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Lady Alexandra of Tunis and the Lucan/Bingham tiara
Posted by Beth on August 5, 2020, 4:50 pm
Over the years I have kept an eye open to see if any more of the tiaras spotted at the gala opera evening for the Queen's Coronation celebrations (the Gloriana opera) could be identified.
One of the more sparkling jewels was worn by Lady Alexander of Tunis, the wife of the celebrated war hero, Earl Alexander of Tunis.
A video showing guests at the opera.
Lady Alexander
There are some better views of this tiara in other videos, but I have not done still shots.
Lady Alexander was Lady Margaret Bingham, daughter of the 5th Earl of Lucan.
For the Coronation celebrations she borrowed a tiara owned by her brother, George, the 6th Earl who succeeded to the title in 1949. While, I have no definite proof at this time, I suspect that this may have been the principal tiara belonging to the family.
It was worn by Veronica Duncan, the wife of the 7th Earl for her wedding in November 1963.
Lady Lucan 1963
Re: Lady Alexandra of Tunis and the Lucan/Bingham tiara
oooooh Lady Veronica Lucan.....google her interview she did before her death on the BBC. They never found Lord Lucan's body!
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Over the years I have kept an eye open to see if any more of the tiaras spotted at the gala opera evening for the Queen's Coronation celebrations (the Gloriana opera) could be identified.
One of the more sparkling jewels was worn by Lady Alexander of Tunis, the wife of the celebrated war hero, Earl Alexander of Tunis.
A video showing guests at the opera.
Lady Alexander
There are some better views of this tiara in other videos, but I have not done still shots.
Lady Alexander was Lady Margaret Bingham, daughter of the 5th Earl of Lucan.
For the Coronation celebrations she borrowed a tiara owned by her brother, George, the 6th Earl who succeeded to the title in 1949. While, I have no definite proof at this time, I suspect that this may have been the principal tiara belonging to the family.
It was worn by Veronica Duncan, the wife of the 7th Earl for her wedding in November 1963.
Lady Lucan 1963
Re: Lady Alexandra of Tunis and the Lucan/Bingham tiara
I've no idea if it was lent by the Lucans to Lady Alexander or the other way round, but the tiara was not only worn by Veronica Duncan at her wedding to Richard Bingham (later the 7th Earl of Lucan) in 1963, but also by the 7th Earl's sister, Lady Sarah Bingham when she married Rev. William Gilbert Gibbs in 1958.
On the other hand, when the Earl and Countess Alexander of Tunis' son Shane married Hilary van Geest in 1971, the bride wore a different tiara.
This tiara was later used by both his daughters from his second marriage to Hon. Davinia Woodhouse.
Lady Rose Margaret Alexander wore it at her wedding to James Du Boulay in 2015, her younger sister Lady Lucy Caroline Alexander when she married James Agar, Viscount Somerton in 2012.
Re: Lady Alexandra of Tunis and the Lucan/Bingham tiara
Countess Alexander was also pictured wearing another Tiara (elements of which look similar to the Waldegrave Tiara) at an event with Lady Mountbatten (in her Pearl and Diamond Tiara) in either 1950 or 1956 (Getty has different years on two images from the same event)!
Thank you Mauriz for those very interesting photos. I had completely missed them. I suspect that the two different tiaras worn by the brides in the two (but interconnected families) indicate which family owns which -- but, of course, I might be jumping to conclusions!
Thank you for that image The Royal Watcher. The tiara worn by Lady Alexander does indeed have some elements resembling the tiara worn by Lady Susan Hussey.
The date for the photos of Lady Mountbatten and Lady Alexandra and the separate one of Lady Mountbatten published by Getty is 2 July 1956.
For the dinner of the Canadian Women's Club in July 1956 Edwina Mountbatten, along with Lady Kilmuir, was a guest speaker.
There were usually two annual dinners: one for men and one for women. They were dining clubs, rather than official Commonwealth of Nations organisations, although no doubt the links were close.
The report I read said that, in 1956, the women's club was then 24 years old. The men's club, which held a separate dinner, was a lot older. It is an interesting reflection of how women were viewed at the time, and how women's organistions had started to assert the position of women.
The two photos from 1956 of Edwina Mountbatten. It is obvious from the dress and jewels that they are from the same event.
A separate news item after the death of Edwina Mountbatten shows one of the same photos. It was noted that the photo was from 1956.
on August 5, 2020, 4:50 pm
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