Diamonds are easily the most popular jewel in royal collections; royal families have been adding diamonds to their vaults for centuries. Princess Margaret of Connaught’s Diamond Tiara is one of the most unusual diamond tiaras in use today and it’s very popular with Sweden’s royals.
Princess Margaret of Connaught married Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden in 1905 and received the tiara as a wedding gift from the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, her parents.
E. Wolff & Co created this tiara for favourite royal jeweller Garrard and Co. It has five forget-me-not wreaths made of diamonds; each wreath has a pear-shaped diamond suspended from the centre. The base features four diamond bows with a diamond flower anchored in the bow.
The tiara is also incredibly versatile, as it can be worn as a necklace, too.
Crown Princess Margareta, as she was known in her adopted home country of Sweden, wore the tiara frequently, and as a necklace when she attended her brother’s wedding. However, she tragically died in 1920 of sepsis.
B(y Frankie Fouganthin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Several members of the Swedish Royal Family have favoured the Connaught Diamond Tiara since. Princess Sibylla, mother of King Carl XVI Gustaf, frequently wore the tiara until her death in 1972. Princess Christina, the King of Sweden’s sister, wore it for her wedding while Princess Lillian, his aunt by marriage, also favoured the tiara.
Queen Silvia now wears the tiara regularly; her daughters, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine, have also donned the floral sparkler.
