Today marks the 140th Anniversary of the Birth of Princess Alice of Greece, who was born at Windsor Castle on this day in 1885! The deaf Battenberg Princess who married a Greek Prince before sheltering a Jewish Family from the Nazis, becoming a nun and the Queen’s mother-in-law, Princess Andrew possessed some spectacular jewels, which was headed by this Aquamarine Tiara and Parure!
Aquamarine Tiara and Parure | Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara | Leaf Coronet | Diamond Necklace Tiara | Pearl Star Tiara | Queen’s Engagement Ring | Wedding Gift Bracelet
When Princess Alice of Battenberg, daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse, married Prince Andrew of Greece, son of King George I and Queen Olga of Greece, in Darmstadt in 1903, she received this spectacular Aquamarine and Diamond Parure given by Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, the uncle and aunt of the bride. Likely made by Fabergé, the Parure consisted of a Tiara topped with large Aquamarines, an Aquamarine and Diamond Necklace, a pair of Earrings, a Bracelet and a large Brooch.
Princess Alice was close to her uncle Tsar Nicholas II and after the three three separate Wedding ceremonies in Darmstadt, hit him on the head with a shoe:
Shoes were tied to the back of the carriage. When they set off, rice and slippers were thrown at them. Ernie and the Tsar were to the fore, rushing after them into the crowd, hotly pursued by excited policemen and plain- clothes Russian detectives, clutching umbrellas. Mark Kerr told the tale:
The Emperor went straight for the backs of the people, who were anxiously awaiting the passing of the Royal carriage. Putting his head down, he rammed them and gradually pushed his way through the six files of human beings, shedding the children from his coat-tails on the way, and reached the street at the moment when the carriage was going by with Princess Alice bowing her acknowledgments to the cheering crowd. At this moment she received the full bag of rice, which the Emperor had carried, in her face, followed by the satin shoe. Casting dignity aside she caught the shoe, and leaning over the back of the carriage hit the Emperor on the head with it, at the same time telling him exactly what she thought of him, which so over-came him that he stood still in the middle of the road shrieking with laughter.
After this the bride and groom transferred into their new Wolseley car, a gift from the Tsar in a soberer moment before he began to enjoy the wedding, and departed for the Heiligenberg.
Princess Alice most notably wore the Aquamarine Tiara and Parure for a series of portraits taken in the years soon after her marriage, when the couple were settled in Athens.
Princess Alice took the Aquamarine Tiara and Parure with her when exiled from Greece in 1921, most notably wearing them for a portrait around the time of the Wedding of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and her sister, Lady Louise Mountbatten, in 1923.
The Aquamarine Tiara and Parure were among the jewels deposited by Prince Andrew in a bank in Paris when Princess Alice was admitted into an asylum, remaining there through the Second World War until being retrieved by Princess Alice in early 1947.
Her jewels had been deposited in the Paris branch of the Westminster Bank in Andrea’s name since 1930 when she went to Kreuzlingen and the house at St Cloud was closed down. Signatures were needed from Philip and the three daughters, after which she could take possession of them. Theodora and Sophie signed promptly, while Margarita demurred, even making a claim on the estate. Eventually she too signed.
Princess Alice seems to have worn the Aquamarine and Diamond Necklace for the Wedding of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark and Major Richard Brandram at the Royal Palace of Athens in April 1947.
In the summer of 1947, when her only son, Prince Philip, was about to propose to the future Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Alice had the Aquamarine Tiara dismantled to create the Engagement Ring.
In June she was involved in the matter of an engagement ring. Alice took some of her diamonds to the jeweller Philip Antrobus at 6 Old Bond Street and had these designed as an engagement ring, a large diamond in the middle, surrounded by a cluster of five smaller stones, as Philip dare not show his face at jewellers, for fear of being recognized. I think the ring is a great success.’ The jeweller was later quoted in the press saying that he had no idea for whom the ring was intended.
She visited Louise in Sweden and in October she went to Paris once more to collect her dress and finally her jewels. When the jewels were valued, there were some nasty surprises: Andrea’s star of the Elephant of Denmark was missing and another star proved to have paste diamonds (Andrea having sold the originals and replaced them). At least Alice’s Imperial Russian Order was in good condition. ‘My St Catherine’s star had exceptionally fine, white diamonds, much finer than Auntie Ellen’s even,’ she wrote to Philip.
By the time of the wedding in November, the remaining diamonds from the Tiara were used to create a magnificent Art Deco Diamond Bracelet, crafted by the jeweller Philip Antrobus, which was worn by the late Queen throughout her life.
The fate of the Aquamarines is unknown but may have been among the jewels sold by Princess Alice when she established her Orthodox Nursing Order, The Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, shocking her mother, who exclaimed;
“Who ever heard of a nun who smokes and plays canasta”
A similar necklace, set with sapphires instead of aquamarines, was sold at Auction in 1974, marked A. Holmström of Fabergé, which has gained popularity as being from Princess Alice’s Parure, so much so that a Brooch in that style was recreated for Netflix’s the Crown.
The Diamond Meander Tiara given by Princess Alice as a Wedding Gift to the Queen was not worn by her but has now been in the possession of Princess Anne for the past six decades.
While the Queen’s Engagement Ring has not been seen since her death in 2022, in recent years, the Wedding Gift Bracelet has been worn by the Princess of Wales and will no doubt continue to be worn for years to come!
Aquamarine Tiara and Parure | Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara | Leaf Coronet | Diamond Necklace Tiara | Pearl Star Tiara | Aquamarine Tiara | Queen’s Engagement Ring | Wedding Gift Bracelet
