Happy Birthday to the Duchess of Devonshire, who turns 80 today! The aristocrat married into the illustrious Cavendish family, who is the chatelaine of Chatsworth and a patron of contemporary art and sculpture, the Duchess has worn several of the family heirlooms, the most prominent of which is the Devonshire Diamond Rivière!
Duchess of Devonshire’s Tiaras | Devonshire Diamond Rivière | Devonshire Parure | Ruby Clasp | Craven Brooch | Insect Brooches | Aquamarine Brooch
The spectacular Diamond Rivière features twenty-four cushion, shaped diamonds, which were reset into this current configuration in the 1920s, but has been a part of the Cavendish Family Collection for much longer.
An earlier configuration of the Diamond Rivière was prominently worn as a corsage ornament by Evelyn, Duchess of Devonshire at the 1911 Coronation of King George V, when she was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Mary, paired with the Devonshire Coronet and the Devonshire Honeysuckle Tiara as a stomacher.
While she primarily wore her Opal Necklace, Mary, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire wore the Diamond Rivière with the Devonshire Coronet for a series of portraits taken by Cecil Beaton ahead of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, where she was the Mistress of the Robes to Queen.
At the Coronation, the Diamond Rivière was worn by the legendary Deborah, the Duchess of Devonshire, with the Devonshire Honeysuckle Tiara. She attached the Rivière to the neckline of robe once worn by Georgina, 6th Duchess of Devonshire, described as:
…Moucher [Mary Devonshire] was to have the robes that had been carefully put away by Granny Evie in 1937 after King George VI’s coronation. Chatsworth, as always, came to the rescue. There were a number of tin boxes…In the vain hope of finding something for me, we started going through them and, lo and behold, from beneath a ton of tissue paper in the box that had held Moucher’s, appeared a second crimson peeress’s robe. The velvet is of exceptional quality, so soft your fingers hardly know they’re touching it, and of such pure brilliant crimson as to make you blink.”
The Duchess of Devonshire wore the Devonshire Diamond Rivière when she joined the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for the Royal Film Premiere of Peter Glenville’s comedy, ‘Me And The Colonel’ at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square in 1958.
The Duchess also wore the Diamond Rivière with the Devonshire Honeysuckle Tiara again in 1961, for a Dinner at the Dorchester Hotel in London, describing occasions when she wore it in the 1960s:
I remember going to…an entertainment in London in the early 1960’s, by myself as Andrew had an engagement elsewhere. With…confidence I wore the big tiara…When I ran out of partners and wanted to go home, I went out to look for a taxi. It never occurred to me that it might not be a good idea to stand alone in the street, long after midnight, with a load of diamonds around my neck and 1,900 more glittering above my head. Another memorable evening we were staying at Windsor Castle for a dance given by the Queen. I came down to dinner, got up as I thought our hostess and the other guests would be, the big tiara firmly in place. To my horror none of the other women wore theirs. It is far worse to be overdressed than underdressed a I sat through dinner wishing I was anywhere else. When the dancing began, I took it off, put it under a chair and enjoyed myself enormously. I suppose Windsor Castle in the only house where you could be sure of finding the blessed thing still there at bedtime.”
After the Duke’s death in 2004, Duchess Deborah, the Diamond Rivière was among the jewels passed on to to the current Duchess:
“After Andrew’s death, I handed the family jewellery on to my daughter-in-law, Amanda. It was not mine, just as it had not been Moucher’s: it belongs to Chatsworth, to be worn by the wife of the Duke of Devonshire.”
The Duchess wore the the Diamond Rivière for a Concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Duke and Duchess at Chatsworth House in 2017, posing with the Band:
The Bogus Brothers got invited to play at a wide range of events and it was a great honour to perform recently for the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire at their 50th Wedding anniversary party at Chatsworth House. With nearly two thousand guests that included family, friends and staff the event was a grand affair in a huge marquee supplied by our friends at Peppers Marquees (just down the road from us!) situated on the back lawn surrounding the fountain at Chatsworth House. It was a lovely sunny day and the party was certainly one to remember with the Duchess telling the band after our performance that we were “the icing on the cake”.
Also in 2017, the Duchess wore the Diamond Rivière at a Gala celebrating the “House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth” exhibition at Chatsworth. There is no doubt we will continue to see this spectacular heirloom for years to come!
Duchess of Devonshire’s Tiaras | Devonshire Diamond Rivière | Devonshire Parure | Ruby Clasp | Craven Brooch | Insect Brooches | Aquamarine Brooch
Devonshire Tiara
Devonshire Diamond Rivière
Ruby Clasp
Duchess of Devonshire’s Tiaras
Devonshire Parure
Ruby Clasp
Craven Brooch
Insect Brooches
Aquamarine Brooch
