Swagatalakshmi Roychowdhury
Originally created for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, the Vladimir Tiara features interchanging pearls and emeralds and was one of her most prized possessions. But when the Russian Revolution broke out, the tiara had to be smuggled out of St. Petersburg. Later purchased by Queen Mary (Queen Elizabeth II’s grandmother), it has since become a royal favorite, worn by Queen Elizabeth II and now reportedly passed down to Queen Camilla.
Worn memorably by Princess Margaret on her wedding day in 1960, the Poltimore Tiara is iconic for its Art Deco design and versatility (it can be transformed into a necklace or brooches). But after her divorce from Lord Snowdon, Margaret’s children sold the tiara at auction for over $1.7 million in 2006.
Commissioned by Queen Mary and passed down to Princess Diana, the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara is heavy in both design and meaning. Its signature swinging pearls reportedly gave Diana headaches, but it was also tied to her emotionally rocky years in the royal family. After her death, the tiara went unworn for years until it resurfaced on Kate Middleton.
Crafted by Harry Winston and worn by Empress Farah Pahlavi, the Sunburst Tiara (also known as the Noor-ol-Ain Tiara) dazzled with a 60-carat pink diamond at its center. But following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the monarchy was overthrown and many crown jewels, including this one, were seized and locked away in Tehran’s Central Bank, never to be seen worn again. Once a beacon of Iran’s royal image, it’s now an artifact of a fallen empire.
The Romanovs were famed for their breathtaking jewelry collection. But when the Russian monarchy was overthrown in 1917, many of the tiaras were looted, hidden, or lost. Some reappeared in Western auctions, while others remain missing. Conspiracy theories swirl around their whereabouts, including one that says a few might’ve made it to Hollywood costume departments in the 1930s.