The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara was a wedding gift to Princess Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary) from a committee headed by Lady Eva Greville, who later served as one of her ladies-in-waiting. It was purchased from Garrard’s.
Princess Mary later wrote to Lady Eva that the tiara “will ever be one of my most valued wedding gifts.”1 The money that was left over after the purchase of the tiara was donated to a fund established to help the widows and orphans of the men lost after the sinking of the HMS Victoria.
The tiara was originally set with 14 large pearls and could be adjusted to be worn as a necklace or a coronet. As Duchess of York, Princess Mary wore the coronet style to the famous Devonshire House Ball in 1897.
In 1914, she replaced the pearls with 14 diamonds she had taken from another wedding present. The pearls were reused on the new Lover’s Knot Tiara. She also had the bandeau removed from the base so that it could be worn separately.
Both the tiara and the bandeau were given to the future Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present in 1947, and she had the bandeau reattached in 1969.
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