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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

The Duchess of York’s Rubies

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For the brief period in the ’80s and ’90s when Sarah Ferguson was HRH The Duchess of York, her jewelry collection was a bit more extensive than it is today. Let’s have a look at the set of rubies she wore during her royal tenure, shall we?

The set is said to have been a gift from the Saudi royals. It’s a demi-parure of diamonds and rubies, designed in a modern style and set in yellow gold. (Unfortunately, that yellow gold setting dates the jewels a bit.) Sarah often wore the necklace and earrings with her tiara.

Sarah has long had an affection for rubies. Her engagement ring from Prince Andrew featured a Burmese ruby surrounded by diamonds.

While the engagement ring, as a personal gift, was Sarah’s to keep, it’s presumed that the Saudi rubies were not. Here’s the deal: jewels given to a royal lady are given to her as a member of the royal family, not as a private citizen. The rubies were intended for HRH The Duchess of York, not Sarah Ferguson, so when Sarah and Andrew divorced, they presumably stayed in the royal vaults.

While Sarah wore the rubies during her marriage, therefore, she hasn’t worn them since — because she no longer has them. By contrast, the tiara and diamond demi-parure that Sarah received from her parents-in-law were her own personal property, so she was able to keep them after the marriage ended.

The York Diamond Demi-Parure

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Another new month = another new Magpie of the Month at The Court Jeweller! To celebrate Princess Eugenie’s upcoming birthday, we’re going to be peeking into the jewelry boxes of the York women this March. Today, we’re starting off with one of their nicest sets of jewelry: the diamond demi-parure that belongs to Sarah, Duchess of York.

In 1986, Sarah Ferguson married the Queen’s second son, Prince Andrew. As a wedding present, she and Prince Philip purchased a tiara for their new daughter-in-law from Garrard. But that wasn’t their only gift. They also bought a diamond demi-parure of jewels in a modern floral design from Garrard. The set consists of a necklace, a bracelet, and a pair of earrings. The set was valued at around $500,000.

During her brief tenure as a royal duchess, Sarah wore the set frequently, often pairing it with the wedding tiara. Although the tiara and the demi-parure were bought around the same time from the same jeweler, they are not a matched set.

The Yorks attended gala events during various royal tours, including visits to Canada and France, and the diamond demi-parure was often seen on these occasions.

Sarah and Andrew divorced in May 1996, but she kept her jewels. She’s maintained a high profile since then, appearing at numerous premieres, charity galas, and other events, often in connection with various products and projects she’s endorsing.

Only a few months before the divorce, Sarah traveled to the United States to attend a reception at the White House. She brought the diamond demi-parure with her. When going through security at JFK afterward, the unlocked bag containing the diamonds was mistakenly (according to Sarah) placed with baggage to be checked rather than with her carry-on luggage.

You can probably guess what happened — a teenaged baggage handler opened the bag, discovered the jewels, and pocketed the necklace and the bracelet. He took the necklace home to his family. Five stones were pried out of the necklace, which was then stashed in a toolshed behind the house. The bracelet was left in his locker at the airport.

Sarah didn’t discover that the jewels were missing until she arrived home in Britain. The FBI ended up recovering the pieces and arresting the baggage handler, but the assistant director of the New York office of the bureau questioned why Sarah had left the valuables in such a vulnerable position in the first place, noting, “I don’t think it shows a lot of wisdom myself. I certainly wouldn’t do it. But I personally wouldn’t have a half a million dollars of jewelry.”

Interestingly, Sarah claimed that it was her lady-in-waiting, Jane Andrews, who had ultimately decided to check the bag. In a twist, Andrews is now in prison — but for murdering her lover, not for mistakenly checking a bag containing royal jewels.

For years, Sarah kept the demi-parure in the back of her jewelry box, but more recently, she’s brought the set out again. She donned the diamonds at the amfAR Cinema against AIDS Gala in 2011, and in 2012, she wore the set to the Diamond Butterfly Ball.

Crown Princess Mary’s Midnight Parure

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In today’s precarious global economy, luxury purchases can be a bit dicey for royals. You don’t want to look as if you’re throwing money around — and potentially disrespecting the serious hardships faced by others — but you’re also expected to maintain a certain sheen of glitter to help impress and influence those who can benefit your kingdom. When it comes to acquiring new jewels, the Danes have come up with an intriguing solution: the equivalent of long-term jewelry leases. Today’s peek into Crown Princess Mary’s jewelry box looks at her loaner set: the Midnight Parure.

In 2009, Danish jeweler Charlotte Lynggaard designed a modern set of three coordinating jewelry pieces — a tiara, a pair of earrings, and a brooch — made of diamonds, moonstones, silver, and gold. The set was created with Crown Princess Mary in mind, as the leaves and berries in the piece resemble the golden wattle, one of the national emblems of Australia. The set was constructed at the Ole Lynggaard workshop and then put on display to the public at the Amalienborg Palace Museum.

The price tag of the set is said to be in the range of $300,000. Even if the crown princely couple has that much cash to spare, such an extravagant purchase could certainly raise eyebrows. But Mary attends enough high-profile gala events that a third tiara was a welcome addition to her collection, and any Danish jeweler would benefit from having Mary appear in public wearing their work. So, in a mutually beneficial arrangement, the Midnight set was essentially leased to Mary. Ole Lynggaard retains the ownership of the jewels, but Mary has the exclusive right to wear them during her lifetime, and each time she dons the set, she essentially acts as a walking advertisement for the Danish jewelry industry.

Shortly after the set was made, Mary wore it for the first time in public at a 75th birthday party for Prince Henrik. She wore all three pieces, attaching the brooch to the strap of her gown.

The following year, Mary also wore the complete set during Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday celebrations. On this occasion, she placed the brooch at the waist of her green dress.

And in 2013, Mary wore the tiara from the set at a major event: Princess Madeleine of Sweden’s wedding. This time, she wore only the tiara, pairing it with a different pair of diamond earrings.