Posted by Stig on February 26, 2014, 2:12 pm, in reply to "Re: the tiara..."
I think you have the odds against your theory, given that two different members of the family claim that Helena's tiara was broken up after her death. According to Christian of Rosenborg it happened ten years after her death (she died in 1962). He also tells that the centre stone was sold, still according to Bjarne's book.
You are right that the tiara worn by Countess Dorrit looked a bit different than Helena's. I think the reason could be that it was adjusted to fit Dorrit better after Helena's death. I'm told that Helena had promised the tiara to Dorrit, but nothing had been written down, so the heirs didn't feel obliged to follow her wish. Yet, Countess Dorrit kept using it at least until 1968. I wonder if the heirs waited ten years to dismantle it, and allowed Countess Dorrit to use it in the meantime, as some sort of compensation because they knew about Helena's promise. But that's just a guess.
Having said this, Dorrit was in fact not the only one to wear the tiara after Helena's death. As this photo from January 1963 shows, it was at least once worn by Princess Caroline-Mathilde, Helena's daughter.