Origin of Duchess of Teck's ears of wheat tiaraArchived Message
Posted by Beth on June 22, 2016, 2:32 am
We know that, at one time, the Duchess of Teck was painted wearing an ears of wheat tiara, which was subsequently worn by her daughter-in-law, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
The flexibility of this jewel can be seen as Prince Alice wore it in at least two configurations.
Even though the Duchess of Teck was painted wearing this jewel before her mother's death in April 1889, I suspect that the tiara may have originally belonged to the Duchess of Cambridge, as I recently found a description of her wearing ears of wheat in her head dress.
The Times 30 June 1863. Occasion was a reception at Marlborough House shortly after the wedding of the then Prince and Princess of Wales.
There are a number of reports in the media of Princess Mary Adelaide wearing silver ears of wheat in her hair and on her dress at various royal events prior to her marriage but, as no diamonds were mentioned, they may have been different ornaments.
Sadly, this jewel has not been seen in many years. I suspect that it has been sold or dismantled to form jewels more suited to modern times.
PS As the term "carbuncle" has come up so often in relation to jewels worn by the Duchess of Teck as a young, unmarried woman I did a search. It seems to have been used to describe a dark red stone usually either ruby or garnet. There are a couple of reports stating that she wore alternating diamond and ruby stars on a tiara so perhaps in this case the reference is to rubies.
on June 22, 2016, 2:32 am
