The Greville Scroll Brooch

 

Today’s royal brooch may be small, but its provenance is mighty! Here’s a closer look at the Greville Scroll Brooch.

This diamond and pearl brooch, which has a simple scroll design, was made in 1929 by Cartier for Dame Margaret Greville. It was one of the many jewels that she bequeathed to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) in 1942.

The Queen Mother wore the brooch throughout her life on a range of different occasions. She loved to pin brooches to her hats, and the size of this one made it ideal for that use. She also wore it for gala occasions. In August 2000, she wore the brooch with two other pieces from the Greville Bequest — the Greville Festoon Necklace and the Greville Peardrop Earrings — to see a ballet performance in Covent Garden on her 100th birthday.

The Queen inherited the Greville Scroll Brooch from her mother in 2002. One of her earliest appearances in the brooch came during her tour of Australia in October 2011. During that trip, she wore the brooch on a pair of occasions. The first came during a tour of the grounds of Government House in Canberra on October 20.

A week later, on October 27, the Queen wore the brooch again, this time for a state reception held at Government House in Perth.

Since then, the Queen has primarily worn the brooch for low-profile moments, like audiences at Buckingham Palace. On one of these in-house occasions, she chose the brooch in June 2013 to officially present the Duke of Edinburgh with the Order of New Zealand.

One of the Queen’s most prominent appearances in the brooch in recent years came in March 2016, when she wore the brooch to open a new exhibition and breeding center for lions at the London Zoo.