Royal Jewels

[loriken214]

Hi Bobby!

Do you have any close up photos of the "Order of the....," the tiny portraits of the Queen that the closest royals wear on very special occasions?

I would love to see the portraits of the earlier Kings, too.

Lori

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Date: 7/7/2009 7:24:51 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

This is a bit of strange jewelry. A chicken hen broach worn by Prncess Grace (Grace Kelly). I must admit that I''m not in love with this piece, but I thought it was interesting enough to post.

This beautifully crafted hen brooch is crafted from embossed gold, platinum, carved diamonds, emeralds, pearls and coralhttp://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2009/04/15/grace-kelly-jewels/

That''s an interesting piece, but I''m not in love with it either! It reminds me of The Duchess of Windsor''s goose brooch.
I think this one is also a Cartier piece.

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Maybe you know how much The Duke & The Duchess of Windsor loved pugs. Îbviously her love was so great that she had a brooch with a pug''s head. I also like these dogs, but wouldn''t wear one''s head on my lapel I guess my fav is The Princess of Monaco''s hen.

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Date: 7/7/2009 10:43:42 PM
Author: loriken214
Hi Bobby!

Do you have any close up photos of the ''Order of the....,'' the tiny portraits of the Queen that the closest royals wear on very special occasions?

I would love to see the portraits of the earlier Kings, too.

Lori

Hi, Lori!

Yes, I have pictures of The Family Orders. This is the closest I,ve ever seen of Elizabeth II''s. The royal lady is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
As you know this orders have a framed miniature a portrait of the Monarch. The stones used in the frame may be pearls and/or diamonds. The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is framed by brilliant and baggette diamonds.


Bobby

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Here is one of Princess Margaret''s last photos from a tiara event. I think this photo was taken shortly before or after her first stroke in 1998. The princess was a very good example of haw to wear a lot of orders. You can see The Family orders of Kings George V & VI and her sister''s. The top oreder is The order of The Crown of India. HRH also wears the Royal Victorian Chain.

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Sorry, I don't know why the picture doesn't show. Maybe there was some problem with the attachment. Here is a second try.

About Princess Anne's jewels - The Princess has a nice ruby and diamond necklace. I'll try fo find it and upload it here.

 

[prince.of.preslav]

The other royal houses have Royal Family orders. The Danes, for example, wear a mini portrait of The Queven (MII) hanging from a red and wite ribbon. The Sweedish royal ladies wear a portrait of The King. I know I have some pictures, but will have to search them. I'm sure I have large pictures of The Victoria and Albert order. I promise to post as soon as I find them.

Meanwhile here is The Duchess of Kent with hers and The Victorian Order and the remaining parts of the once beatifull and impresive Cambridge sapphire paprure.

 

[shadowed_rain]

The sapphires are stunning on the Duchess of Kent, aren''t they?

Below begins my promised posts of the Cambridge emeralds and the Kent amethysts! First up is the Duchess of Teck, Queen Mary (of England)''s mother. She''s wearing the famous emeralds (especially note her necklace and stomacher), as well as the famed Teck crescent tiara, which is sitting somewhere in HM vaults, gathering dust. What a shame.

 

[shadowed_rain]

Here''s Queen Mary, bedecked in all of her glory. She''s wearing the full Cambridge and Delhi Durbar emerald parure, including Delhi Durbar tiara with the original emerald spikes (the sheer height of it is staggering). It''s very small in the picture, but in the upper third of her stomacher, there''s a small diamond...this would be the 18.8 carat heart-shaped Cullinan V, which is ordinarily set in a brooch. Refer back to Prince''s post #24 on page 114.

 

[shadowed_rain]

Here''s the Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria''s mother. She''s wearing the splendid Kent brooch on her corsage.

 

[shadowed_rain]

And finally, HM QEII wearing the Kent demi-parure. According to Field, these delightful violet gems were very valuable in the beginning of the 20th century, and Queen Victoria left them to the Crown. She also went on to say that the demi-parure (in addition to the necklace, brooch, and earrings) also contains a set of hair combs. This demi-parure is the oldest set of jewelry in the British royal collection. The brooch makes me drool a little.

 

[shadowed_rain]

I''m sorry, for some reason the picture didn''t attach.

 

[T L]

Date: 7/8/2009 7:39:36 AM
Author: prince.of.preslav

Date: 7/7/2009 10:43:42 PM
Author: loriken214
Hi Bobby!

