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When people think of the British royal family and jewels, they often think of the Crown Jewels, which are used for state occasions like coronations, and are housed in the Tower of London (where many are on display for the public to view):
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But the royals also have a massive personal jewelry collection for everyday wear - some of it is owned by the Crown and automatically gets passed down to whoever happens to be parked on the throne at the present time, but much of it is privately owned by Queen Elizabeth II, having either been gifted to her or willed to to her by her mother (Elizabeth the Queen Mother) and grandmother (Queen Mary).
It would take ten posts to cover all of the Queen's personal jewels (three just for her brooches alone), so I've tried to pick out some of the more important ones and arranged them by gems, with a triple cut to save browsers. If I've missed any of your favorites, let me know in the comments.
EMERALDS![]()
Delhi Durbar Necklace and BraceletMy personal favorite of all the Queen's jewels, so I'll go into the most detail about it. Liz's grandpa, George V, gave the set to his wife, Queen Mary (above, left), for her 44th birthday (although it was made with her grandmother's own emeralds, which Mary had to ransom back from the mistress of her brother after he died and left her all the family jewels).
Mary is the primary reason that the Queen's private jewelry collection today is so large and valuable: she collected jewels like they were marbles, and George was always eager to make his beloved "May" happy (he was one of the few British monarchs known to have never taken a mistress).
The 8.8-carat diamond pendant on the necklace is the Cullinan VII, one of the smaller of the nine principle gems created when the largest gem-quality diamond ever found, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, was given to George's father Edward VII, as a gift and cut by Joseph Asscher (The massive Cullinans I and II are in the Sovereign's Sceptre and the Imperial State Crown, pictured above, and five of the others are in the Cullinan Brooches, under "Diamonds", below).
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Disco Di (Art Deco Emerald Choker)The Queen inherited this one from Queen Mary, but she never wore it. She loaned it to her daughter-in-law, Princess Diana, long-term when Diana married Prince Charles, and it took on the nickname "Disco Di" when Diana decided to wear it as a headband instead of around her neck for one memorable night on the dance floor. When Diana and Charles separated in 1992, this went back to the Queen's vault.
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Godman Necklace and EarringsIn the late 1960s, the elderly Godman sisters wrote to the Queen and offered to gift her the emerald necklace and earrings that their father had bought on a trip to Bavaria in the 1890s, as they thought the set had been owned by Napoleon's wife Josephine (it hadn't, but she took it anyway).
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Delhi Carved Emerald BroochGifted to Queen Mary by the Ladies of India.
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Cambridge Emerald BroochQueen Mary inherited this from her own mother, the Duchess of Teck. It can be worn with or without the pendant.
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Grand Duchess Vladimir TiaraThe Grand Duchess Vladimir was the aunt of Tsar Nicholas II, who was murdered along with his wife and children by the Bolsheviks in 1918. The Duchess hid this diamond-and-pearl tiara with other jewels in a vault in her Palace before she fled the country as her family was being rounded up, and it was later smuggled out of Russia by an agent of British Secret Intelligence. Queen Mary bought the tiara for £28,000 and had 15 Indian emeralds that she took from another tiara added as an interchangeable alternative to the pearls; the current Queen wears it both ways.
I personally wish that the royal family had held onto Victoria's Emerald Tiara, this glorious piece that was designed for Queen Victoria by her talented husband, Prince Albert. It is believed to be owned by one of her descendants still, but no one knows which one and it is not among the Queen's jewels:
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SAPPHIRES![]()
Dubai Looped Sapphire Demi-ParureSheikh Rashid of Dubai gave this to the Queen during a Middle East tour in 1979; she had to shorten the necklace and used the leftover sapphires to have the earrings made. The original earrings and ring that came with the set were then made into a bracelet.
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George VI SuiteA wedding gift from her father, King George VI, in 1947.
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Prince Albert's Sapphire BroochGiven to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert, the day before their wedding.
