I believe the Royal Collection has nothing to do with this tiara. It was private property of Queen Mary and I believe it is now private property of Queen Elizabeth II, who inherited it from her Granny.
--Previous Message-- : It could be possible that the Durbar Tiara was : considered as a part of the Royal Collection : from the 1940s on. But then, why would have : Queen Mary loaned/lent/handed over the tiara : to Queen(-Mother) Elizabeth in 1947 for the : South African tour? I think it could have : been a private jewel as well. : : What let me think the tiara had been : inherited (privately) by Queen-Mother : Elizabeth from Queen Mary is the caption : under the Durbar tiara's picture in Geoffrey : Munn's book Tiaras, A History of Splendour : (page 128): "by gracious permission of : Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen : Mother". : : Nevertheless, even admitting the tiara was : already included in the Royal Collection : (meaning that the Sovereign owns it, but : only "holding it in trust for the : Nation", not privately), Queen : Elizabeth II could have accepted to let the : tiara at her mother's disposal, like other : Crown pieces (e.g. Queen Victoria's Ruby : Parure or Queen Victoria's Household's : Jubilee Pearl and Diamond brooch). : : A sensitive issue, indeed. I notice that : Hugh Roberts, in The Queen's Diamonds , : does not say anything about the ownership of : the Durbar tiara. In a striking example of : his ambiguous comments, he just writes that : the tiara " remained with " : Queen-Mother Elizabeth until her death in : 2002... : : --Previous Message-- : : I agree that we may never know. Sensitive : territory. : My belief is that the Queen Mother never : owned it and alteration might not have been : authorised by its owner. : : : --Previous Message-- : Well... since we are speculating....how : about : this. : : The Tiara was altered for use by Diana, : Princess of Wales (or Sarah, Duchess of : York). Neither of whom - for whatever : reason - wore the tiara. : : Again - this is complete speculation on my : part. : I do not think we will ever know. : : Cheers! : Bryce : : --Previous Message-- : : Queen Elizabeth (QM) did not inherit the : tiara in 1953. : : --Previous Message-- : 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. : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
on July 18, 2014, 3:45 am, in reply to "