The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara was just one of Queen Mary's wedding gifts in 1893. A committee of girls of, you guessed it, Great Britain and Ireland, charred by Lady Eve Greville. The committee raised over £5,000 ($7,818) and purchased this tiara from Garrard. At the request of the then princess, the remaining funds were donated to charity.
The tiara is a diamond design of festoons (the part of the tiara that arches down, just above the bandeau) and scrolls set on a bandeau base of round and lozenge-shaped (the almost sideways diamond-looking shapes at the bottom). The tiara was originally topped with nine large pearl finials, and it could also be originally be worn as a necklace. In 1914, Mary removed the pearl finials (the pearls were later used in the Cambridge "Lover's Knot" Tiara) and replaced them with simpler diamonds (the diamonds were taken from the dismantled County of Surrey Tiara). Mary also removed the base of the tiara and used it as a separate bandeau.
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| Queen Mary wearing The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. In the pictures of the left, the original pearl finials can be seen. |
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In 1947, Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), as a wedding present. It is said that Elizabeth affectionately called it "Granny's tiara." With tiara occasions resurfacing after the war had ended, the tiara became frequently worn. There's some mystery surrounding the separation of the bandeau and the tiara. Elizabeth later indicated that she didn't know that the tiara even had a base until her grandmother had passed in 1953. However, the bandeau is on display with the other wedding gifts of Elizabeth and Philip at St. James Palace.
Starting in 1969, Queen Elizabeth started pairing the bandeau and the tiara again.
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| Elizabeth wearing The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara without the bandeau |
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| Elizabeth wearing The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara with the bandeau |
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