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Empress Marie Feodorovna BroochA wedding gift to the Empress from her sister, Princess Alexandra of Wales. It was one of the jewels that made it out of Russia when the Romanovs were overthrown in 1917 and was later bought by Alexandra's daughter-in-law, Queen Mary.
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Pink Sapphire BroochThere doesn't seem to be much of anything known about when or where the Queen acquired this little sparkler, but I love it.
RUBIES![]()
Burmese Ruby TiaraFor her wedding in 1947, Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth was given 96 rubies by the
people of Burma (due to a traditional Burmese belief that rubies ward against disease, and that there are 96 diseases that affect humans). It took her more than 25 years to get around to doing something with them. In 1973, she had this tiara made, using her wedding rubies and diamonds taken from another tiara she had disassembled.
Oof. She should have waited a little longer, until she could have found a tiara designer with some taste. Because this thing on the Queen of England is, imho, like a bedazzled lawn flamingo in front of Buckingham Palace.
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Oriental Circlet TiaraQueen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, designed a number of pieces of jewelry for her. He had this tiara made in 1853 at a cost of £860. It originally featured opals - one of Albert’s favorite stones - but after Victoria left it to the Crown in her will, her daughter-in-law Princess Alexandra, believing opals to be unlucky, replaced them with rubies. Alexandra also greatly reduced the size of the tiara, which once had 17 arches and now has only eleven.
The Oriental Circlet was on permanent loan to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother until her death in 2002 and is now just sitting in the vault, waiting for someone to wear it, since Liz prefers that Burmese Ruby monstrosity above.
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Ruby Demi-ParureThese pieces were bought by Queen Victoria, but they were opals, then. Just as she did with the Oriental Circlet, above, Victoria's daughter-in-law Queen Alexandra changed out the opals for rubies.
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Ruby Swag NecklaceA gift from Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, during a state visit to Britain in 1985.
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Baring Ruby NecklaceBought by the Queen in 1964.
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Grima Ruby BroochUser comments on one site describe this piece - a gift to the Queen from her husband, Prince Philip, in 1964 - in terms ranging from "skinned knee" to "exploding turtle". It's one of the few modern pieces in the Queen's collection.
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County of Cornwall BraceletA wedding gift to Queen Mary from the County of Cornwall.
PEARLS![]()
Cambridge Lover's Knot TiaraCommissioned by Queen Mary in 1913. Although she complained that it was so heavy that it gave her headaches, this was one of two tiaras that Princess Diana wore regularly during her marriage (the other being the
Spencer Tiara belonging to her family, which she wore at her wedding). It was on long-term loan to Diana from the Queen and returned to the royal vault when she and Prince Charles separated in 1992.
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Queen Victoria’s 11-Pearl BroochNot much info available, other than Victoria owned it.
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Teck Corsage BroochGiven to the Duchess of Teck, mother of Queen Mary, by the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.
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Japanese Pearl ChokerOne of the simplest necklaces worn by the Queen, she had it made from pearls given to her by the Japanese government and has also loaned it out to both Princess Diana and the Duchess of Cambridge.
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Dagmar NecklaceA gift from King Frederik VII of Denmark to his cousin Princess Alexandra of Denmark for her 1863 wedding to the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII). The detachable enamel cross pendant at the bottom is a replica of the Dagmar Cross, a sacred Danish relic found around the neck of the medieval Queen Dagmar when her grave was opened in 1690.
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Victoria's Golden Jubilee NecklaceBought by a committee of ladies who were so successful in raising funds for a statue of Queen Victoria's dearly departed husband Prince Albert to commemorate her Golden Jubilee (50 years on the throne) that they had enough left over to donate to charity
and buy their monarch this snazzy neck-warmer.
MISCELLANEOUS GEMS![]()
Andamooka OpalsA gift from the South Australian government when she toured the country in 1953. The 203-carat opal was the finest that had been found in the area, renowned for its opal mines. Unfortunately, the queen doesn't care for opals, and after wearing it once just to be polite before leaving the country, it was never seen again.
