Aga Khan III. with his first wife Andree Carron, 1932
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Owning some of the most extravagant and fabulous pieces of jewellery in the world just comes with the territory when you are married to the Aga Khan. Such was the case for Princess Andrée, the Parisian shop owner turned royal, who became the third wife of Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III, in 1929.
Amongst her trousseau was an Egyptian style diamond and platinum tiara from Cartier, bought by her new husband in 1934. It features stylised lotus flowers set onto a diamond band, and is intended to be worn high on the head.
Aga Khan Tiara
Courtesy of Cartier
The daughter of the desk manager at the Grand Palace Hotel of Aix-les-Bains in France, Andrée Carron became one of the world’s richest and most glamorous women upon her marriage to the Aga Khan. The ceremony, which lasted for seven days, took place in Bombay on 18 December 1929, with the great and the good of high society in attendance.
The couple had one son, Prince Sadruddin. Yet the princess never grew accustomed to the life of luxury she was now entitled to, and the couple divorced after 14 years of marriage. She returned to France, where she died in Cannes, aged 70.
Following her death, her son inherited the tiara, but after he died heirless in 2003, it was lost for several years. Thankfully, it resurfaced a decade later, being showcased by Cartier at Haute Joaillerie exhibition from 2013-2014. It is currently held in the Alexandria Royal Jewellery Museum Collection.
