Origin of name
The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara which belongs to the personal jewelry
collection of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, and was inherited from her
grandmother Queen Mary, after her death in 1953, gets its name from Grand
Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, wife of the Grand Duke Vladimir
Alexandrovich, the third son of Czar Alexander II, and the brother of Czar
Alexander III of Russia. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimir Alexandrovich got
jewelers and artisans working for the Russian court to design and execute
this exquisitely crafted tiara in the year 1890. During the late 19th century, the Russian
jewelers and artisans had a penchant for incorporating a combination of
diamonds and pearls into their jewelry creations, such as necklaces,
earrings, crowns and tiaras, being the trendsetting style in vogue at that
time. The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara was designed and executed in the
tradition of the late 19th century, and consisted of a combination of
diamonds and pearls. Following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution of Russia and
the associated upheavals, the Grand Duchess Vladimir escaped with her family
to the Caucasus, where she remained till 1920, hoping for an improvement in
the situation, and finally escaped to Venice in an Italian ship on February
13, 1920. The Duchess left her renowned collection of jewelry including the
Vladimir Tiara, hidden in a vault in the Vladimir Palace in St. Petersburg,
at the time of her escape. Subsequently, a member of Britain's Secret
Intelligence Service, who was a friend of the Vladimir family, helped them
to recover the jewels from the vault, which was then smuggled out of Russia
in a diplomatic bag. The Duchess died soon after she settled down in France,
in August 1920. The Vladimir Tiara was then purchased by Queen Mary in 1921, from
Princess Nicolas of Greece, the daughter of Duchess Maria Vladimir.
Queen Mary took pride in superbly bejeweling herself for formal occasions
Characteristic features of the Vladimir Tiara
Tiaras are traditionally made of precious metals such as platinum, gold and
silver. The precious metal used in the "Vladimir Tiara" appears to be either
platinum or silver. The tiara designed by an unknown Russian jewelry
craftsman, consists of fifteen interlaced thick metal circles. At the
bottom, the overlapping circles are attached to a semi-circular thick band
of metal, that forms the circlet of the tiara. At the top the overlapping
circles are held together by a wavy snake-like band that intertwines
the circles passing in and out of them. The thick circles as well as the
upper and lower bands are closely laden with round brilliant-cut diamonds,
that impart the brilliant sparkle so characteristic of this tiara. The
beauty of the tiara was further enhanced by the swinging oriental pearl
drops or pendants with small diamond set mounts, positioned inside each
circle, but hanging from the wavy band and not from the circle. This was the
original setting of the "Vladimir Tiara" at the time of its purchase in
1921, by Queen Mary.
Vladimir Tiara with original pearl setting
© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Mary, who was renowned for her collection of royal jewels, and took
pride in superbly bejeweling herself for formal occasions had an intimate
knowledge of jewelry and their designing, and decided that the "Vladimir
Tiara" needed modification. Her intention was to make provision for the
pearl drops to be interchanged with emerald drops, as and when the need
arose. Accordingly she got the court jewelers Garrard & Co. to cut and
polish fifteen of her remaining Cambridge emeralds as drop shaped emeralds,
and to make provision for their replacement on the tiara whenever it was
needed, after removing the pearl drops. As anticipated the replacement of
the pearls with the emerald drops further enhanced the beauty of the tiara,
which became a favorite tiara for Queen Mary, particularly when she was
wearing the matching emerald suite, the Cambridge and Delhi Durbar Parure.
Thus the incorporation of the exceptional quality Cambridge emeralds into
the "Vladimir Tiara" made it a complementary piece to the Cambridge and
Delhi Durbar Parure.
Vladimir Tiara with pearls interchanged with emeralds
© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II inherits the
Vladimir Tiara
The "Vladimir Tiara" that was a favorite piece of Queen Mary, was inherited
by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953, according to the last will
left by Queen Mary. Thus the "Vladimir Tiara" entered the personal jewelry
collection of Her Majesty the Queen.
As much as the "Vladimir Tiara" was Queen Mary's favorite, it also became
the favorite tiara of Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty the Queen, had been
wearing this tiara on formal occasions since the time of her coronation in
1953. Photographs of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, appearing below, show
Her Majesty during the early years of her reign, wearing the Vladimir Tiara
with the emerald drops, together with matching pieces of the Cambridge and
Delhi Durbar Parure such as the Delhi Durbar Necklace, and Cambridge emerald
earrings.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II gave the "Vladimir Tiara" to Princess Diana
after her marriage to Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and heir to
British Throne. Soon the "Vladimir Tiara" became one of the most favorite
and cherished pieces of the Princess of Wales, who was often seen with the
Tiara on formal palace occasions. Thus the legendary "Vladimir Tiara" came
to be associated mainly with Princess Diana, during her reign as the
Princess of Wales.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II still uses the "Vladimir Tiara" for formal
occasions, and she was seen wearing the Tiara during her official visit to
the Vatican for an audience with Pope John Paul II, and also when she
received the South African leader Nelson Mandela in the Buckingham Palace.