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Brazilian Aquamarine ParureThe necklace and earrings were a gift from the people of Brazil for her 1953 coronation; it took a year to find the perfectly-matched stones. Brazil added more pieces to the set later on and presented her with loose stones that she used to have the tiara made.
Liz loves this set. Wears it all the damn time. Me? I hate it almost as much as I hate the Burmese Ruby tiara. The stones in the tiara are just too big and clunky, and the whole thing looks dated.
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Wessex Aquamarine TiaraThis was debuted by the Queen's daughter-in-law Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, in 2005 but is a loaner from the Queen (no doubt trying to make up for that sorry-ass Wessex Wedding tiara she stuck her with, under "Diamonds", below). It can be converted to a necklace, and she has worn it both ways.
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Kent AmethystsOriginally owned by Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. The set is known to include a set of hair combs which have never been seen in public. The Queen has only worn these twice in the last 60 years.
Oddly, the Queen didn't want a different (and, imho, superior) amethyst set that was left to her by Queen Mary and so she sold it off (Anna Wintour has been seen wearing the necklace, while the tiara's whereabouts are unknown, leaving the Queen with no amethyst tiara in her collection at all, the poor dear - a pity, because I really rather like this one):
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DIAMONDS![]()
Girls of Great Britain and Ireland TiaraHands down, my favorite tiara of the Queen's many diamond tiaras. It was presented to Queen Mary as a wedding gift by a committee of - you guessed it - girls of Great Britain and Ireland who joined together to raise £5,000 that they used to have royal jeweler Garrard make their future Queen a helluva bauble for her 1893 marriage.
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Queen Mary's Fringe TiaraBoth the current Queen and her daughter, Princess Anne (right) wore this tiara - commissioned by Queen Mary (left), in 1919 - on their wedding days.
In the photo of Queen Elizabeth, you can see that the center prong is off-kilter, creating a gap between it and the one next to it; that's because as it was placed on her head that day, the tiara spontaneously snapped in half (those of you who watch
The Crown might think that was an omen about the man she was about to marry, Prince Philip - but they're still together 71 years later, so who knows?). Panicked royal jewelers raced to mend it in time for her to walk down the aisle and they did the best they could, but the gap still showed.
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Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik TiaraThis was a silver-anniversary gift from the Ladies of Society (a group of noblewomen who pooled their resources in order to afford a suitable gift) to Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, who in 1888 was celebrating the fact that she had made it through 25 years of marriage to Queen Victoria’s son, the future Edward VII (he was a notorious cheat whose many mistresses included actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Lilly Langtry).
Wanting to be sure the Princess would love their gift, the Society asked her what she wanted, and she requested a tiara resembling a traditional Russian headdress (called a “kokoshnik”), just like the tiara worn by her sister, Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia. It contains 488 diamonds.
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Greville TiaraSociety hostess (and beer heiress) Margaret Greville had a “papyrus” design tiara made in 1901 to attend the coronation of King Edward VII. Mrs. Greville constantly reworked her jewels to fit the latest styles, and in 1921, she had the tiara remade into a “honeycomb” style.
When she died in 1942, she left it to Queen Elizabeth (mother of the current Queen). The Queen Mum had the top stones rearranged and added more diamonds in 1953, creating the current form. Since the Queen Mum’s 2002 death, her daughter QEII has loaned the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall.
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Lotus Flower TiaraThe Queen Mother (then the Duchess of York) had this tiara made from a diamond-and-pearl necklace that her husband, George VI, gave her as a wedding gift in 1923. She wore it frequently in the ‘20s and ‘30s (usually across her forehead in the “flapper” style) but then retired it. In 1959, she gave it to her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, who wore it for many years. In 1993, Margaret loaned it to her son David’s bride, Serena Stanhope (right) to wear at their wedding.
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Diamond Bandeau TiaraThe detachable brooch at the center of this tiara is called the County of Lincoln Brooch and was a wedding gift to Queen Mary in 1893 from County Lincoln. In 1932, Mary commissioned a tiara to be made with the brooch as a centerpiece. After she died in 1953, the Diamond Bandeau went into the royal vault and stayed there for 65 years, largely forgotten, until it reappeared on Meghan Markle at her wedding to Mary’s great-great-grandson, Prince Harry, this May.
