One of Queen Elizabeth's favourite tiaras is the "Vladimir" tiara, which used to belong to the Russian Romanov family.
It was originally made for the Grand Duchess Vladimir, who was the wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, (the third son of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and uncle of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia).
When the Russian revolution happened in 1917, she sent one son (the Grand Duke Boris) to London, but remained in Russia with her other son Grand Duke Kirill, whom she hoped to make Tsar when things settled down.
But as a precaution, she sent all her jewelry to her son in London.
By 1920, she had given up trying to reverse the revolution and fled west where she paid her living expenses by selling her jewelry.
She sold the pearl and diamond Vladimir tiara to Queen Mary (wife of George V of Britain, and grandmother to Elizabeth II).
The tiara was a little damaged, and while getting it fixed, Queen Mary ordered some modifications. She owned some emeralds and arranged for the tiara to be worn with pearl drops, emerald drops, or none at all. See below:
It remains one of the Queen's favourite tiaras, which she has worn again and again over the course of her reign.