The photograph below shows Her Majesty the Queen, wearing the "Vladimir
Tiara" on a recent formal occasion.
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimir Alexandrovich
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimir Alexandrovich was born on May 14, 1854, to the
Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Augusta of
Reuss-Kostritz. In 1871, at the age of 17 years she met and fell in love
with Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, the third son of Czar Alexander II
(1855-81) of Russia, but the Czar would not give his consent to their
marriage, as Maria was a Lutheran and refused to convert to the Russian
Orthodox Church. Finally in 1874, three years after they first met, Czar
Alexander II gave his consent to the marriage, even though she still
remained a Lutheran. The marriage produced five children, four sons,
Alexander, Kirill, Boris, and Andrei and a daughter Elena. The eldest
son Alexander died in his infancy.
In 1881, after Czar Alexader II was assassinated during an uprising of the
revolutionary organization called the "People's Will" his second son
ascended the throne as Czar Alexander III and ruled from 1881 to 1894. Czar
Alexander III was succeeded by his eldest son Czar Nicholas II, the last of
the Romanov emperors, who with his wife Alexandra and their children, were
killed by the Bolsheviks after the October 1917 Revolution.
Czar Nicholas II was the nephew of Grand Duchess Maria Vladimir
Alexandrovich, and since he ascended the throne, the Grand Duchess harbored
a hatred and jealousy towards him and his wife the Czarina, and tried to advance the cause of her own
son Kirill Vladimirovich to the throne of Russia. In fact towards the height
of his unpopularity in the winter of 1916 to 1917, she along with her sons
contemplated a coup, to force the Czar's abdication, and replacement by his
son, with the Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich as regent.
When the revolution broke out in 1917, Grand Duchess Maria, escaped with her
sons to the Caucasus in her own train, and remained their till 1918, hoping that the
situation would calm down and her son Kirill Vladimirovich would still be
able to ascend the Russian throne as the Czar. But, the situation worsened,
and as the Bolsheviks were approaching the Caucasus. Maria and her children,
escaped by a fishing boat to Anapa, in December 1918. She continued to
remain in Anapa, refusing several opportunities to leave Russia, partly
because of the humiliation she might have to face having lost all her power,
prestige and privileges. However, on February 13, 1920, she and her family
were reluctantly compelled to leave Russia, after a general of the army
warned her that they were losing the battle in the civil war. Grand Duchess
Maria and her youngest son Andrei together with his mistress Mathilde and
their son Vladimir, boarded an Italian ship headed for Venice. Thus Grand
Duchess Maria went down in history, as the last of the Romanovs to escape
from revolutionary Russia.
Having reached Venice safely, Grand Duchess Maria found her way to
Switzerland, from where she moved to France and set up permanent residence
in Contrexeville with her family, where she purchased a Villa. After
reaching France, her health began to fail, partly caused by the anxiety and
worry of the past two years, and finally she died on August 24, 1920,
surrounded by members of her family.
Grand Duchess Maria, the aunt of the last Czar of Russia, Czar Nicholas II,
was a prominent member of the Russian noble families, and had her own palace
in St. Petersburg, Russia. She dressed elegantly on all formal occasions and
bedecked herself with exquisite jewelry, made by Russian jewelry
craftsmen. One of her favorite pieces of jewelry was the "Vladimir Tiara"
which she is seen wearing in the photograph appearing above. The photograph
also shows her wearing other unidentified pieces of jewelry, which probably
includes pearl chokers and necklaces, and what looks like an emerald and
diamond necklace, and also earrings, bracelets and a brooch. Her collection
of jewelry was one of the most renowned collections among the nobility of
Russia.
With the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the Grand Duchess and
her family had to leave St. Petersburg at short notice. She and her family
fled in her own train to the Caucuses, but felt unsafe to carry her valuable
collection of jewelry. Therefore, she decided to leave her valuable
collection, in a secret underground vault in the Vladimir Palace, hoping to
return one day after the crisis had passed. But, having finally settled in
France, and the situation in Russia changed irreversibly, the Grand Duchess'
family sought the assistance of a family friend, a British intelligence
officer, to retrieve the hidden jewelry from the underground vault. The
operation was carried out successfully, and the jewelry was finally smuggled
out of Russia in a diplomatic bag. Pieces of the collection were then
disposed of by members of the Grand Duchess' family, and the "Vladimir
Tiara" was sold to Queen Mary in 1921, by Princess Nicolas of Greece, the
daughter of Duchess Maria Vladimir.
Related :-
Cambridge and Delhi Dunbar Parure
Tiaras of the Iranian Crown Jewels
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References
1.Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Maria Pavlovna of
Russia) - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
2.The
Queens Jewels - Vincent Meylan
3.Royal Jewelry by Suzi
Menkes.
4.The Queens Jewels- The Personal Collection of Elizabeth II-
Leslie Field
