Queen Elizabeth II wears the Nizam necklace on the Bahamian dollar bill [1]

The Nizam of Hyderabad [2]

Princess Elizabeth chose two pieces: a floral tiara, which included removable elements that could be worn as brooches, and a coordinating floral necklace. Both pieces were made of diamonds set in platinum. The necklace, which was made by Cartier in 1935, is especially intricate, featuring more geometric diamonds nestled in the abstract floral design. Hugh Roberts describes it as follows: “The pavé-set centre with detachable double-drop pendant incorporating 13 emerald-cut diamonds and a pear-shaped drop; the chain of 38 brilliant-cut open-back collets with an elongated oval brilliant-set snap” [3]. The piece had actually been previously owned; it had been sold in 1936, and then reacquired by Cartier from the buyer the following year. The first incarnation the necklace included several additional pendant sections, which were removed by the jeweler before Elizabeth acquired it [4]. In the period before it was selected by Elizabeth, it was also photographed on Elfrida Greville, Countess of Warwick, who was married to the 6th Earl of Warwick.

Elizabeth wore both of the pieces frequently during the early years of her marriage. She posed in the necklace for one of the last series of portraits taken of her before she succeeded to the throne. The photographs were taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1951, and two of the images are now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Another early portrait of the Queen, in which she wears the Nizam necklace with the George IV State Diadem, has been reworked for use on various pieces of currency (including the image above).

In 1973, Elizabeth had the Nizam tiara dismantled. She kept the three floral brooches from the piece intact, but had the diamonds repurposed. They were combined with a cache of 96 Burmese rubies, which had also been a wedding gift, to make a new tiara, the Burmese Ruby. The necklace was not significantly altered. It remains today largely the same as it was when she selected it from Cartier, although she has shortened the chain, removing eight collets. She still wears the necklace on occasion, often pairing it with other impressive jewels, including the pearl and widowed versions of the Vladimir Tiara.

On February 11, the necklace was worn for the first time in public by the Duchess of Cambridge, granddaughter-in-law of the Queen. The piece joins a list of other heirloom royal jewels worn by Kate. You can see Kate wearing the piece in the following tweet, released by Hello! Canada:

Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, ca. 1905 [1]

Princess Louise [2]

We know that the piece was made by Hancocks, a London jeweler, thanks to additional reporting from the period. Ursula has excerpted reports on the wedding from the Graphic, which devoted an entire special issue to the Fife nuptials. The publication describes the fringe as being “of elegant design of alternating and graduating rays, varying from nearly two inches long in the centre to half an inch at the extreme ends.” Additionally, they call the piece “a superb tiara of lovely brilliants of chaste design,” noting, “the rays of diamonds being nearly two inches long in the centre, and graduating downwards towards the ends, while each alternate ray has a pretty tapering effect, which materially adds to its beauty” [4].

Commentary from the Graphic also connects the fringe tiara to its Russian inspiration: “The tiara is a very large one, and is so flexible that it can be bent upon the hair to suit any style of coiffure, and can also form a necklace. The design is Russian, consisting of straight lines, but the jewellers have secured considerable lightness of effect by the introduction of slender lines between the taller ones” [4]. The Illustrated London News emphasized the tiara’s connection to Louise’s parents: “The Prince and Princess of Wales presented their daughter with a beautiful tiara of fine brilliants, of elegant design of alternating and graduating rays, varying from nearly two inches long in the centre to half an inch at the extreme ends. By a simple arrangement it also forms a beautiful and graceful necklace.”

Louise was photographed wearing the fringe as a necklace on multiple occasions (including the two pictures above); she also wore the piece as a tiara. And she wasn’t the only Fife lady to be pictured in the fringe tiara. Her elder daughter, Princess Alexandra — who inherited the Fife dukedom in her own right in 1912 — was photographed wearing the tiara. In the portrait, which also includes her husband (and, ahem, first cousin once removed) Prince Arthur of Connaught, Alexandra wears the fringe as a bandeau, settling the piece low across her forehead. Whether or not Alexandra owned the tiara herself or borrowed it from her mother (who would still have been alive at the time the portrait was taken) is less clear.

Alexandra did inherit another major tiara from her mother — the Fife tiara — and then subsequently passed it along to her nephew, James Carnegie, the 3rd Duke of Fife, who also inherited his aunt’s titles. Whether the fringe took a similar path isn’t certain. If Alexandra’s sister, Maud, inherited the fringe, however, it would likely also have ended up with James. He was her only child, and he’s the only surviving grandchild of Princess Louise.

Update: The diamond fringe is now on display at Kensington Palace as a part of the Tiaras Revealed exhibition! Read more over here!