Today marks the 140th Anniversary of the Birth of Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill, who was born on this day in 1885! The aristocratic wife of Sir Winston Churchill who was granted a life peerage in her final decade, Lady Churchill once wore this striking ‘Pearl and Diamond’ Tiara!

Cartier Essex Tiara | Tiara | Orléans Emerald Necklace

Unlike her predecessors and successor, Lady Churchill did not posses a personal Tiara at a time when that was a requirement for the spouse of the Prime Minister. For the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, Lady Churchill borrowed the spectacular Cartier Essex Tiara.

Later in 1953, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley loaned the Orléans Emerald Necklace and Tiara to Lady Churchill for the Nobel Prize Ceremony, when she received the Prize from King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden on behalf of Sir Winston.

Lady Churchill was accompanied by her youngest daughter, Mary Soames, later Baroness Soames, who wore this striking Pearl and Diamond Tiara of unknown provenance, which seems to have been a faux piece.

Two years later, Lady Churchill wore the same faux Tiara for the Banquet held at 10 Downing Street on the eve of Sir Winston’s Retirement in 1955, just a few days after Lady Churchill’s 70th Birthday.   

A mysterious twist comes in the form of Princess Marie Louise, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who seems to have worn the same faux Tiara, sans Pearls, for a Gala in October 1956, just a few weeks before she passed away. It is not known whether the faux Tiara had several copies floating around in London society, or if Princess Marie Louise wore the same Tiara as Lady Churchill and her daughter.

A few years later, Lady Churchill was pictured wearing another Tiara of unknown origin to attend the Order of the British Empire Service at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1960.

Cartier Essex Tiara | Tiara | Orléans Emerald Necklace

Cartier Essex Tiara