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Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara

54 months ago

Hello my loves, long time no see! Today I bring you something special. You read the title so you know what I mean. 

Today I wanted to share my knowledge about this stunning wall of diamonds tiara. I love to write these kinds of posts about jewelry worn by royals because they have so much history. Jewelry are part of the making of history and whether we want them to or not, they represent the monarchy's status in society. 

 

This jewel's story begins in 1888 when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra - then the Prince and Princess of Wales - were celebrating their silver wedding anniversary. As it was usual at the time, the couple were gifted a lot of gifts  *glittery* gifts, mind you.

The Ladies of Society wanted to gift their future queen something they thought she would love and wear a lot, so they consulted her and she asked for a tiara. 

This was her chance to have a tiara design that she fell in love with: the Kokoshnik. And what is a kokoshnik, you ask? It is a traditional Russian hat usually made of fabric worn on the front of the head. Russian court ladies - including the Empress - had them made of diamonds though. Queen Alexandra's desire of owning a Kokoshnik tiara probably began whe she visited Russia to see her sister Dagmar, now called Maria Feodorovna and Empress of Russia through her marriage to Emperor Alexander III. Queen Alexandra probably saw the court ladies adorned with rows of diamonds and a wall of them on their heads and from there began her desire to have one just for herself.

The tiara itself was made by the court Jeweler Garrard and consisted of 61 platinum bars with 488 diamonds set in them. 

When Queen Alexandra died in 1925, all her jewels were inherited by the new (consort) queen, Mary. She was the current Queen's grandmother, making Alexandra Queen Elizabeth II's great grandmother. Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, now Queen Elizabeth II, was born one year later, in 1926. 

Queen Mary had a MASSIVE amount of jewelry, but she loved to wear this one. After all, who can resist a literal wall of diamonds? The tiara has a very beautiful simple shape and anything looks great with it. I love an old picture of Queen Elizabeth wearing it with Queen Victoria's coronation earrings and necklace. They are so simple that they look perfect with this tiara.  The tiara is currently in Queen Elizabeth's possession since Queen Mary's death in 1953.

 

This tiara is special to me, not only because it is simply beautiful, but because she was worn by 3 of my favorite queens. And Elizabeth brought it to Portugal once, in 1957! I can't believe this amazing queen was in my country (twice) let alone this stunning jewel. Anyways, what are your thoughts about this tiara? Would you like if Stardoll had more real tiaras for us to wear? Thank you for reading and have a nice day! ♥

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