KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY
THE Queen likes to lend jewellery to close family members, including her daughter Princess Anne, the late Princess Diana, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, granddaughters Beatrice and Eugenie, and her granddaughters-in-law, Kate and Meghan.
The Japanese Pearl Choker
For Her Majesty’s Platinum Anniversary party in November 2017, the Duchess of Cambridge paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth, her grandmother-in-law, by wearing the Queen’s four-strand pearl choker with central diamond clasp. This was presented to the Queen by the Japanese government, following her first state visit to Japan in 1975. The choker was in use by the early 1980s and was worn by the Queen to an engagement in Bangladesh on November 16, 1983. The clasp is wide enough for two extra strands to be added. Kate was also paying tribute to the mother-in-law she never met: Princess Diana wore the pearl choker to a banquet given by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at Hampton Court Palace on her visit to the UK in 1982.
The Queen’s Pear-Drop Earrings
This glorious pair of diamond earrings were made from family stones, and worn by the Queen at a film premiere in 1968. In 1983, Her Majesty loaned them to Diana, Princess of Wales who was making her first official visit to Australia. At the banquet, Diana wore the earrings with the Spencer family diamond tiara and a string of pearls.
The Queen Mother’s Coronation Necklace
After the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, her coronation necklace was inherited by her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
It has since been loaned to the Duchess of Cornwall, most notably for her official portrait taken during her 60th birthday celebrations in the summer of 2007. Camilla wore it again the following year at Windsor Castle, during a state banquet given for President Sarkozy of France. The necklace has been shortened from 40 to 31 diamond collets, allowing it to fit neatly within the neckline of an evening gown.
The Empress Marie Feodorovna’s Choker
The Princess Royal wore this magnificent sapphire and pearl necklace on a 1974 state visit to Toronto. Queen Mary, the Queen’s paternal grandmother, bought it at auction in the late 1920s. She left it to her daughter-in-law, the
Queen Mother, who never wore it in public but loaned it to Princess Margaret for a number of years. The Queen inherited the necklace in 1953 and wore it with the sapphire clasp front and centre at the Horse of the Year show in 1956.