The Portland Tiara was a diamond-encrusted gold and silver tiara made by Cartier for Winifred, Duchess of Portland to wear at the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1902. It was exhibited at the Harley Gallery and Foundation's Portland Collection from 2016 until it was stolen and broken up in November 2018. The tiara was estimated to be worth £3.75 million. [1]
In 1902, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland commissioned Cartier to make the tiara for Winifred, his wife, to wear at the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Winifred was one of the duchesses who held a canopy over Alexandra during her anointing ceremony. [2] Afterwards, some of the gems were removed from the tiara to make a brooch. The gems are absent in a 1925 portrait of Duchess Winifred wearing the tiara. [3]
In 2016, the Harley Gallery and Foundation opened the Portland Collection Gallery within the estate of Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire. [4] The tiara and brooch were displayed in an armoured glass case. On 20 November 2018, thieves entered the gallery at around 22:00, broke into the display case using power tools and took the tiara and brooch. [5] Security personnel arrived 90 seconds after the alarms went off, but the perpetrators managed to escape. [6] Four people were arrested on 3 December 2018 on suspicion of burglary. [7] At their trial in 2022, the prosecution said the Portland Tiara and brooch were taken to a workshop in London's Hatton Garden jewellery quarter within hours of the burglary. [1] On 8 July 2022, three men were found guilty of stealing the tiara and brooch, which it is believed were transferred from London to Turkey. [8]
The tiara was covered with brilliant cushion- and briolette-cut diamonds. The briolettes were supplied to Cartier by the Duke of Portland and probably date from the 17th century. [2] The centrepiece was the Portland Diamond, which dates from the 19th century. It was flanked by two diamond drops and other pendant diamonds, all set in gold and silver. [9]
A tiara is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women at formal occasions. The basic shape of the modern tiara is a (semi-)circle, usually made of silver, gold or platinum, and richly decorated with precious stones, pearls or cameos.
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Ivy Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland DBE was Duchess of Portland from 1943 – 1977 and afterwards Dowager Duchess. She initiated the Harley Foundation, "to encourage creativity".
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Winifred Anna Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland was a British humanitarian and animal welfare activist.
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The Harley Gallery and Foundation is an educational charity situated on the ducal estate of Welbeck Abbey in North Nottinghamshire.
The Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary occurred in April 2015, when an underground safe deposit facility in Hatton Garden, London, owned by Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd., was burgled.
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