King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, arrived in the German capital Berlin for a three-day trip yesterday afternoon and were given a huge ceremonial welcome with military honours at the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate.
Later on, they attended a State Banquet welcoming the Royals on their first day of the trip hoping to strengthen the relationship between the UK and Germany post-Brexit.
Camilla sparkled in a shimmering gown at the State Banquet, which she accesorised with one of the biggest sparklers in Britain.
Diamond experts at Steven Stone have revealed everything you need to know about the dazzling tiara.
The Queen Consort was wearing the Greville tiara, which is also known as the Boucheron honeycomb tiara.
The tiara consists of a honeycomb and lozenge design with diamonds set in platinum. The edges of the settings around all the stones are millegrain, which gives the effect of even smaller stones framing the larger ones.
The tiara wasn’t always a royal piece. It was made in 1921 by Boucheron for the Hon. Mrs. Greville – a society hostess who was a friend of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth – who left it to Queen Elizabeth when she passed away in 1942.
Reportedly a complete overhaul of another diamond tiara from Mrs Greville’s collection, the Queen Mother did make some alterations to the tiara. In 1953, she turned to Cartier to add some height to it by having some diamonds reconfigured from the top line of the piece. Four round diamond brilliants and a marquise-cut diamond were added to the tiara as part of the redesign.
The tiara became one of the Queen Mother’s favourite pieces and she wore it to a wealth of events across the years – from state visits to concerts and film premieres. Most notably, she wore it to her 100th birthday celebrations.
Queen Elizabeth II would later inherit the tiara from her Mother and loan it to Camilla when she married the then Prince Charles in 2005. It soon became one of Camilla’s favourite pieces and since becoming a member of the Royal Family, she’s worn it to almost every white-tie occasion.
“When the Queen Consort attended last night’s State Banquet, she did so in style and was sporting one of the biggest sparklers in Britain – the Greville Tiara, which is also known as the Boucheron honeycomb tiara.
The tiara consists of a honeycomb and lozenge design with diamonds set in platinum. The edges of the settings around all the stones are millegrain, which gives the effect of even smaller stones framing the larger ones.
The tiara wasn’t always a royal piece. It was made in 1921 by Boucheron for the Hon. Mrs. Greville – a society hostess who was a friend of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth – who left it to Queen Elizabeth when she passed away in 1942. Queen Elizabeth II would later inherit it from her Mother and loan it to Camilla when she married the then Prince Charles in 2005.
Featuring 200 carats worth of diamonds, the tiara is nothing short of impressive. Though it’s difficult to put a price on a huge piece like this, I’d estimate it to be worth £15 million.”
maxwell stone, creative director, steven stone
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