A Forgotten Royal Tiara, A Malaysian Palace, And An Exhibition In Melbourne

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When the National Gallery of Victoria opens its doors to Cartier on 12 June 2026, visitors will walk through a survey of more than 300 extraordinary objects — precious jewels, historic gemstones, iconic watches and clocks — spanning over a century of one of the world’s most recognised luxury houses.

The exhibition, created by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in partnership with the NGV and in collaboration with Cartier, is billed as an Australian exclusive.

For most Malaysians, Melbourne is not an unfamiliar destination.

Arrivals from Malaysia reached 213,681 for the year ending December 2025, a five per cent increase compared to the previous year, according to Tourism Australia.

Seven in 10 Malaysian leisure travellers return for another visit, and Melbourne ranks among their preferred cities.

But there is a more specific reason why this particular exhibition resonates more closely with home.

A Tiara That Vanished From Record — and Reappeared in Pahang

In October 2024, royal observer Saad Salman — who runs the website The Royal Watcher and is acquainted with members of the Malaysian royal family — reported that a diamond tiara believed to be Queen Mary’s Diamond Lozenge Bandeau had reappeared at a Malaysian royal ceremony.

The Cartier-designed tiara had been commissioned by Queen Mary, wife of King George V, in the early 1910s.

She was photographed wearing it at public appearances throughout the 1930s, including the Leicester Square premiere of The Ghost Goes West in 1935 and a charity gala at London’s Savoy Hotel in 1939.

In 1948, she loaned it to her granddaughter Princess Margaret, who wore it at the inauguration of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.

Its last confirmed public appearance was in a 1965 portrait of Princess Margaret.

For nearly six decades, royal watchers assumed it remained locked in the British royal vaults.

A Conclusion, Not a Certification

Instead, according to Salman’s account, the tiara was sold at a New York auction in 1988.

Princess Chulabhorn Walailak — Her Royal Highness, the youngest daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Queen Sirikit — recommended that the then-Queen Consort of Pahang, Tengku Ampuan Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, purchase it.

She did, and over the following three decades, the tiara was worn at Malaysian royal occasions including weddings, banquets and official portraits.

It was reidentified when Tengku Natasya Adnan, princess of the Sultanate of Pahang, wore it at her Istiadat Berinai — a traditional Malay ceremony held prior to a wedding.

Salman, who visited the Pahang palace to examine the piece, wrote: “I went to the Palace last night, where the Queen and I have excitedly come upon the conclusion that her Diamond Bandeau must be the one from Queen Mary, as we cannot find any differences.”

It is important to note that the identification has not been independently verified by Cartier or a third-party gemologist; it is based on a detailed comparison of historical photographs conducted by Salman and Queen Azizah of Pahang.

The Art Behind the Object

The NGV exhibition traces Cartier’s evolution from its early years at the turn of the 20th century through to its most contemporary creations.

Alongside jewels, it includes design drawings from the Cartier archives, offering what the gallery describes as “a rare glimpse into their exceptional craftsmanship.”

The exhibition design is a collaboration between the NGV, Studio Sabine Marcelis and CLOUD, two multidisciplinary design practices based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

For readers unfamiliar with the design world, this pairing is worth unpacking, because it signals that Cartier didn’t just hire decorators.

They hired artists who speak the same language as the jewels themselves.

Loans have been drawn from private and institutional collections across Europe, the United States and Asia, as well as from the Cartier Heritage Collection.

Tickets are priced from AUD43 for adults and AUD19 for children aged five to 15.

From Pahang to Melbourne, Via Paris

Malaysian travellers spent close to AUD870 million on Australian trips for the year ending September 2025, according to Tourism Australia.

Leisure travel accounts for 52 per cent of expenditure, with education-related travel contributing a further 30 per cent.

The Cartier exhibition runs through the Australian winter and into spring — a window that aligns with Malaysian school holidays and a period when travel to Melbourne traditionally peaks.

The story of the Diamond Lozenge Bandeau — commissioned in London, worn by British royalty, sold quietly in New York, and carried to a palace in Pahang — is not the subject of the NGV exhibition.

But it is, perhaps, an illustration of what the exhibition is ultimately about: that the objects Cartier made did not stay where they were made.

They moved, changed hands, and found their way into the lives of people far beyond the salons of Paris and London.

Cartier opens at NGV International in Melbourne on 12 June and runs until 4 October.

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A Forgotten Royal Tiara, A Malaysian Palace, And An Exhibition In Melbourne
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