Do you have any close up photos of the ''Order of the....,'' the tiny portraits of the Queen that the closest royals wear on very special occasions?

I would love to see the portraits of the earlier Kings, too.

Lori

Hi, Lori!

Yes, I have pictures of The Family Orders. This is the closest I,ve ever seen of Elizabeth II''s. The royal lady is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
As you know this orders have a framed miniature a portrait of the Monarch. The stones used in the frame may be pearls and/or diamonds. The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is framed by brilliant and baggette diamonds.


Bobby

This very much reminds me of the portrait miniatures that the nobility would wear of their monarch in Elizabethan times.

The "Armada Jewel"

English
V&A
circa 1550 - 1575
The front of this jewel is adorned with a profile portrait in gold of Queen Elizabeth I. The cover depicts the Ark of the English church on stormy waters which bears the motto ''Calm amidst the raging seas''. The inside of the cover bears a red rose and the complimentary inscription, ''Alas, that virtue inviolate, with so great honour decked, hath not eternal length of day''. This jewel was reputedly a gift from the Queen to Sir Thomas Heneage for his service during the time of the Armada and was among the greatest treasures in the Pierpont Morgan collection in New York. At auction, The Art Fund dramatically stepped in to reclaim it for Britain, paying the entire purchase price. When Viscount Wakefield learned of this he reimbursed the full amount and presented it to the Victoria and Albert Museum through the fund.
Medium: gold enamel, rock crystal, diamond & ruby
Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.2 x 1.1cm
ArtFunded in: 1935
Presented by Lord Wakefield through The Art Fund
Provenance
Sir Thomas Heaneage & heirs; Pierpont Morgan collection

 

[T L]

Women are not the only royalty to wear sumptuous jewels. Here's the only surviving state chain from Henry VIII to survive. It went on auction at Christies and sold for around half a million dollars. This collar did not actually belong to the King, but he gave it to the Lord Cheif justice of the Common Pleas. There are some famous Holbein portraits of Henry with enormous state chains full of massive jewels. They were solid gold, and I imagine quite heavy. More information in the link and you can get more detailed zooming capability on the picture of this gorgeous piece from the 16th century.

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5132875

 

[Imdanny]

Isn''t it remarkable that things like that are sold and not in museums? How very true is it that men have come down in the world in terms of wearing jewels.

Thanks for the beautiful pictures, everyone! I especially liked this gold chain and the picture of the Dutchess of Kent wearing the sapphires but I enjoyed all of them. Thanks so much.

 

[prince.of.preslav]

On 6th July 1893 (116 years ago) Princess Mary of Teck married The Duke of York.
Her mother, The Duchess of Teck, wore the Crescent tiara and parts of the Cambridge sapphire parure - the earrings and the necklace (at least a part of it) as stomacher.

This is a link to the painting with some more information.

 

[prince.of.preslav]

This is my favourite picture of HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and the sapphire parure. I love that photograph, mainly, because it shows the parure in its full glory.
There is something that makes like her more - our birthday - 13th December.

 

[T L]

The Drake Jewel


From Wikipedia:
Queen Elizabeth I presented Sir Francis Drake with a jewel token commemorating the circumnavigation. It was made of enameled gold, taken as a prize off the Pacific coast of Mexico, bore an African diamond and a ship with an ebony hull. For her part, the Queen gave Drake a jewel with her portrait, an uncommon gift to bestow upon a commoner, and one that Drake sported proudly in his portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts, 1591. On one side is a state portrait of Elizabeth by the miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard, on the other a sardonyx cameo of double portrait busts, a regal woman and an African male. The "Drake Jewel", as it is known today, is a rare documented survivor among sixteen-century jewels; it is conserved at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

 

[T L]

Here is a picture of Sir Francis Drake wearing the jewel by famous portrait artist Marcus Gheeaerts. Circa 1591.

 

[T L]

Date: 7/9/2009 7:53:34 AM
Author: prince.of.preslav
This is my favourite picture of HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and the sapphire parure. I love that photograph, mainly, because it shows the parure in its full glory.
There is something that makes like her more - our birthday - 13th December.

What a lovely portrait, penny for her thoughts!!

 

[T L]

Date: 7/9/2009 3:15:56 AM
Author: Imdanny
Isn''t it remarkable that things like that are sold and not in museums? How very true is it that men have come down in the world in terms of wearing jewels.

