Vladimir Tiara

The fascinating story behind one of the queen's favorite tiara, Vladimir Tiara.

She was hidden from Russia by a British antiques trader after the assassination of the Tsar and was later purchased by her grandmother, Queen Maria.
From the imperial state crown she wears for the opening of parliament, to the numerous tiara she lent to royal brides, the queen has an impressive collection of tiara. Yet there is one that is thought to be his favorite - a piece he turns to again and again - the Vladimir Tiara.
Secretly from Russia following the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, he has a fascinating story, which could easily be the plot of a novel. It belonged to the rather fascinating Grand Duchess Vladimir, wife of his uncle Tsar, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, who lived between 1854 and 1920. He was the last Romanov to flee Russia.
Known for her impressive jewelry collection (she was nicknamed the ′′ Grand Duchess greatest ′′) - as well as for her feud with her sister-in-law, Empress Maria Feodorovna - the tiara was created for the Duchess by court Bolin jewels. When the tsar was forced to abdicate in favor of Lenin's new communist government in 1917, he hid with his children in the Caucasus, hoping for a coup to help one of them gain control of the county.
Yet her jewels came out before her. Family friend Albert Stopford - a British antiquarian and art dealer specialized in Fabergé and Cartier - was able to recover 224 jewels from the Duchess safe in the Palace, taking them with him to England. The tiara was within her range.
After her death in 1920, the Duchess pieces were sold to support her children, with many European royalty buying pieces. Queen Mary, the grandmother of our queen, purchased Vladimir's tiara, while Queen Mary, queen consort of Romania purchased a kokoshnik sapphire tiara of Cartier and Nancy Leeds (later princess Christopher of Greece), the ruby parure ....
Vladimir's tiara had been damaged during transportation, so Queen Mary decided to have it fixed by Garrard, adding 15 of her emeralds, as well as a mechanism to allow easy transition from emeralds to original pearls. In 1988, Queen Elizabeth II had it fixed again, this time updating the frame.
Eventually it was passed from Maria to her granddaughter, who wears it frequently. In fact, it is thought to be his favorite headdress due to the number of occasions he wore it, even on a 1963. New Zealand trip.