19/07/2025
Fascinating ‼️
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/172RgcjLwY/
Every time Catherine, the Princess of Wales wore this tiara, people called it the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara when it is not. Hers is the Queen Mary's version of the Lover's Knot Tiara.
These two tiaras are different pieces and owned by different royal families.
1. The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara - A wedding gift to Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel from her family when she wed Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (son of King George III) in 1818.
When Princess Augusta passed away, it was inherited by her elder daughter and namesake, Princess Augusta, who married the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (she was the maternal aunt of Queen Mary).
The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara was passed to her granddaughter, Duchess Jutta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who married the Crown Prince of Montenegro, Prince Danilo.
When the Montenegro monarchy was abolished in 1918, Crown Princess Jutta and her husband lived in exile. They didn't have any children and many believed the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara was privately sold.
The tiara reappeared in an auction in 1981 and was bought by Princess Marie Gabrielle von Waldburg zu Zeil. Her family still owns the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara and was spotted worn by her daughter-in-law, Princess Mathilde, in 2018 (pictured below).
2. Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara - Queen Mary must have really liked her aunt's Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara that she commissioned the crown jeweler, Garrard, to make a replica for her using diamonds and pearls from her other tiaras that she dismantled.
Her version was made in 1913 by E. Wolff & Co. for Garrard. It featured diamonds in the bottom and between each knot instead of pearls, and just like the original, it also had upright pearls above. But Queen Mary later removed the top lined pearls.
When she passed away in 1953, all her jewels were inherited by Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara is on a long term loan (since 2015) to Catherine, now the Princess of Wales.
