Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the Death of Lady Brigid Guinness, later Princess Frederick of Prussia, who passed away on this day in 1995! Lady Brigid received this magnificent Diamond Tiara from the Guinness Family when she married Prince Frederick of Prussia, which is now worn by their granddaughters!
The fifth child and youngest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Iveagh and Lady Gwendolen Onslow, Lady Brigid Guinness belonged to the illustrious and very wealthy Guinness family noted for their accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics and diplomacy. During the Second World War, Lady Brigid served as an auxiliary nurse, where she met Prince Frederick of Prussia, a grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II then interned for the duration of the War, when he was injured in an accident involving a tractor. She married Prince Frederick in 1945, and the couple had five children, including Princess Antonia, Duchess of Wellington, who were raised in Britain and at Reinhartshausen Castle in Germany, where the Prince was found dead in 1966. The Princess remarried to Major Anthony Patrick Ness, who passed away in 1993. Lady Brigid passed away in 1995.
A striking Diamond Tiara of a delicate floral design, the Tiara is possibly an heirloom of the Guinness Family or was acquired by the Earl and Countess of Iveagh around the time of the Wedding of Lady Brigid Guinness and Prince Frederick of Prussia in 1945, as it was a tradition to give a Tiara to their daughters.
The Diamond Tiara was notably pictured in a portrait of Prince and Princess Frederick of Prussia soon after their marriage, possibly after attending the Coming Out Ball of her cousin, Lady Caroline Blackwood, in 1949, where she was described wearing the Tiara by her former brother-in-law, Sir Chips Channon:
We went on to Maureen Dufferin’s ball at Londonderry House, which she had taken for the night to bring out her daughter Caroline Blackwood. The girl is remarkably Guinnessy looking, i.e., fine complexion, fair hair, and general untidiness – and under-fed looking (only Brigid of the family looks really distinguished) …. All the Guinnesses wore tiaras and suddenly I saw Honor – for the first time in some years. She was well arranged, a bit blowsy perhaps, but sufficiently elegant and wore her great tiara.
We chatted stiltedly but politely and then devilishly I danced attendance on Aileen Plunket and then went into supper with Brigid and Fritzi – Brigid was the belle of the ball and wore her tiara, as did Patsy and Elizabeth. The ball was elegant …. And I enjoyed myself hugely. Towards three o’clock Douglas sang very improper songs, a strangely unsuitable cabaret turn for Princess Margaret who laughed!
I sat on the floor at the feet of the Duchess of Kent …. Honor watched me the whole evening but her little Czech husband, whom I have never seen, kept out of sight all night – I am told that he was there. Home very late – what a season. Everyone was wearing decorations and many tiaras flickered.”
Prince and Princess Frederick were among the Guests at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in 1953, and the Diamond Tiara was also worn by Princess Brigid to Queen Juliana’s Silver Anniversary Gala in 1962.
The Tiara was worn by the Hon. Victoria Lucinda Mancroft when she married Prince Frederick Nicholas, the eldest son of the Prince and Princess, in 1980, and was probably worn by her daughters, with the exception of Princess Antonia who wore the Wellington Tiara, at their weddings.
After Princess Brigid’s death, the Tiara appears to have been inherited jointly by her children, as it was worn by Princess Florence von Preussen, daughter of Prince Frederick Nicholas, for her Wedding to the Hon. James Tollemache in 2014.
The next month, the Diamond Tiara was worn by her cousin, Princess Tatiana von Preussen, for her Wedding to Philip Womack.
Two years later, the Von Preussen Tiara was worn by another granddaughter, Lady Charlotte Santo Domingo, at the Colombian State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, along with the Wellington Diamond Tassel Earrings.
Mathilda (Tilly) Noel Johnson wore the Von Preussen Tiara for her Wedding to Prince Frederick Nicholas Stormont (Fritzi) von Preussen in May 2021.
The Tiara was worn by Princess Beatrice von Preussen, the daughter of Prince Frederick Nicholas, for her Wedding to Edmund Jenner in February 2022. There are still quite a few unmarried Princes and Princesses in the family and given how open they are to sharing, there is no doubt we will continue to see this beautiful heirloom for years to come!
Diamond Tiara | Wellington Tiara | Von Preussen Tiara | Diamond Earrings | Diamond Tassel Earrings