Thanks for the beautiful pictures, everyone! I especially liked this gold chain and the picture of the Dutchess of Kent wearing the sapphires but I enjoyed all of them. Thanks so much.

It is rather sad that it''s in a private collection and not in a museum for everyone to enjoy. Glad you like the chain!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 7/9/2009 7:53:34 AM
Author: prince.of.preslav

This is my favourite picture of HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and the sapphire parure. I love that photograph, mainly, because it shows the parure in its full glory.

I, also, love that picture, Bobby...and it is not because of the way in which the sapphire parure is presented. Princess Marina looks hauntingly lovely. This is a sort of royal photo, "Mona Lisa". Thank you so much for posting it. You contribute so very much to this thread. We thank you, but we do not thank you nearly enough for all the hours that you put in here!!!

Big hugs,
AGBF

 

[loriken214]

Date: 7/10/2009 7:30:03 AM
Author: AGBF

Date: 7/9/2009 7:53:34 AM
Author: prince.of.preslav

This is my favourite picture of HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and the sapphire parure. I love that photograph, mainly, because it shows the parure in its full glory.

I, also, love that picture, Bobby...and it is not because of the way in which the sapphire parure is presented. Princess Marina looks hauntingly lovely. This is a sort of royal photo, ''Mona Lisa''. Thank you so much for posting it. You contribute so very much to this thread. We thank you, but we do not thank you nearly enough for all the hours that you put in here!!!

Big hugs,
AGBF

Well said Deb.....I agree totally....THANK YOU BOBBY!!!!

Lori

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Thank you, AGBF, Lori and everyone that enjoys this thread!!!

I''ve always belived that the purpose of this thread is everyone, that has information, photos and questions about royal jewels to post them here. Hence I''m far from thinking that you must thank me every time I post something interesting.

BTW, AGBF, I rarely spend hours here. Actually when I post here, in Bulgaria it''s late night and I often go to bed in the early hours of the next day, so it a good way of spending my time

And here is something just to keep the jewels in the thread.
This is another favourite of the late Duchess of Kent. HRH wears the huge bow brooch and the girandole earrings, that once belonged to the famous Grand Duchess Vladimir. These were wedding gifts from her mother GD Elena Vladimirovna, Princess Nicholas of Greece.

Here you can see a larger image and information about the jewels.

Thanks again,
Hugs,

Bobby

 

[loriken214]

She looks so elegant here!

Lori

 

[laurensmama]

So has anyone since the engagement ring from Timothy Lawrence or is it just a wedding band?

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Date: 7/11/2009 3:11:10 PM
Author: laurensmama
So has anyone since the engagement ring from Timothy Lawrence or is it just a wedding band?

That''s something I''ve been wondering about too. I''ll have to search for a photo of the princess'' hands to see what she''s wearing.

Bobby

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Hehe is a portrait of HRH Prncess Marina, Duchess of Kent from Prince & Princess Michael of Kent's collection. This portrit, in my opinion, show the timeless elegance of Marina. I think that Lady Helen and Princess Alexandra inherited their garnd/mother's style.

The ting that impress me most about her, is that when The Duke of Kent died they had two small children and a baby on Marina's hands. She raised her children alone and continued carrying out a wide-range of engagements, working for the Kents' high profile. Probably she is best know as AELTC's longtime president. Princess Marina and the Present Duke are the only RF members not interested in hoses (only).

Her father-in-law, King George V, gave her a collet necklace of 36 diamonds, but The Duchess had at least three. Were they from her mother or from Queen Mary? I know that it's difficult to understand the provenance of these necklaces, because they're almost identical, but maybe this is mantioned in a book? Nowadays we've seen Princess Michael with one of them around her neck and another one(or the same) on top of the fringe tiara.

Thanks in advance,

Bobby

 

[T L]

Date: 7/9/2009 7:53:34 AM
Author: prince.of.preslav
This is my favourite picture of HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and the sapphire parure. I love that photograph, mainly, because it shows the parure in its full glory.
There is something that makes like her more - our birthday - 13th December.

After reading about her husband on Wikipedia, I think I know why she has such a somber look on her face. This portrait peaked my curiosity!! Thanks again for posting it Bobby!

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Here is part two of something I promised Lori - The Roayl Family Orders:

The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert - this is the Sovereign''s badge of the Order worn by Queen Victoria at her Goledn Jubilee.