Biography queen alexandras russian kokoshnik
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Georgina Salisbury assumed that, as the wife of the prime minister, she would be the natural choice to present the gift. She wore it on multiple occasions during her Commonwealth Tour in 1953-54, including the opening of parliament in Melbourne. Although Alexandra did not often wear the kokoshnik-style tiara after her husband became King, Mary did frequently wear it for portraits as Queen.
When her second son took the throne in 1936, Mary had to give much of her jewellery to the new queen, Elizabeth.
The tiara’s appearances after Alexandra’s death
Following Queen Alexandra’s passing in 1925, the tiara was inherited by Queen Mary.
Roberts correctly notes that Elizabeth has often worn it with her diamond festoon necklace, but she’s also paired it with numerous other necklaces, including the Coronation Necklace, her v-shaped ruby and diamond necklace, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace, the Brazilian aquamarine necklace, the George VI sapphires, and—appropriately—Queen Alexandra’s Dagmar Necklace.
After Queen Elizabeth II’s passing in 2022, the tiara was part of the enormous collection of jewelry that was inherited by her son, King Charles III.
His wife, Queen Camilla, wore the tiara for the first time in public at a state banquet honoring the Emir of Qatar in December 2024, bringing the tiara into the collection of a fourth British queen.
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Design of Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara
The original kokoshnik tiara featured 77 diamond-encrusted fringe bars, containing more than 400 diamonds.
She wore the tiara for countless state banquets and events throughout her reign. She wore it for several notable events, including meeting with the Pope in 1959.
The tiara was a personal possession of Queen Elizabeth II and so was hers to leave as she saw fit. Unlike floral or scrolling motifs seen in other tiaras, such as the Lover’s Knot Tiara, this piece relies on clean, linear design, allowing the diamonds to take centre stage.
In its earliest times, this type of head covering was for married women only. It is composed of a series of straight spikes, the longest being in front, and the size diminishing towards the back. As Hugh Roberts notes, Mary also wore the tiara in portraits taken to mark her 80th birthday in 1947.
Queen Mary died in 1953, and along with most of the rest of her property, she bequeathed the tiara to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
The piece quickly became a central part of Elizabeth’s jewelry collection. At some point, Alexandra also had additional alterations made to the tiara. It has appeared on foreign tours and visits, at royal premieres and performances, and at state banquets both in Britain and abroad.
The all-diamond tiara has proven a versatile part of the Queen’s collection, partly because it pairs so well with numerous other gemstones.
Between 1888 and 1898, Alexandra’s mother, Queen Louise of Denmark, was photographed in the tiara. It is oval in shape, and can be worn either on the head or round the neck. Lady Salisbury organised a group of 365 peeresses who donated funds to purchase a tiara to gift to Alexandra to mark the occasion (the tiara was accompanied by a pair of floret diamond earrings).
The Princess specifically requested the kokoshnik style.
(I think the photograph was taken before 1895, before the new frame was made, as the bars of the tiara are not tightly bunched.) The profile portrait was a study taken for the artist Josef Theodor Hansen. The jeweler also supplied a fitted box for the piece, plus an album with the signatures of each woman who had donated money toward the gift.
It was given as a personal inheritance, rather than as an Heirloom of the Crown. The final cost was just around £4,400.
But, as is often the case when many voices are involved in making a decision (or buying a very big royal gift), the committee began squabbling about who was going to get to present the tiara to the Princess.
So it easily distinguished them from the married women of the day.
Taking a Turn in Diamonds
When the Russian national culture revival emerged in the early 19th century, kokoshnik-like tiaras became the official headdress for Russian royalty and their ladies in waiting.
After the tragic upheaval surrounding the 1917 Revolution, Russian émigrés popularized the kokoshnik within European countries.
Let’s take a deep dive into this piece’s intriguing history today, shall we?
In 1888, the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom) celebrated their silver wedding anniversary.
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The choice of this motif highlighted Alexandra’s close familial ties to the Russian Imperial Family and her fondness for the culture and fashion of her native Denmark.
This tiara fused the opulence of Russian court jewels with the precision and craftsmanship of Western design, epitomizing the cosmopolitan spirit of its era.
The girl’s version was a bit open in the back too. It’s a literal wall of diamonds.