The times when the side benches of the House of Lords were packed with royal princesses and wives of peers donning their best jewellery are gone, alas. But there are still a few wives of peers wearing their jewellery, who are visible on the third and fourth side benches (on the right of these pictures).




I have counted approximately 10 to 12 tiaras, but unfortunately no close-ups. The only exception are these two pictures of the Duchess of Wellington, née Princess Antonia of Prussia. She is wearing an impressive suite of jewellery, comprising a floral diamond tiara, a large brooch pinned on her collar and a pair of large baroque pearl earrings:




Last year too, on 7th November 2023, the Duchess of Wellington was the only peer's wife who had been photographed in close-up. She had then worn another diamond parure from the Wellington collection (including the tiara that she had worn for her wedding to the current Duke of Wellington, then the Marquess of Douro, or for the bicentenary of the battle of Waterloo on 18th June 2015):




Both diamond parures are Wellington heirlooms. They are both worn on the picture below by Kathleen Emily Bulkeley Williams, wife of the 4th Duke of Wellington (the floral tiara worn by Princess Antonia in 2024 is used by Duchess Kathleen as [the main element of] her corsage brooch):




The lady seated immediately next to the Duchess of Wellington (with a black and white dress) seems to wear a very substantial (fringe?) tiara too. Does anyone know who this lady is?