Favorite jewel of Elizabeth II. The history of the luxurious Vladimir tiara

The Vladimir tiara survived the revolution and upheavals of the early 20th century, eventually becoming one of the most significant royal jewels.

The first owner of the tiara was Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. An influential and ambitious woman, about whom the court official General A. A. Mosolov wrote in his memoirs: “There was no more popular and influential court in St. Petersburg than the court of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, wife of Vladimir Alexandrovich.”

In 1874, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich ordered this tiara to the court jeweler Karl Bolin as a wedding gift to his bride, Duchess Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which cost him 48,200 rubles. This sumptuous headpiece consisted of 15 overlapping diamond rings, each with a large drop-shaped pearl pendant in the center.

Mary of Teck, in turn, gave the tiara a new look, creating for her a replaceable set of emerald pendants, called the “Cambrid Stones”.

The history of these beautiful emeralds dates back 100 years ago, when in 1818 the seventh son of King George III Adolphus Duke of Cambridge married Augusta Princess of Hesse. After the wedding, the newlyweds went on a honeymoon trip and found a curious lottery in Frankfurt, organized to raise funds for charitable needs. The main prize of this lottery was 40 large emeralds. The prince and princess bought a lottery ticket and, to their complete amazement, Augusta won the main prize and they returned to England with these treasures.

Subsequently, emeralds were encrusted in many beautiful jewelry, which, after the death of the previous owners, passed to the heirs, until in 1910 the “Cambrid Stones” were in the possession of Queen Mary of Teck. She decides to set five emeralds in the famous Delhi Durbar tiara, created in 1911 by the jewelry firm Garrard & Co in honor of the proclamation of Mary of Tek as Empress of India.

And in 1924, the emeralds from the Delhi Durbar tiara were removed to create pendants for the Vladimir tiara. Since then, the emerald version of the Vladimir tiara has often been worn with items from the Delhi Durbar parure.

But more often than others, she preferred the original version, as she was a well-known fan of pearl jewelry. There is a legend that the Vladimir tiara brought her good luck and longevity, which allowed Elizabeth II to celebrate in June 2022 the Platinum Anniversary of her reign (70 years on the throne).