilla married Prince Charles only in 2005, so I think it is rather unprobable that the alterations (made before 2001) were made specifically for her head size.
If the tiara had been altered for Camilla, that implies that Camilla would have worn (privately) the tiara before her marriage to Prince Charles, as soon as 2001, and possibly earlier. But this hypothesis raises a lot of questions: - what would have been the point of wearing a tiara strictly in private? Camilla (who, at that time, was merely Charles' mistress and was still unpopular) could not have worn it publicly without causing an uproar... - the Queen-Mother was still alive at that time, and that would imply that she would have deliberately lent the tiara to Charles for his mistress to wear the tiara... Though the Queen-Mother loved her grandson (and maybe even saw Camilla as a suitable wife-to-be for him), I seriously doubt she would have loaned the tiara in these conditions... So, I think it is unprobable that the tiara's alterations were made for Camilla.
Another (more pausible, IMHO) possibility could be that Queen(-Mother) Elizabeth found the tiara uncomfortable to wear during her visit to South Africa (after all, it was the first time she wore it) and decided later to have it altered.
As shown on the picture below, Queen(-Mother) Elizabeth had a smaller frame (and probably a smaller head size) than Queen Mary; moreover, she had shorter hair than Queen Mary (who had a big puffing hairdo, as it was fashionable in the late 19th/early 20th century). Therefore, Queen Mary was probably able to wear larger/wider tiaras than Queen(-Mother) Elizabeth. After Queen-Mother Elizabeth inherited the tiara in 1953, she could have decided to have it altered to fit better her own head size. But then, the question is: if the Queen-Mother had the tiara altered for her, then why did not she wear it anymore during her lifetime?
--Previous Message-- : Isn't there also a possibility that the tiara : was altered for Camilla as she has a : different head shape and size and maybe she : needed the alteration to be able to wear it : (comfortably)? : : --Previous Message-- : My memory is that the tiara had been altered : before the Queen Mother loaned it to an : exhibition. : : :