Queen Marie of Romania’s Turquoise Tiara

Next week marks 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Marie of Romania, who was born on this day in 1875! Queen Victoria’s granddaughter who became the popular Queen of the Balkan Nation, ensuring massive territorial gains after the First World War, Queen Marie had a splendid Jewellery Collection, which began with this Turquoise Tiara!

When Princess Marie of Edinburgh married Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania in 1893, she received a spectacular Diamond Loop Tiara as a wedding gift from her mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, Duchess of Edinburgh, which accompanied this Turquoise Tiara and Parure given as a wedding gift from her father, which had been made by Carrington in London. Queen Marie later wrote:

Mamma gave me a wonderful trousseau – a real princess’s trousseau. There were also innumerable wedding presents, some magnificent, some beautiful, some humble and touching; this was all very exciting. I was a real daughter of Eve and loved clothes, furs, and precious gems. Several times a day I would put on a new dress. I took a childish pleasure in all my new dresses and beautiful jewels – and Mamma had been extraordinarily prodigal, giving me many of her magnificent Russian gems.”

The Jewels were also described by Crown Prince Ferdinand to his uncle, King Carol:

Missy has already received a part of her presents from her parents, including a full parure of turquoises from her father and a diadem, alongside other jewels, from her mother. The presents from all across England are pouring in; there are already about 120 pieces, some of them incredibly valuable.”

Crown Princess Marie wore the Turquoise Tiara and Parure for an official portrait not long after her wedding, which seems to be its most prominent appearance.

While not worn very often for photos, the Turquoise Tiara was among the jewels displayed at a charity exhibition in Coburg in 1903, alongside the spectacular collections of her mother and sisters as well as her Diamond Loop Tiara.

The next year, Crown Princess Marie had the Turquoise Tiara and Parure remounted into a new Tiara by Kreuter & Co, Hanau, which was a gift from Crown Prince Ferdinand, as she described to her mother on her birthday in 1904:

My dear Mama,

Your lovely brooch was a delightful surprise. Its a beautiful thing and delights me beyond words. It’s a splendid thing and it’s too good of you to give me such a beautiful present.

I woke up with glorious sunshine today after many nasty wet days and it makes everything so very much more cheery. I got some awfully nice presents and many beautiful flowers.

Nando did not give me anything as I asked him to have my turquoises mounted for me as Christmas and birthday present combined, as he can’t spend much upon presents. I wanted to have the turquoises mounted into a bigger crown as the other was so small that it disappeared in my hair. so I put the necklace and diadem together to make one thing. The children offered me each touching little cadeaux”

Crown Princess Marie wore the new coronet-like Turquoise Tiara composed of seven detachable crosses for a series of official portraits taken around 1910.

With the outbreak of the First World War, which Romania joined in 1916, the now Queen Marie sent all of jewels, including the Turquoise Tiara, along with Romania’s gold reserves to Russia for safekeeping, especially as much of Romania was soon occupied and the Royal Family had to retreat to Moldavia. However, while Romania emerged victorious from the War and almost doubled its territory, thanks to Queen Marie’s efforts, Russia had undergone their Revolutions, and the Bolsheviks had confiscated Queen Marie’s Jewels, which were never returned. Efforts to recover the jewels have been made as recently as 2018, but their eventual fate is unknown. Queen Marie later recalled:

I took a quite childish pleasure in my new dresses and beautiful jewels. Mama had been extraordinarily prodigal, giving many of her own magnificent Russian gems. These have all now been annexed by the Bolsheviks. It was difficult to realise that they were all mine.

To replace her jewellery collection, Queen Marie had to acquire the Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik, a Cartier Pearl Tiara, a massive Cartier Sapphire Pendant and a Diamond Sautoir among other jewels.

Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik