The jewels of the heart of Queen Elizabeth

When you go to plumb the jewelry box of the Queen Elizabeth, usually attention is paid to those incredible jewels that, through diamonds and precious stones, tell the story of the English monarchy from a more sparkling but no less fascinating angle. In its casket there are goldsmith masterpieces that belonged to Queen Victoria o alla regina Mary not to mention those of the queen mother, passed over the years to the current sovereign. From what we know, therefore, a large part of this collection is made up of bequests, inheritances or institutional gifts.

However, in the midst of this priceless treasure there are some pieces, perhaps less sumptuous, which dialogue directly with Elizabeth’s heart. Here is a review of some jewels that have a special meaning for her, to remember on the day of her 95th birthday, the first to go by herself for over seventy years.

We have already spoken extensively of the art deco bracelet that Filippo gave to his fiancée as a wedding gift. In those early days, the boy had more coat of arms than money in his pocket so, in order not to make a bad impression on the one who would one day become queen, his mother came to the rescue with what little she had left. There Princess Alice of Battenberg he offered for the cause an old tiara, received in turn for his wedding with Andrew, prince of Greece and Denmark, by Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra of Russia. Philip had the diadem disassembled by the London jeweler Philip Antrobus and from those diamonds he made not only the bracelet but also the engagement ring. When Elizabeth’s hands are not protected by a pair of gloves, we can see the pledge of love with which the naval officer declared himself to the princess daughter of King George VI. We know that the proposal came in the course of 1946 but 21 birthday was expected for the announcement. On July 9, 1947, the platinum ring topped by a three-carat brilliant cut diamond flanked by smaller stones also debuted. From that date onwards, Elizabeth wore the ring every day of her life, paired with the Welsh gold wedding band.

In the official engagement shot, a pin also peeps out. That six-petal diamond flower, called Clematide from the name of the plant, it was a gift for twenty-first birthday of the then princess by the staff of the royal house. More discreet than the others in her possession, the brooch has become a constant in the queen’s public outings. The last time he wore it was just a few weeks ago when he had a video call with four health officials involved in the fight against Covid. Her husband was hospitalized for an infection and she, to establish a distant connection with her beloved, had pinned that precious flower she had with her on a day so important to them to the pink dress.

There is another flower that has become a witness to the love between Elizabeth and Philip. It is that platinum chrysanthemum, diamonds and sapphires – also known honeymoon brooch – which the queen wore to the annual speech of the Commonwealth Day last March. While her husband was still in the hospital recovering, Elizabeth had chosen a jewel that had a history of two and not a load of inherited meanings. The brooch that was given to her on the occasion of the launch of an oil tanker makes its appearance during the honeymoon passed in November 1947 in the tenuta of Broadlands. Below the precious chrysanthemum (remember that abroad the flower does not have a mournful meaning but is associated with joy and peace) was immortalized in 1950 for the first portrait of the queen with the Princess Anna in swaddling clothes with Prince Charles and Philip and in the following years in world travels and ceremonies. In recent years it has sealed its importance in the reproduction of the shots of that famous honeymoon after sixty years but above all thanks to the domestic portrait of the two long-time spouses when in November they showed themselves sitting on their sofa in Windsor Castle for the 73rd wedding anniversary.

Among the jewels of Elizabeth’s heart, one of the most particular jewels of her collection cannot be missing. This is the “Scarab” of rubies, gold and diamonds that the Duke of Edinburgh gave to his wife in 1966. The brooch stands out among the many for its irregular and joyful shape, an explosion of modernity among the relics that belonged to the queens of the past. Filippo commissioned the piece to Andrew Grima, the best-known London designer of the second half of the last century, entrusting him with a handful of rubies recovered, it seems, from an ancient Indian headdress. With that sanguine and full of life brooch, made immortal by the portrait for the seventy years of marriage of the royal couple, the queen reappeared in public with her nephew William last October in a total pink outfit after seven months of strict lockdown in Windsor.

There is a jewel that Filippo helped design, the bracelet commissioned from Boucheron in 1952 for the fifth wedding anniversary. To see an image it is necessary to go on a treasure hunt, probably relegated to a truly intimate sphere of the sovereign. The rather elaborately designed jewel is a yellow gold intertwining of the initials E. and P. and includes three crosses – two in sapphire and one in ruby ​​- in addition to the naval badge of the Duke of Edinburgh and two heraldic roses in gold and diamonds. Displayed in a family portrait on the occasion of the 60th wedding anniversary, the jewel was part of an exhibition that celebrated Filippo’s 90 years.

In the drawer of memories, the queen also keeps some precious gifts received from her parents. How the pair of diamond and aquamarine clips which Elizabeth received in 1944 for his 18th birthday by King George VI and his mother. The twin brooches with an art deco design, mistakenly attributed to Cartier but actually made by Boucheron, can be worn separately or in an oval shape. Among the occasions in which we may have seen them, one of the celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and the Obama visit to London in 2016 as well as when the Queen gave the speech for the 75th anniversary of VE Day last May 8.

Among the gifts of the beloved parents, the multicolored must also be mentioned flower basket of rubies, diamonds and sapphires. Considered a gift to Elizabeth for Charles’ birth in 1948, royal jewelry experts now trace the brooch back to nine years earlier thanks to a newsreel from the era in which the pin on the thirteen-year-old princess’s jacket is seen. Unless asked, it seems difficult to get an answer. Apart from these doubts, one of the certainties is that that simple jewel is a certainty in the queen’s casket.

As for his women, George VI was certainly not one to skimp on diamonds. The daughter was preparing for her role as heir to the throne and, for that very reason, she needed jewels to fit her role. In 1950 he therefore turned to Garrard, the court jewelers, to whom he ordered a majestic necklace to be made with 105 diamonds left over from the mother’s crown. In seven decades this precious “festoon” has seen numerous heads of state, parliament openings and crowned heads, the usual ornament of prestigious commitments.

But in this boundless collection of jewels that perhaps we will never even see in full, there is something that the queen never deprives herself of in her daily life. Without those three strings of pearls Elisabetta would not be the figure that we have practically always seen (there are photos of her just walking with her neck already decorated with a ring of pearls), so innate to the character that we don’t even notice it anymore. Experts believe that the number of necklaces with these characteristics are many more than the three recorded in the chronicles, it is difficult to trace the precise models.

The most expensive specimen is undoubtedly the one that her grandfather gave her George V in 1935 to celebrate his Silver Jubilee. When in 1937 the scepter passed to Elizabeth’s father after the abdication of Edward VIII, George VI wanted his daughter to wear her grandfather’s necklace on her coronation day, that first “adult” jewel designed especially for her. Beyond the conventions that see at least one round of pearls appropriate in every circumstance, in that never abandoned necklace (and it does not matter that it is not exactly that one) hides a game of references that bounces between the warmth of the family and the responsibilities of the Crown that he has carried on his shoulders practically all his life, since that distant 21 April 1926. And as always when we talk about Queen Elizabeth behind every gem, behind every pearl or diamond – cross and delight – there is much more than what trivially sees on the surface.