Following her
elaborate tour of India in 1961, The Queen's next visit to India came in November of 1983. The state visit coincided with that year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held in New Delhi, and served as the tail end to a larger tour that included state visits to Kenya and Bangladesh.
There were at least two evening events during the trip (plus, of course, the
traditional CHOGM banquet with all the present leaders), and both included wonderful colored stone sets without their usual tiara pairings. Depending on your tiara tastes, this might make for an improvement. You decide...
For the state banquet, The Queen left her sapphire tiara at home and instead paired the
George VI Sapphire Necklace and Earrings with
Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara. I love this, perhaps even more than when she pairs these jewels with the
Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara - the simple lines of the Kokoshnik really let the sapphires stand out. Knowing that the Modern Sapphire Tiara isn't a favorite for one and all, I wonder if this match improves the sapphire set for you? (You can also just barely see what looks like her
Sapphire Cluster Ring on her hand.)
I find myself in a similar situation with Her Maj's choice for another evening event, the
necklace and earrings from the Brazilian Aquamarine Parure. Personally, I am really (okay,
really) not a fan of the tiara that was created for this parure. Seeing the other pieces without it always increases my admiration for the stones themselves - because they are, no matter your design preferences, unimpeachably impressive. Agreed?
Photos: via Getty Images
