Don’t Miss a Single Sparkling Moment! Sign up for The Court Jeweller Newsletter

The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Jewels of The Crown Season 4

by // Leave a Comment

 

While I’ve decided not to do full recaps of this season of The Crown (mostly because lots of other outlets have begun doing the history-focused recaps as well), I couldn’t let the new season pass by without a closer look at the jewels. And, well … ten episodes of the series only yielded us one post’s worth of pieces, to give you an idea of the content we’re working with. Here’s a look at the royal replicas we saw in the fourth season of The Crown.

The first two episodes of the season didn’t include any jewelry of note. By episode three, which focuses on the engagement and wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, we had a bit more to work with. The episode included a scene dedicating to Diana’s selection of her engagement ring. The production gave us close-up shots of the rings that weren’t picked, including this diamond one (which reads very 2010s to me)…

…and this pear-shaped emerald one…

…and this ruby one, which is similar to the engagement ring later worn by Sarah, Duchess of York. (It’s also quite close to Princess Margaret’s ring.) In the show, Diana initially selects the ruby.

But, of course, she changes her mind and picks the famous sapphire and diamond cluster ring. Interestingly, we’re not shown this one in close detail.

The engagement ring is so famous that numerous copies are readily available. The one chosen by the production seems accurate enough, though sometimes the shape is a little odd from some angles.

Episode three also gives us a view of the royal women preparing to attend the wedding in July 1981. Here, we see the Queen Mother getting dressed, with a look at the production’s rather awful rendition of Queen Victoria’s Fringe Brooch.

The recreation of Princess Anne’s outfit, though, is quite good, including the pearl earrings and choker. (In reality, the drops on Anne’s earrings were rounder, though.)

We also see Princess Margaret in the mirror as she gets ready to go. Margaret wore one of the Snowdon Floral Brooches for the wedding, and this one’s laughably small in comparison. (We also get a strange close-up of this piece that makes it look exceptionally faux.)

We don’t even get a single decent shot of the Queen’s brooch as she prepares for the wedding. (She wore the Williamson Pink Diamond Brooch for the event.)

And we don’t get a full view of Diana in her jewels, either. This close-up does yield a good view of the production’s replica earrings, though. They’re not awful. They also get the detail of the crystals on the veil fairly accurately.

Much later in the season (episode nine, to be exact), we do get a better view of the Spencer Tiara with the wedding ensemble in a flashback. As I said in our jewelry preview of the season, the tiara’s simply off in terms of scale. It’s too big.

Episode six, which features Charles and Diana on their 1983 tour of Australia and New Zealand, gives us another glimpse of the replica Spencer Tiara. (The dress isn’t right for the moment; the real red dress she wore to this dinner in Tasmania had a scoop neckline with fabric ruffles, not spaghetti straps). We also get a replica of the diamond necklace with the Prince of Wales feathers pendant.

The show also recreates Charles and Diana’s dance in Sydney. Diana wore the King Faisal Necklace, borrowed from the Queen, for this famous moment.

The movement in the scene doesn’t give us a clear stationary look at the necklace, but it’s clear that it’s not an accurate replica of the King Faisal Necklace at all.

The Crown loves to make television using television footage, and that’s how we see two more royal jewelry replicas during the season. In episode eight, the production’s (quite good) replica of the York Diamond Tiara, as well as Fergie’s wedding necklace, appears on a television screen.

Same goes for the (far too tall) replica of the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, again glimpsed on a screen-within-a-screen. (We saw a better view of this replica in the press preview photographs.)

Our final royal jewel replica moment also comes from episode eight. During the CHOGM meeting dinner, the Queen wears a replica of the Vladimir Tiara (in its “widowed” form, without drops), as well as replicas of the Gloucester Pendant Earrings and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace.

Here’s one more look at those replica pieces. As always, the scale is off, and it’s odd to see the Queen pair this necklace and earring combo with the widowed Vlad, but I suppose it could be worse?
What did you think of the royal jewels on season four of The Crown?

New Tiaras Coming to The Crown

by // Leave a Comment

Netflix

The fourth season of The Crown is coming to Netflix in November, and the production has recently released several teaser photos from upcoming episodes. We’ve got some tiaras on our hands, so it’s time for some replica vs. real life comparisons!

Olivia Colman wears a replica of the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara in season four of The Crown; the Queen wears the real tiara at a banquet in Beijing in 1986 (YOSHIKAZU MIKAMI/AFP via Getty Images)

First up, we’ve got Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II, wearing a replica version of the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. Even though the tiara would have been in the Queen’s jewelry box since the very first episode, we’ve not yet seen it in action on the show. (A replica version was included in a Crown costume exhibition in 2016 — I’m not sure if it’s the same one worn by Colman in season four.) As always, the problem with the replica tiara is the scale. The tiara’s elements are simply too big, which makes the replica item look cartoonish when compared with the original.

