The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery, part of the Victoria and Albert Museum re-opened on April 11, and it included this gorgeous tiara!
To @V_and_A for a look at Queen Victoria’s sparkling sapphire and diamond coronet, designed for her by Prince Albert in 1840, the year of their marriage. It is the centrepiece of the refurbished William and Judith Bollinger Gallery, which reopens tomorrow. #vamjewellery pic.twitter.com/s4l75GibMv
— Majesty/Joe Little (@MajestyMagazine) April 10, 2019
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?