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4. Queen Adelaide’s Circlet
In 1831, Queen Adelaide dismantled ‘Queen Charlotte’s Stomacher’ which included the Cumberland Diamond, and had all the stones set in ‘Queen Adelaide’s Crown’, which was made especially for her coronation.[1]
This crown was itself subsequently dismantled, and Rundell reset the stones into a circlet, which was described by Gere as “a Grand or Regal Diadem of crosses alternating with fleur-de-lys”.[2]
As this circlet was made using Queen Charlotte’s diamonds, it appears that it subsequently passed to Queen Victoria upon her accession in 1837. Queen Victoria was depicted wearing this circlet in a miniature. She later had the piece dismantled, by Garrard in 1853, using the stones to create ‘Queen Victoria’s Regal Circlet’.[3]
1. Charlotte Gere and John Culme, Garrard: The Crown Jewellers for 150 Years: 1843 – 1993, (London: Quartet Books Ltd., 1993), p. 132
2. Gere and Culme, Garrard, p. 107; Menkes, The Royal Jewels, p. 12
3. Gere and Culme, Garrard, p. 107
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QAdel-4 Queen Adelaide's Circlet - Queen Adelaide's Crown (a hand coloured lithograph)
Queen Adelaide's Crown - emptied of stones - part of the British Crown Jewel Collection
Queen Adelaide - state portrait with crown