Emma Corrin wears a replica of the Spencer Tiara in season four of The Crown; Lady Diana Spencer wears the real tiara on her wedding day in St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1981 (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking of tiaras that are too big — hold on to your horses! Emma Corrin makes her debut as Lady Diana Spencer in season four, and of course, that means the big royal wedding is a major part of the storyline. Netflix gave us a sneak peek of “Diana” wearing her wedding ensemble, and people are already talking about the comically-large scale of the replica of the Spencer Tiara. (The earrings, interestingly enough, are pretty close versions of the real things.)

Emma Corrin wears a replica of the Spencer Tiara in season four of The Crown; Diana wears the real tiara after her wedding, 1981 (AFP via Getty Images)

The photo has proved confusing for many. Other than the tiara size problem, I think I’ve pinpointed the issue. I don’t believe we ever saw photographs of Diana pushing the blusher from her veil back and over the tiara. She arrived for the wedding wearing the blusher, and kept it down throughout the ceremony. During the signing of the register, Diana’s make-up artist apparently snipped the blusher away entirely. I’ve never seen a photograph from the wedding day that shows the tiara covered by the veil.

Emma Corrin wears a replica of the Spencer Tiara in season four of The Crown; Diana wears the real tiara for a reception in Tasmania, 1983 (Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy)

We’ve also got one more sneak peek of Emma Corrin wearing the replica tiara in an upcoming episode. Here, she wears it for a scene depicting a gala event, along with replicas of some of Diana’s pearl drop earrings and the Prince of Wales feather necklace. This angle really emphasizes the problem of the tiara’s scale — though, given some of the jewels we’ve seen on the show, at least it mostly looks like the real thing!

I haven’t yet decided whether or not I’ll be recapping the show this season — the recaps take an immense amount of time, and the posts tend to draw lower traffic than usual. Are you planning to watch the upcoming season?

Royal Recommendations for May!

by // Leave a Comment

Many of us are spending a lot more time relaxing at home these days, so I thought it was the perfect time to share a post full of recommendations for brand-new royal content to read and watch this month!

I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of Amy Meyerson’s new novel, and I absolutely loved it! If you like royalty, history, enormous diamonds, and family intrigue — and if you’re reading this site, I know you do! — you’ll love the book, too. The premise is this: a modern American family mourns the loss of their matriarch, only to discover that she’s bequeathed them a magnificent (and possibly stolen) diamond. Meyerson skillfully weaves in the history of the real-life lost Florentine Diamond and the Habsburgs into the book, inventing a mystery that “solves” the fate of the diamond. I couldn’t put it down! The book was published on May 5, so you can pick it up right now.
I am completely intrigued and amused by the trailers for the latest Hulu original series, The Great. Starring Elle Fanning as a young and glamorous Catherine the Great and Nicholas Hoult as Peter III, the ten-episode series appears to be a completely different take on Catherine’s life than any other depiction, including the recent Helen Mirren television series. Hulu describes the show as “a satirical, comedic drama about the rise of Catherine the Great from outsider to the longest reigning female ruler in Russia’s history.” It was written by Tony McNamara, who also wrote The Favourite, to give you an idea of the tone of the piece. Purists may not be the target audience for the “fictionalized, fun and anachronistic” take on the story, but I’m going to check it out, if only for the gorgeous costuming alone! The series debuts on May 15.
I’m currently reading the newest novel by historical fiction writer Karen Harper, who has previously written novels about Consuelo Vanderbilt and royal nanny Charlotte “Lala” Bill. This time around, Harper has chosen the Queen Mum as her subject, with a focus on Elizabeth’s life during World War II. I’ve really enjoyed this fictional take on her life, which depicts her as a woman who loves the pleasures of life but is also keenly interested in the history unfolding all around her. I’m really enjoying this one so far — it’s finally giving me the fictional Queen Mother I always complained about wanting to see on The Crown! The book will be published on May 19.
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
Here’s a royal documentary you can begin enjoying right now! At the end of April, Britain’s Channel 5 aired this new biography of the Princess Royal. The hour-long doc features interviews from the usual stable of royal commentators, but for me, the best part was the extensive archival footage from throughout Anne’s life. The film attempts to tackle one of the central questions about Anne: is she a romantic princess, a gruff and reluctant royal, or the last vestige of the “old guard” of the family? If you’re in the UK, you can stream the show via Channel 5’s site; if you’re elsewhere, you might want try out this streaming link. (Just saying!)
What have you been reading and watching lately? Share your recommendations with us in the comments below!
Note: Some links on this website are Amazon affiliate links. I put all money that I receive from these affiliate links back into materials for review on the site (including the book discussed in this post), so if you want to read more reviews, please consider purchasing items through the affiliate links in this post and throughout the site. Thanks, everybody!