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Cartier Halo TiaraAlbert, the Duke of York, purchased this tiara from Cartier in 1936 as a gift to his wife, Elizabeth. She wore it once immediately afterward - and then three weeks after she received it, her brother-in-law, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, making Elizabeth's husband the new King George VI and her the new Queen.
Elizabeth suddenly had access to much grander tiaras and was never pictured wearing this one again. She passed it off to her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, as an 18th-birthday present 8 years later. Liz never really loved it, either, but she lent it to her daughter, Princess Anne (left) in the '70s.
And then in 2011, it finally got some respect: Kate Middleton (right) borrowed it to anchor her veil at her wedding to Prince William.
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Diamond DiademCommissioned by Queen Victoria’s flamboyant uncle, George IV, to wear at his 1821 coronation (he wore it over a plumed velvet hat). He designed the bouquets of English roses, Scottish thistles & Irish shamrocks that alternate with crosses around the circlet.
It has only been worn by women since George's day. It has 1,333 diamonds, including a yellow one in the center of the front cross. QEII wears it every year to the opening of Parliament.
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Meander TiaraThis one belonged to Princess Andrew (Alice) of Greece and Denmark, the mother of Prince Philip. She gave it to her daughter-in-law Elizabeth as a wedding gift, but the Queen apparently didn’t like it, as she never wore it publicly and passed it on to her daughter Princess Anne, left, in 1972. It is a favorite of Anne’s, and was worn by her daughter Zara Phillips, right, at her 2011 wedding.
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Wessex Wedding TiaraPoor Sophie Rhys-Jones. By the time the Queen's youngest kid, Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex, got around to marrying her in 1999, all three of his older siblings had gone through messy divorces, and the Queen had seen her gifts of jewels to her two daughters-in-law (Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson) go with them in the splits (including the fabulous
York Diamond Tiara which she had purchased new for Sarah). So she merely
loaned Sophie this unfortunate piece, which is believed to have been thrown together out of detachable pieces of a circlet once belonging to Queen Victoria.
The decided lack of artistry - the four pieces merely look screwed atop a too-visible gold wire headband without any real attempt to create a design - hasn’t deterred the Countess of Wessex from wearing it faithfully.
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Coronation Necklace and earringsMade for Queen Victoria and worn by every queen at every coronation since. The necklace has 25 diamonds, plus a 22.48-carat pendant.
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Queen's Festoon Necklace The Queen has quite a few collets (necklaces of single solitaire diamonds strung together). This particular three-string piece was given to her by her father, King George VI, who had it made out of 105 loose solitaires that he happened to have lying around.
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Pendant Fringe NecklaceIt's unknown where the Queen acquired this, but she began wearing it about 20 years ago.
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Diamond Cuff Demi-ParureThe Queen wore this several times in the 1990s. Its provenance is unknown.
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Cullinan BroochesFive of the nine major gems that were created when the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond was cut are in these brooches. The first one (Cullinans III & IV) is known within the royal family as "Granny's Chips" because the two huge stones in it (a 63.6-carat square-cut diamond and a 94.4-carat pear-shaped one) were originally left with the Asscher family as their fee for cutting the Cullinan, but were purchased by the South African government and given to Queen Mary as a gift.
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Queen's Engagement Ring and Wedding BraceletWhen one wants to propose to the future Queen of England, one needs a proper ring. So Prince Philips's mother, Princess Alice of Greece, gave him her tiara (above, left, on Alice) and he had it dismantled to create both the ring and a bracelet that was his wedding gift to Elizabeth.
The ring has a 3-carat solitaire flanked by five smaller diamonds on each side. It has been said that when the Queen starts twisting it around on her finger, it's a signal to her staff that she has had enough of someone or something and they are to intervene and move her along.
SOURCES:
1234Do you have a favorite/least favorite royal jewel, ONTD?
