I've found a better image of Duchess Evelyn in her coronation robes, and while it is not clear enough to examine the links connecting the diamonds, it seems that 1) the space between the diamonds apart from the lower tier is equal throughout the necklace and 2) there are indeed only 24 diamonds.
Another photo of Duchess Mary doesn't allow to count the total of diamonds, but makes clear, that there are more than 24, as does the image of Duchess Deborah in her coronation robes.
So maybe it's the other way round: The original setting was knife edge links between all the diamonds apart from the lower portion to make the necklace long enough despite the limited number of diamonds, and at a later time 8 diamonds were added and the knife edge elements were removed - except in the front portion in order not to increase the gap.
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