The 'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' Tiara was given to the future Queen Mary as a wedding present in 1893. The diamond tiara was purchased from Garrard, the London jeweller, by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville.
In 1947, Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, as a wedding present.
The tiara was described by Leslie Field as "a diamond festoon-and-scroll design surmounted by nine large oriental pearls on diamond spikes and set on a bandeau base of alternate round and lozenge collets between two plain bands of diamonds".
Queen Elizabeth II originally wore the tiara without the base and still usually wears it without the pearls.
A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the tiara, designed by Arnold Machin, has appeared on many Commonwealth currencies, including those of Britain, Australia, Jamaica, Canada and Ceylon.
Famous quotes containing the words girls, britain and/or ireland:
“An eminent teacher of girls said, “the idea of a girl’s education, is, whatever qualifies them for going to Europe.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be “too clever by half.” The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.”
—John Major (b. 1943)
“They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here, and sea fog, and eerie stories. That’s not because there are more ghosts here than in other places, mind you. It’s just that people who live hereabouts are strangely aware of them.”
—Dodie Smith, and Lewis Allen. Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland)