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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Jewel History: Famous Royal Pearls (1890)

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“Famous Royal Pearls”
(originally appeared in the New York Times on 16 Feb 1890)
From the London World — The pearls of the Empress Augusta [1] were famous, but they are inferior to those now possessed by the Duke of Cumberland [2], which are the finest in Europe.

These pearls and other jewels, the whole being worth about 160,000 pounds, were awarded to the late King George of Hanover [3] in 1857, after a dispute of twenty years, as they had been claimed by the Queen [4] on the death of William IV. Part of them were brought originally from Hanover and the remainder had been the private property of Queen Charlotte, who left them to her son, Ernst, Duke of Cumberland, afterward King of Hanover.


A commission, consisting of Lord Wensleydale [5], Vice Chancellor Wood (afterward Lord Chancellor Hatherley) [6], and Mr. Lawrence Peel [7], was appointed by Lord Palmerston [8] to investigate the matter, and they unanimously awarded nearly all the jewels to the King of Hanover, a decision which greatly annoyed the Queen and Prince Albert.

George III, by his will, left Queen Charlotte all the jewels she had been given, and they were valued at 200,000 pounds; but many of them were seized by George IV and disappeared during his reign, as did a number of the crown jewels, including the celebrated Stuart sapphire, which was given by Cardinal York [9] to George III. George IV presented it to Princess Charlotte on her marriage, but after her death Prince Leopold was obliged to return it, and a few years afterward it reappeared in the headdress of Lady Conyngham [10].

NOTES
1. Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1811-1890), the wife of Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany.
2. Ernst August of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland (1845-1923); his British titles were revoked in 1919.
3. George V of Hanover (1819-1878) was the last king of Hanover and a grandson of George III of the United Kingdom.
4. The queen referenced here is Queen Victoria (1819-1901).
5. James Parke, 1st Baron Wensleydale (1782-1868) was a British judge who participated in the judicial function of the House of Lords.
6. William Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley (1801-1881) was Lord Chancellor for four years. Intriguingly, he was the son of Sir Matthew Wood, one of the few public allies of Caroline of Brunswick.
7. Sir Lawrence Peel (1799–1884) was a British judge who spent much of his career in India.
8. Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784-1865) was prime minister twice during Victoria’s reign.
9. Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York (1725-1807) was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart, “the Old Pretender.” Henry was the last Jacobite heir to claim the British throne; he was also a Roman Catholic cardinal, and the Vatican referred to him as the “Cardinal Duke of York.” He bequeathed the Stuart Sapphire, which traditionally first belonged to King Alexander II of Scotland, to George III. Today, the 104-carat sapphire is set in the Imperial State Crown.
10. Elizabeth Conyngham (1769-1861) was the last mistress of George IV. The king bequeathed all of his jewels to her; however, Elizabeth refused to accept the bequest.

Jewel History: The Empress of Russia (1888)

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Makovsky’s 1885 portrait of Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia (source)

“The Empress of Russia”
(originally appeared in the Washington Post, 12 Feb 1888)

From the New York Sun — An American lady now in St. Petersburg thus describes a court reception at the Winter Palace [1]:

“We women folk are accustomed (through ignorance, I suppose) to think and speak of Russia as a semi-barbarous country. It is in some respects, but in others it is the most splendid country — with the exception of our own — in the world, and St. Petersburg is the most interesting of all European cities. Through the introductions we brought with us, we have been enabled to obtain entree to the presence of royalty and see the interior of the finest of all the palaces.

“It was a bitter cold day when we drove in a gorgeous sleigh to the Winter Palace — which was like a fairy picture in the fading light without, and illumined within with the brilliancy of thousands of candles — to attend a court reception. The effect of the light on the snow and upon the gay equipages of the numerous guests was indescribable.

Constantine Ukhtomsky’s 1865 painting of the Malachite Room (source)

“We approached the Empress [2] through 3,000 officials. First through superb state departments, each blazing with a thousand wax tapers and gorgeous with priceless hangings, malachite pillars, works of art, and tropical flowers and ferns. The sight was worth the journey from New York to Russia. The floors were things of beauty, inlaid with ebony and rosewood and ivory.

Kramskoi’s 1882 portrait of Marie Feodorovna in court dress (source)

“As we waited for our turn I had a good opportunity to see, and I made much of it. At last we entered the throne room, and there, surrounded by a sea of splendor, stood the Empress, herself a moving mass of diamonds. On her head was a crown once worn by the great Elizabeth [3]. It was the first time I had seen a real crown on royalty, for the diamond tiara worn by Queen Victoria last summer at her reception was not a crown except in name. Mrs. Astor [4] used to wear a fine one. But this one on the imperial head was worthy to adorn the Empress of all the Russias.

