The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: August 3-9

by // Leave a Comment

August 3-9, 2018
Summer jewels are in full swing in the royal world — don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
Handout/Getty Images
10. Queen Letizia of Spain wore threader-style earrings with a golden star stud to host Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his wife, Maria Begona Gomez Fernandez, at Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca on Monday. (More over here!)

Embed from Getty Images
9. The Countess of Wessex wore small, sailing-appropriate jewels on Monday during an Association of Sail Training Organisations sailing day in Gosport.
JAIME REINA/AFP/Getty Images
8. For the last day of the 37th Copa del Rey Mapfre sailing cup in Palma de Mallorca on Saturday, Letizia chose her Chanel star stud earrings. (More here!)
Christopher Lee/Getty Images
7. Sophie chose golden jewels, including her initial necklace and a bracelet from Tiffany, as she attended the FIH Womens Hockey World Cup final in London on Sunday.
Embed from Getty Images
6. The Duchess of Sussex was elegant in her small diamond hoop earrings for the wedding of family friend Charlie van Straubenzee in Frensham on Saturday.
Embed from Getty Images
5. On Wednesday, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark was lovely in a pair of earrings with pink gemstone drops for Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Embed from Getty Images
4. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore the badge of the Royal Regiment of Scotland as she inspected the pipes and drums outside the gates of Balmoral on Monday.
Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
3. For the annual dinner for local authorities at the Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca on Friday, Queen Sofia of Spain layered on numerous golden jewels and a gorgeous sapphire ring. (See much more here!)
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
2. The Princess Royal was elegant in pearl cluster earrings and a necklace of pearls and blue beads for Monday’s Royal London Yacht Club Champagne Party in Cowes.
Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
1. Letizia chose a pair of earrings with diamond studs and sparkling orange gemstone drops for Friday’s dinner at the Almudaina Palace. (More here!)

Jewel History: Princess to Spend Quiet Day at Secluded Cottage (1958)

by // Leave a Comment

Princess Margaret visits Fort St. John during her tour of Canada, 1958 (Stan Meagher/Express/Getty Images)
“Princess to Spend Quiet Day at Secluded Cottage”
(originally appeared in the Nanaimo Daily News, 8 Aug 1958)

FREDERICTON — Princess Margaret [1] spends a quiet day in a secluded summer cottage on the St. John River near here today. Her only official appearance will be at the harness racing here tonight.

A cottage named Journey’s End about seven miles north of here, owned by contractor Stanley Cassidy, was reported to be the hideaway. Officials would neither confirm nor deny the report.

Wearing the Lotus Flower Tiara, Princess Margaret attends a formal event during her tour of Canada, 1958 (Daily Express/Getty Images)

Thursday night the princess was guest at a banquet given by the Province of New Brunswick and attended by more than 200 persons. Guests included provincial cabinet members, legislature members, judiciary, and armed forces personnel. The dinner climaxed a day that took the princess to seven major appearances.

At the dinner, she was presented with a woollen handwoven skirt by Premier Hugh John Flemming [2] on behalf of the province. An illuminated address of welcome was also presented by the premier. Radiant in a pale blue dress studded with jewels and crowned by a tiara, the princess was accompanied to the dinner by Lieutenant-Governor J. Leonard O’Brien [3].

Princess Margaret disembarks from a Royal Canadian Air Force plane during her tour of Canada, 1958 (Express/Getty Images)

For more than an hour before the dinner began, crowds which followed her on her tour of the New Brunswick capital waited outside and in the hotel lobby in a heavy downpour to catch another glimpse of her.

Other events Thursday included a civic luncheon where Princess Margaret received a bouquet from Donna Shook, a ward of the Fredericton’s Children’s Home, and a visit to the New Brunswick legislature building, where she signed the government visitor’s book.

Princess Margaret pictured on her return to England following her tour of Canada, 1958 (Victor Blackman/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Her most enthusiastic welcome came from more than 2,000 boy scouts, girl guides, brownies, wolf cubs, and St. John Ambulance members. At the University of New Brunswick she made a brief speech thanking them.

She made a brief tour of the New Brunswick Polio Clinic and Health Centre and chatted with children and adult patients. An official said she stopped and talked with all 55 patients. Two photographers were allowed to enter the building, but reporters were barred.

NOTES

1. Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930-2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1958, a few years after the end of her star-crossed affair with Group Captain Peter Townsend, Margaret embarked on a romance with a society photographer, Antony Armstrong-Jones. The couple married in 1960.

2. Hugh John Flemming (1899-1982) was the 24th Premier of New Brunswick. He also later served as Canada’s Minister of Forestry.

3. Joseph Leonard O’Brien (1895-1973) was appointed the 21st Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick in 1958, a post he held until 1965.

Bejeweled Close-Ups: The George IV Diamond Diadem

by // Leave a Comment

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

One of the most important historical jewels in the British royal vaults, the Diamond Diadem made for King George IV makes one significant outing each year. In the meantime, I’ve got some excellent views of the piece for you today, so you can enjoy its sparkle up close!

Bethany Clarke/Getty Images

George IV ordered the diadem from Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell in 1820, just before his coronation. The piece was made of silver, gold, diamonds, and pearls, and it was worn by the new king on his coronation day with a large velvet cap adorned with an ostrich feather. (Although it was made for a king, the diadem has since been worn only by British queens, both regnant and consort.)

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Here’s an excellent look at the diadem’s central cross pattée, which features a pale yellow diamond set in its center.

TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images

The crosses on the diadem alternate with elements made of a lovely floral design. These floral sections feature important national emblems from across the United Kingdom.

Eddie Mulholland/AFP/Getty Images

Here you can see the individual floral elements a bit better. You’ll be able to pick out roses, shamrocks, thistles in the design — emblems of England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Here you get a close-up view of the diamond settings of the shamrocks and leaves in the floral elements of the diadem.

TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images

From above, it’s clear that the piece is a complete circlet, much more like a crown than a traditional tiara.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Here’s a closer view of the natural pearls that line the base of the diadem, as well as the intricate design in diamonds sandwiched between them.

Eddie Mulholland/AFP/Getty Images

The diadem has gone on display to the public at Buckingham Palace more than once. It had a prominent position in the Diamond Jubilee exhibition held in 2012. But it’s most often seen on the Queen herself, heading to and from the annual State Opening of Parliament ceremonies at the Houses of Parliament.