Britain

Random Royal Stuff – Victoria’s Sapphire Coronet

The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery, part of the Victoria and Albert Museum re-opened on April 11, and it included this gorgeous tiara!

The Sapphire Coronet, which was designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria, was commissioned (most likely) from Joseph Kitching in 1842. This is one of the few tiaras that Queen Victoria still wore during her long widowhood. 

Both Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary seemed to pass over this small tiara for larger sparklers from the vault, and in 1922 Queen Mary presented this tiara, along with a matching parure, to her only daughter, Princess Mary upon her marriage to Henry, Viscount Lascelles. 

The tiara then wound it’s way through the Harewood family, worn by both Patricia, Countess of Harewood (Mary’s daughter in law) and Andrea Lascelles (granddaughter in law).


Department for Culture, Media & Sport

The path after that seems a bit murkier, see Order of Splendor’s post on the tiara, but it eventually ended up with the V&A.

This one has always been a favorite of mine; hello…sapphires!!! What do you guys think? A worthy addition to the V&A?