When Princess Elizabeth wed Philip Mountbatten in 1947, she received a breathtaking tiara and necklace as a wedding gift, valued today at over £66 million – five years prior to her coronation as Queen of England. Known for her exquisite taste in jewellery, the late Queen Elizabeth II amassed a collection of precious pieces available to the Royal Family, safely secured under lock and key.
Little could she have predicted that she would reign for more than seven decades when she first laid eyes on that remarkable gem-encrusted accessory. The giver, the Nizam of Hyderabad – one of the wealthiest men in the world in 1937 and noted for his thriftiness – was conferred the title “Faithful Ally of the British Government” due to his assistance during various British military campaigns in India.
He granted the then-princess the rare opportunity to design a bespoke piece meant to endure through the ages.
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It is said that the Queen collaborated with Cartier, following their mandate to let her imagination soar unrestrained, carefully selecting each component of the design to meet her exacting standards. The finished product was simply spectacular; the Queen donned the tiara with grace at white tie events throughout her life, marking her presence as truly regal.
She was a huge fan of brooches, not only for their sparkly detail but because they allowed her to convey a meaning when she wore them in public. In later years, she created three detachable brooches from the tiara as she felt she could get more wear out of the equity stones which were originally set into the centre of the headpiece, reports the Express.
Daena Borrowman, Marketing Manager at Jewellerybox saidL “The magnificent Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace, considered to be the most expensive piece of royal jewellery in the world, is worth more than £66million. It was a wedding gift to Princess Elizabeth from the Nizam of Hyderabad, one of the richest people in the world.
“The Nizam is said to have generously instructed Cartier to let the bride-to-be pick anything she wished from their collections, to which the young princess chose a tiara with three detachable flower brooches and what we now know as the Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace Necklace.”
It was a firm favourite of the Queen’s as she was able to put a touch of her style into the remarkable piece. In recent years, she lent the tiara to the Princess of Wales on her wedding day which she has continued to wear to other public events.
Meanwhile, the necklace was passed down to Queen Camilla following the late monarch’s death and since then she has worn it many times. The five-strand necklace is around 250 to 300 carats, with the main stone in the necklace being five carats alone making it worth worth £8.2 million.