Today marks the 90th Birthday of Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, the 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby!  The daughter of the last Earl of Ancaster who served as a Maid of Honour at the Queen’s Coronation and inherited the ancient Barony and Family Estates, Baroness Willoughby de Eresby has often worn the magnificent Ancaster Heathcote Tiara!

Ancaster Heathcote Tiara | Cartier Turquoise Tiara

But first, let’s learn about Baroness Willoughby de Eresby! The only daughter of James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster and the Hon. Nancy Phyllis Louise Astor, daughter the 2nd Viscount Astor and the legendary Lady Astor, Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby had one younger brother, styled Lord Willoughby de Eresby, the heir to the Earldom of Ancaster, who was lost at sea in 1963. In 1953, Lady Jane served as one of the six the Maids of Honour at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Upon the death of her father in 1983, the Earldom became extinct but Lasy Jane became the 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, inhertiting 75,000 acres which include Grimsthorpe Castle and Drummond Castle, placing her at 1,572 on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2008. Lady Willoughby de Eresby served as a Deputy Lieutenant for Lincolnshire from 1993 to 2009 and as a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery from 1994 until 2004, and also inherited a share in the office of Lord Great Chamberlain. Unmarried and without any issue, grandsons of her two aunts are co-heirs to the Peerage, though the Estates have managed by trusts.

The magnificent Diamond Floral Tiara is composed of two Diamond Floral sprays with a central open wild rose, which originate from the Dukes of Perth and also the Heathcote Family, thus symbolizing the bond of the Heathcote and Drummond Families over the generations.

Two sprays of mixed flowers, entirely pavéd with diamonds, meet at the large, open wild rose in the center. The sprays can also be worn as brooches. The diamonds, set in flowers, are recorded in the Heathcote inventory of 1786 and have descended in the same family since.

The naturalistic style so typical of eighteenth century taste has hardly ever been out of fashion, which is why these sprays have survived for so long. At the coronation of Edward VII in 1902, the Countess of Ancaster, wife of the Lord Chamberlain in charge of the ceremony wore these sprays as brooches and a tiara of different design on her head.

Her daughter then recorded that one of the sprays had belonged to Clementina Lady Perth and that the large diamond in the centre of the wild rose had been taken from a sword belonging to her husband’s ancestor, the Duke of Perth who had died fighting for the Stuarts at the battle of Culloden in 1745.

The other spray belonged to Lady Heathcote and it had been passed down from each generation of the family to the present owner who wears it mounted on to a frame as a tiara.

In 1930, the 3rd Countess of Ancaster wore the Ancaster Heathcote Tiara as a Corsage Ornament while photographed alongside her mother, Viscountess Astor (wearing her Cartier Tiara with the Sancy Diamond), her sister, Hon. Mrs Robert Brand (in the Cartier Turquoise Tiara), and niece, Nancy Tree, for a Court Presentation at Buckingham Palace.

The 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby notably wore the Ancaster Heathcote Tiara for a portrait taken in 1983, with the other Maids of Honour at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. 

The Ancaster Heathcote Tiara was also worn by Baroness Willoughby de Eresby for a series of portraits taken around 1997.

More recently, the Ancaster Heathcote Tiara was loaned by the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby to her cousin, Rose Astor, for her Wedding to Hugh van Custem in 2005.

In recent years, the Ancaster Heathcote Tiara has been confused with the Diamond Floral Tiara worn by the current Marchioness of Cholmondeley, but despite the family ties, they are two separate pieces.

The Ancaster Heathcote Tiara has been exhibited on a handful of occasions in recent years and has also been photographed for books. As Baroness Willoughby de Eresby has no direct heirs, the ultimate fate of this Tiara is unknown, but it may possibly belong to the Trust which owns Grimsthorpe Castle and Drummond Castle.

Ancaster Heathcote Tiara | Cartier Turquoise Tiara

Ancaster Heathcote Tiara

Cartier Turquoise Tiara

The Astor Tiara