WORKSOP.- The famous Portland Tiara, a national treasure that has been seen by countless members of the public, has been stolen from The Welbeck Estate in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Burglars used power tools to break into the Portland Collection Gallery on the estate between 9.45pm and 10pm on Tuesday night (20 November 2018). They stole the tiara and a diamond brooch from an armoured glass display case while the alarms were sounding.

“Security services missed the thieves by 90 seconds and the police arrived on the scene two minutes later,” said a spokesperson for the Welbeck Estate.

Nottinghamshire Police are investigating and appealing for information about a silver Audi S5 suspected to have been involved in the offence.

“The Portland Tiara is one of the great historic tiaras of Great Britain,” said Richard Edgcumbe, Curator of Jewellery at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. “Since its creation by Cartier in 1902, using diamonds from the historic collections of the Dukes of Portland, it has been recognised as a jewel of supreme importance, a superb design magnificently executed.”

The 6th Duke of Portland commissioned Cartier to create the Portland Tiara for his wife, Winifred, Duchess of Portland. She wore it to the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII. The Duchess was one of four pall-bearers at Queen Alexandra’s anointing.

The centre-piece of the tiara is the Portland Diamond, which dates from the 19th century. It is flanked by two diamond drops and other pendant diamonds, all set in gold and silver.

The burglars also stole a diamond brooch, which was in the same glass display case. The brooch is composed of diamond clusters that previously stood at the apex of the tiara. These gems can be seen on the tiara in a painting of Duchess Winifred at the anointing of Queen Alexandra but are absent from it in a 1925 portrait of the Duchess, in which she wears the tiara low on her head as a bandeau.

A spokesperson for the Welbeck Estate said: “The tiara is part of the historic Portland Collection. It has been on display to the public at Welbeck since March 2016 and was previously loaned to the V&A Museum for its Tiara exhibition in 2002.”

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact police on 101, quoting incident number 856 of 20 November 2018 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.