Queen Victoria’s mourning jewels among items under the hammer

HEIRLOOMS: Clockwise from top, a pair of jewelled and enamelled gold elephants; a diamond-set and enamelled gold bracelet containing a miniature childhood portrait of Prince Albert; a girl guide’s bracelet; an Indian silver document case in the form of an aeroplane.

SHE WAS a cousin of the Queen and the wife to one of the most prominent men of the time.

Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma and Queen Victoria’s great-great-granddaughter, died in 2017.

Now her family has chosen to auction off the pieces she inherited at a sale at Sotheby’s on March 24.

The lots includes 385 items ranging from jewellery to furniture, paintings and objects d’Art from the family’s estate.

Among the items are Queen

Victoria’s mourning jewels, after her husband Albert died, including a button, a brooch and pendants, some containing locks of hair. They are said to have helped bring the monarch some solace.

The pieces have individual estimates ranging from £1,000 to £3,000.

Arabella Hiscox from Sotheby’s London Jewellery Department said: “When you see all of the jewellery together, it’s like viewing a snapshot of the different members of the family at different time periods.

“Each piece represented in the sale has so much to say about the noble lineage of Lady Patricia.”

She added: “Working at Sotheby’s, we see a lot of jewellery come across our desks but when you have pieces that reflect different lives and times of such provenance and you uncover pieces that will be shown for the first time, it’s exhilarating.”

Items include a pair of jewelled and enamelled gold elephants with ‘Edwina from Dickie’ inscribed on its base, plus a diamond-set and enamelled gold bracelet containing a miniature childhood portrait of Albert, the Prince Consort.

There is also an Indian silver document case in the form of an aeroplane displayed amongst a dining set and a Girl Guides bracelet in front of the portrait of Lady Patricia.

Lady Mountbatten succeeded her father Lord Louis Mountbatten as Countess of Burma when he was assassinated in 1979 by the IRA who blew up his boat in Ireland. He fought in both the First World War and Second World War and was especially close to Prince Charles, to whom he acted as a mentor.