THE SPENCER FAMILY TIARA

Diamonds in silver settings mounted in gold

The tiara (or parts of it) have been in the Spencer family for almost 100 years.

Though this piece was once said to date from the 18th century, the Spencer tiara is actually made up of other pieces of jewellery of varying ages and from different jewellers that has gone through several changes over time. The oldest parts of the tiara are the ends. They are said to have come from a tiara that once belonged to Frances Manby, the last Viscountess Montagu, and left to Lady Sarah Spencer in 1875.

The centre element was a wedding present from Lady Sarah Isabella Spencer to Cynthia, Viscountess Althorp (Diana's grandmother), when she married Albert, Viscount Althorp, the future 7th Earl Spencer, in 1919. This piece was remounted by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company at some point, and Garrard was asked to create four matching pieces in 1937 at a cost of £125.00, to add on. The full current appearance apparently dates from around 1938 (these dates could be out a little but the jewel did exist in its present form by the 1930s).

The tiara includes diamonds in silver settings mounted in gold in various floral shapes: stylised tulips, star-shaped flowers, and scrolling foliage. Both of Lady Diana's older sisters, Jane and Sarah, wore the piece at their weddings. However, Diana's mother, Frances, did not wear it when she married into the Spencer family in 1954. While Diana's mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, loaned her the Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara for the wedding on Wednesday 29 July 1981, the princess-to-be decided to stick to her family roots and wore the Spencer tiara. Diana frequently wore the piece as it was supposedly lighter and easier to wear than other tiaras at her disposal. Even so, it gave Diana a "cracking headache" according to her brother, Charles Spencer, as she was not used to wearing a tiara for such a long time.

The Spencer tiara was also worn by the three wives of Diana’s brother, Charles, Earl of Spencer on each of their wedding days.

This NEW copy comes from aliexpress in China, its from the Asnora store and the cost was £50.70 as of December 2020. Most dealers now have a copy so shop around for the best price. This is before 20% tax was added to all UK orders from 1st January 2021 due to us leaving the European Union....bugger Brexit. Unlike the cheaper copy this version is very close and made with cubic zirconia. This is the URL for the video i made back in March 2020 of the cheaper version so you can all compare
   • THE SPENCER FAMILY TIARA  Crown Jewel...  
It is just over 4cm in height but of course the original has the velvet band at the base which lifts the jewel higher.

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