“Describe it? No. I only saw millions of colored rays and white sparks of light emitted from it at every motion of the royal person. The necklace was made from what was left over of the crown. It reached from her neck to her waist, and had rubies, sapphires, and diamonds enough in it to have supplied a thousand ordinary royal necklaces. The imperial orders worn on her breast contained all the gems of the East. They scintillated with light, and that is all I can say of them.

Makovsky’s 1874 portrait of Marie Feodorovna (source)

“The stuff on her gown was of emerald velvet, with a train of white velvet embroidered with enough gold to stock a mine, and bordered with real gold balls. The front of the gown was ornamented with ropes of linked pink coral, set in diamonds and fastened at intervals.

“Never saw I a human being thus arrayed. Solomon might have put on more, but I do not believe it. She was enough of herself to take the breath out of a body, but surrounded as she was by grand duchesses, each one ablaze with jewels worth a kingdom, she was the most wonderful sight I ever witnessed in my life. I did not know a mortal could look so magnificent.

“The position of her sister, the Princess of Wales [5; pictured above with Princess Toria and Empress Marie Feodorovna], is almost obscure as compared to the peerless destiny of this Empress of all the Russias, and if this war party succeeds, Empress of Asia as well. The officials in their semi-barbarous grandeur numbered hundreds upon hundreds, but I paid no attention to them; the Empress and the palace were what I went to see, and the sight has thrown me into a peculiar mental condition.

“My less-fascinated companion, who had been to court before, took my breath away from me by remarking that she pitied the poor woman. Why? Because she will not find anything new in heaven in the way of jewels or surroundings. How about peace of mind? Of that I think she stands in great need now, poor thing.”

NOTES
1. The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg was the official imperial residence of the Russian tsars from 1732 until 1917. Much of the current building dates to 1837. Today, the building is a part of the Hermitage Museum.
2. In 1888, the Russian empress was Marie Feodorovona, wife of Alexander III, who was born Princess Dagmar of Denmark.
3. The diadem being referenced here is almost certainly the diamond nuptial tiara made for Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna ca. 1800. The Russian government owns the tiara today.
4. Lina Schermerhorn Astor (1830-1908), wife of William Backhouse Astor, Jr., and gatekeeper of nineteenth-century New York society.
5. In 1888, the Princess of Wales was Alexandra of Denmark, later the queen consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Alexandra and her sister were extremely close.

Jewel History: The Coming Royal Wedding (1894)

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“The Coming Royal Wedding”
(originally appeared in the New York Times on 2 Feb 1894)
Queen Victoria, Emperor William, and the Prince of Wales will attend the wedding of Princess Victoria Melita of Coburg to the Grand Duke of Hesse [1], both of whom are grandchildren of Queen Victoria.

The Grand Duke — Ernest Louis Charles Albert William [2] — is the only surviving son and the fourth child of the late Grand Duke by his wife, Princess Alice of Great Britain. He was born at Darmstadt on November 25, 1868, and was educated under the care of Privy Councillor Mather. In May 1885, he was gazetted to a sub-lieutenancy of the First Hessian Infantry Regiment No. 115. In December 1889, he obtained his grade as full Lieutenant, and was then sent successively to the Universities of Leipzig and Giessen to complete his education. He resumed his military studies in 1891, and, following in the footsteps of his father, was attached to the First Prussian Regiment of Foot Guards at Potsdam. He succeeded his father as Grand Duke in March 1892. He is a Chevalier of the Order of the Black Eagle and a Knight of the Garter [3].

Princess Victoria Melita of Coburg is the second daughter and the third child of the Duke of Coburg — better known as the Duke of Edinburgh. She was born at Malta on November 25, 1876, and is, consequently, in her eighteenth year. She has hitherto passed most of her life in England. On the accession of her father to the Duchy of Coburg, she became a permanent resident in Germany. Princess Victoria has three sisters and a brother. Her elder sister, Princess Marie, was married last year to the Crown Prince of Romania. The others are unmarried [4].

NOTES
1. If you know your royal history, you’ll know that this royal marriage was one of the most spectacularly failed matches of the twentieth century. The two married and had a daughter, but they were incredibly unhappy and divorced after Queen Victoria’s death in 1901. Each married a second time: Victoria to Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, Ernst to Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.
2. This is the Anglicized version of his name; he was Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm, but was called “Ernie” by his family.
3. Ernst lost his Garter knighthood in 1915, during the First World War.
4. Victoria’s brother, Alfred, died unmarried in 1899. Alexandra married Prince Ernst II of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, while Beatrice married the Duke of Galliera.