Seems that there is confusion on various websites about those two (or more) fringe tiaras. I find references to ones alternately called "The George III Fringe", "the Hanover Fringe", "Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara" and the "Queen Mary Fringe Tiara". I suspect that several of these tiaras are in fact one and the same.
Some websites say the George III was the one worn by the Queen on her wedding day, while others claim it was Queen Mary's fringe tiara.
Anybody have more definite facts on these?
This is what I know, and I am open to corrections:
The Queen was presented with a diamond fringe necklace as a wedding gift from the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, the Governor of the Bank of England, the Chairman of the Stock Exchange, Lloyds and the Baltic Exchange, and the Committee of the London Clearing Banks and it is likely that it is this one she is wearing in the New Zealand portrait, as it is one she wears quite frequently. (Another diamond fringe necklace was left to the Queen Mother by Princess Victoria of Wales in 1935 and has presumably been inherited by the Queen, so it is possible that it is the one in the photo – however, this is less likely as she tends to go with jewels with particular associations either personal or public and there wouldn't be much with this necklace. Indeed, it might not even be in the royal collection any more if the Queen Mother disposed of it or recycled it before her death).
Queen Victoria left to the crown a diamond fringe necklace made in 1830 from brilliant cut stones that belonged to King George III (hence the name ‘the George III tiara’) and was worn as a tiara by Queen Victoria from 1839. It has passed down from Queen Alexandra to Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and now the Queen. This was the tiara she wore at her wedding as ‘something borrowed’, and it is likely that this is the tiara she wears in the New Zealand photo.
Queen Alexandra’s fringe tiara is different in design from these three others (I am guessing the Princess Victoria necklace is/was similar to the other two 'spikey' ones), as it consists of solid bars, and in fact is usually called the Russian Kokoshnik Tiara. It was a silver wedding present to Alexandra Princess of Wales, as she then was, from 365 peeresses of the United Kingdom, in 1888. Queen Mary inherited it from Queen Alexandra, and the Queen inherited it from Queen Mary. There are many, many pictures of this tiara in the forum and all over the internet but I include just one, for reference:
