While I’ve decided not to do full recaps of this season of The Crown (mostly because lots of other outlets have begun doing the history-focused recaps as well), I couldn’t let the new season pass by without a closer look at the jewels. And, well … ten episodes of the series only yielded us one post’s worth of pieces, to give you an idea of the content we’re working with. Here’s a look at the royal replicas we saw in the fourth season of The Crown.
The first two episodes of the season didn’t include any jewelry of note. By episode three, which focuses on the engagement and wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, we had a bit more to work with. The episode included a scene dedicating to Diana’s selection of her engagement ring. The production gave us close-up shots of the rings that weren’t picked, including this diamond one (which reads very 2010s to me)…
…and this pear-shaped emerald one…
…and this ruby one, which is similar to the engagement ring later worn by Sarah, Duchess of York. (It’s also quite close to Princess Margaret’s ring.) In the show, Diana initially selects the ruby.
But, of course, she changes her mind and picks the famous sapphire and diamond cluster ring. Interestingly, we’re not shown this one in close detail.
The engagement ring is so famous that numerous copies are readily available. The one chosen by the production seems accurate enough, though sometimes the shape is a little odd from some angles.
Episode three also gives us a view of the royal women preparing to attend the wedding in July 1981. Here, we see the Queen Mother getting dressed, with a look at the production’s rather awful rendition of Queen Victoria’s Fringe Brooch.
The recreation of Princess Anne’s outfit, though, is quite good, including the pearl earrings and choker. (In reality, the drops on Anne’s earrings were rounder, though.)
We also see Princess Margaret in the mirror as she gets ready to go. Margaret wore one of the Snowdon Floral Brooches for the wedding, and this one’s laughably small in comparison. (We also get a strange close-up of this piece that makes it look exceptionally faux.)
We don’t even get a single decent shot of the Queen’s brooch as she prepares for the wedding. (She wore the Williamson Pink Diamond Brooch for the event.)
And we don’t get a full view of Diana in her jewels, either. This close-up does yield a good view of the production’s replica earrings, though. They’re not awful. They also get the detail of the crystals on the veil fairly accurately.
Much later in the season (episode nine, to be exact), we do get a better view of the Spencer Tiara with the wedding ensemble in a flashback. As I said in our jewelry preview of the season, the tiara’s simply off in terms of scale. It’s too big.
Episode six, which features Charles and Diana on their 1983 tour of Australia and New Zealand, gives us another glimpse of the replica Spencer Tiara. (The dress isn’t right for the moment; the real red dress she wore to this dinner in Tasmania had a scoop neckline with fabric ruffles, not spaghetti straps). We also get a replica of the diamond necklace with the Prince of Wales feathers pendant.
The show also recreates Charles and Diana’s dance in Sydney. Diana wore the King Faisal Necklace, borrowed from the Queen, for this famous moment.
The movement in the scene doesn’t give us a clear stationary look at the necklace, but it’s clear that it’s not an accurate replica of the King Faisal Necklace at all.
The Crown loves to make television using television footage, and that’s how we see two more royal jewelry replicas during the season. In episode eight, the production’s (quite good) replica of the York Diamond Tiara, as well as Fergie’s wedding necklace, appears on a television screen.
Same goes for the (far too tall) replica of the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, again glimpsed on a screen-within-a-screen. (We saw a better view of this replica in the press preview photographs.)
Our final royal jewel replica moment also comes from episode eight. During the CHOGM meeting dinner, the Queen wears a replica of the Vladimir Tiara (in its “widowed” form, without drops), as well as replicas of the Gloucester Pendant Earrings and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace.
Here’s one more look at those replica pieces. As always, the scale is off, and it’s odd to see the Queen pair this necklace and earring combo with the widowed Vlad, but I suppose it could be worse?
What did you think of the royal jewels on season four of The Crown?
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