She was alive during the reigns of six different British monarchs and was a guiding member of the British Royal Family for generations, helping to create the House of Windsor. Queen Mary also created and collected some of the most beloved pieces in the Royal Family’s vaults.Â
Garrard & Co created the crown now known as Queen Mary’s Crown in 1911 for King George V and Queen Mary’s coronation at Westminster Abbey. It has eight half arches instead of the more usual four arches for a consort’s crown.
(BBC still/ fair use)
The original setting had over 2,200 diamonds, in addition to the Koh-i-Nor diamond, the Cullinan III diamond, and the Cullinan IV diamond. Queen Camilla wore Mary’s crown for the 2023 coronation.Â
(Photo by Lydia Starbuck)
The then-Princess Mary of Teck received the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara in 1893 as a wedding gift. The diamond and pearl tiara had both festoon and fleur-de-lis designs, although the pearls were removed in the mid-1910s and replaced with the diamonds we see today.
(Stephen Lock/ i-Images)
In 1947, Mary gave the gift to the then-Princess Elizabeth for her wedding; it quickly became a favourite tiara for Queen Elizabeth II.Â
(Photo: Jessica Storoschuk)
Queen Elizabeth II also wore another of her grandmother’s tiaras frequently throughout her reign, the Vladimir Tiara. Imperial jeweller Bolin originally created the tiara for Grand Duchess Vladimir, it features several interlocking diamond circles with removable pearls suspended from the circles.
(Photo by Lydia Starbuck)
It was eventually sold following the Russian revolution and Queen Mary was able to buy it for her own collection. She wore the tiara with the pear-shaped pearls, but also had the Cambridge emeralds set in the circles.Â
Queen Mary’s jewellery collection continues to dominate the Royal Family’s vaults event today. On 24 March 1953, Queen Mary passed away at Marlborough House.
