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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Sundays with Victoria: The Diamond Bow Brooches

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One of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Bow Brooches (William Lovelace/Daily Express/Getty Images)

In 1858, Queen Victoria’s jewelry box went through a sudden and rather unexpected transformation. All of the jewels that had once belonged to her grandmother, Queen Charlotte, were awarded to her cousin, the King of Hanover, whose father had claimed them following the death of King William IV. She lost numerous pieces, including a set of diamond bow brooches. Today’s brooches are the trio that she had made to replace them.

One of the bow brooches (Warrick Page/Getty Images)

The three brooches are all made to resemble ribbon bows, and they vary slightly in size from largest to smallest. In 1901, Victoria designated the three brooches as “heirlooms of the crown,” meaning that they pass directly from monarch to monarch, to be worn by queens regnant or consort. When Victoria died, the brooches went to her son, King Edward VII, to be worn by his wife, Queen Alexandra.

Queen Alexandra wears the brooches on her skirt at her first state opening of parliament as queen consort (left) and at her coronation (right)

Alexandra usually wore the three brooches as a set, often cascading them down the front of her skirt, as she did at her first state opening of parliament as queen consort and at her coronation.

Queen Mary wears the brooches with pendants, including the Cullinan III Diamond

After the death of Edward VII in 1910, the brooches passed to King George V and Queen Mary. Each brooch features a tiny loop that allows it to be worn with a pendant, and both Alexandra and Mary used the brooches this way. Mary was even photographed wearing the large Cullinan III stone suspended from one of the bows.

Queen Elizabeth II wears the smallest of the bow brooches during her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002 (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth received the brooches in 1936, but they were never among Elizabeth’s most-worn pieces of royal jewelry. Unlike her predecessors, she usually only wore one bow at a time. Her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, received the brooches on her accession in 1952, and she’s been wearing them regularly for the past 65 years. Like her mother, she generally just wears one brooch at a time. The bows have become some of her favorite pieces, suitable for regular daytime appearances as well as more somber occasions. Notably, she chose one of the brooches for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.

Stay tuned for more Victorian jewels with our recap of Victoria, which will be up on Wednesday this week!

The Russian Pearl Bandeau

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The Russian Pearl Bandeau (Clive Limpkin/Daily Express/Getty Images)

They may not sit on the British throne, but of all the branches of the Windsor family tree, it’s actually the present-day Kents who can boast of the greatest royal ancestry. This is thanks to Princess Marina, who was descended from the Greek, Danish, and Russian royal families. Today’s tiara, the Russian Pearl Bandeau, also made its way into the Kent collection through Marina’s regal connections.

Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark wears the tiara, ca. 1910

The tiara, which can also be taken off its frame and worn as a necklace, allegedly originated in the collection of Marina’s grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the Elder) of Russia. (You’ll probably recognize Maria Pavlovna under another name: Grand Duchess Vladimir.) Geoffrey Munn says that the tiara was probably given by Maria Pavlovna to her daughter, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark in 1902.

Princess Nicholas wears the tiara, ca. 1910 (Grand Ladies Site)

This tiara is sometimes called the “pearl swirl” tiara, and each “link” of the piece does indeed feature diamonds curled around a central pearl. I’ve also seen this designed referred to as the “snake” necklace, with the diamond elements representing snakes and the pearls representing their eggs. However you want to interpret the design, at some point, two of these swirl elements were removed from the piece to make a pair of earrings. The maker of the tiara is apparently unknown.

In 1934, the tiara once again served as a wedding gift. Princess Nicholas bestowed the tiara on her daughter, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, who was marrying the Duke of Kent, one of the younger sons of King George V. Marina wore the pearl tiara on multiple occasions, including during a tour of Asia in 1952. In the photograph above, she wears it on a trip to the theater with Queen Mary in 1935.

Princess Alexandra wears the tiara, December 1967 (Clive Limpkin/Daily Express/Getty Images)

Marina’s only daughter, Princess Alexandra, wore the tiara several times as a young woman. But unfortunately, this was one of the items of jewelry that the family was forced to sell to pay the estate tax after Marina’s death in 1968. The tiara/necklace and earrings was photographed for Geoffrey Munn’s tiara book in 2002, but the piece was attributed merely to a “private collection.”

This Week in Royal Jewels: February 10-16

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February 10-16, 2017
We’ve got quite the range of pieces this week — don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
STEPHEN POND/AFP/Getty Images
10. The Duchess of Cambridge wore her leaf-shaped earrings by Kiki McDonough for a visit to RAF Wittering on Tuesday.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
9. In Madrid, Queen Letizia of Spain wore modern silver earrings for audiences at Zarzuela Palace on Wednesday.
ERIC LALMAND/AFP/Getty Images
8. Queen Mathilde of the Belgians chose modern golden earrings for a visit to a non-profit in Verviers on Wednesday.
Arthur Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images
7. The Duchess of Cornwall wore a sparkling blue flower brooch for Tuesday’s visit to Bristol.
Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool/Getty Images
6. For audiences at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore a gold and diamond brooch that was one of her wedding gifts in 1947.
Jens Schlueter/Getty Images
5. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands capped off her visit to Germany on Friday with golden jewelry, including her gold butterfly pins.
JASPER JACOBS/AFP/Getty Images
4. In Brussels last Thursday, Princess Astrid of Belgium wore diamond and pearl earrings to a gala in support of Belgium’s paralympic athletes.
Matthew Lewis/Getty Images for Laureus
3. Princess Charlene of Monaco wore a shoulder-grazing pair of diamond and pearl earrings at Tuesday’s Laureus World Sports Awards. (Much more over here!)
DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images
2. Queen Elizabeth II wore the double cluster diamond and emerald brooch from the Cambridge Emerald suite for the opening of the National Cyber Security Centre in London on Tuesday. (More images here!)
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
1. My top vote of the week goes to the Duchess of Cambridge’s appearance at the BAFTAs, where she mixed new jewels (a pair of elaborate statement earrings) with an heirloom (the Queen’s wedding gift bracelet). (Close-ups over here!)