Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
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| Victoria and Albert: A Royal Love Affair (Photo: The Court Jeweller) |
I’ve got a treat today for those of you who are fans of Victoria, the show co-produced by ITV and PBS about the life of the young Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. St. Martin’s Press has just published another companion volume to the series, and I’ve got a review — and a chance for you to win your own copy!
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| Victoria and Albert: A Royal Love Affair (Photo: The Court Jeweller) |
Victoria and Albert: A Royal Love Affair, written by Daisy Goodwin and Sara Sheridan, is a small coffee table volume that would be suitable for both comfortable reading and display. It’s a beautifully printed and designed volume, with lots of photographs from behind the scenes of the show. The tome clocks in at just around 300 pages, so there’s a good deal of content to enjoy, and the quality of the paper and printing feel top-notch.
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| Victoria and Albert: A Royal Love Affair (Photo: The Court Jeweller) |
Inside, the book combines biographical and historical information about Victoria and Albert with lots of interesting trivia about the Victorian era. The book is at its very best when it provides background context for some of the episodes of the show. For example, there’s lots of information about parenting and childbirth during Victoria and Albert’s time. One section gives information on the real-life Plantagenet Ball that’s fictionalized in season two, which airs this January in the United States. Additionally, the book includes content about the production itself, including the ways that the show has dealt with makeup and costumes. (I should emphasize that the book is indeed a companion to the show rather than a general biography of Queen Victoria or Prince Albert; if you’re looking for one of those instead, I’d recommend Julia Baird’s excellent Victoria the Queen, which is now available in paperback.)
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| Victoria and Albert: A Royal Love Affair (Photo: The Court Jeweller) |
Today is the official publication date for Victoria and Albert: A Royal Love Affair, so you can purchase your own copy right away. (It currently retails on Amazon for around $19, which is about ten dollars off the suggested retail price.) Even better, though — the publisher has provided me with a copy to give away to one lucky recipient. To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post with an answer to the following question:
The giveaway will be open until 11:59 PM EST on Friday, November 24. The winner will be chosen at random and contacted through their Disqus email address. Good luck, Victoria fans!
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh threw a party for their platinum anniversary at Windsor Castle this evening, and we got a glimpse of a new piece of borrowed jewelry on the Duchess of Cambridge.
During her arrival with William and Harry, photographers snapped Kate wearing pearls. She donned her late mother-in-law’s Collingwood Pearl Earrings with an exciting new borrowed jewel: the Queen’s Four-Row Pearl Choker.
The choker has been in the Queen’s collection for decades; above, she wears it in 1983 in Bangladesh with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. (You can read my previous post about the necklace over here!)
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| Diana wears the pearl choker in 1982 |
HM also previously lent the necklace to Princess Diana. Above, Diana wears it at Hampton Court Palace during the Dutch state visit in 1982, pairing it with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara and the large sapphire brooch that she would later use as the clasp of her own pearl choker necklace.