Commissioned in 1861 by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, for their daughter Alice, the piece features a delicate interlacing of foliage and strawberry leaves set with diamonds. It was to be presented to her on her wedding day.
But a few weeks before the ceremony, Prince Albert died suddenly, likely of typhoid fever. The wedding was then held in private at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, in an atmosphere of such mourning that it would long be considered the saddest royal wedding of the Victorian era.
What followed only served to reinforce the tiara’s reputation. Two of Alice’s four children died in infancy: one after an accidental fall, the other from diphtheria. Princess Alice herself succumbed to disease at the age of just 35, on December 14, 1878—exactly seventeen years to the day after her father’s death.
Passed down to her son Ernest Louis of Hesse, the tiara was worn by his wife, Victoria Melita. Once again, fate seemed to strike: their only daughter died of typhoid fever, and the couple divorced a few years later.
In 1937, Princess Cecile of Greece and Denmark wore it at the coronation of George VI. A few weeks later, while pregnant, she perished along with her husband, their two sons, and several members of their entourage in a plane crash in Belgium.
The Black Orlov, the Brahma Diamond
Nicollette Sheridan wore the historic Black Orlov diamond necklace in 2006.
Amy Graves
According to legend, the Black Orlov once adorned the statue of Brahma, the creator god of Hinduism, in a temple in southern India. Its history is said to have taken a dramatic turn when a monk stole it, unleashing a curse that would haunt all who possessed it.
The black diamond’s reputation took shape in the early 20th century. Three of its owners met their deaths under tragic circumstances. Among them were the Russian princesses Leonila Galitsine-Bariatinsky and Nadia Vygin-Orlov, who both reportedly committed suicide after coming into possession of the stone. These tragedies were enough to give rise to the legend of a cursed gem.
