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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Costume Jewels: Trailer for E!’s The Royals

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If you’ve been watching E! during red carpet events this season, you’ve probably seen a trailer or two for their upcoming new scripted series, The Royals. The show is a soap-opera take on a fictional British royal family, starring Elizabeth Hurley and the newly-damed Joan Collins. It promises to be equal parts ridiculous and entertaining — and yeah, I’ll be live-tweeting it whenever possible. Today, let’s have a look at some of the jewelry shown in the show’s trailer, shall we?

The main character of the show is Elizabeth Hurley’s Queen Helena, consort to King Simon. She has clearly been confabbing with her European counterparts, Mathilde and Maxima, regarding Very Big Earrings.

However, she also got the “British queens wear pearls in the daytime” memo for this trip on her fancy private jet. (Clearly these fictional British royals are less worried about austerity and/or carbon footprints than their real-life counterparts.)

Helena’s also apparently not worried about PETA. I’m going to go ahead and assume that, in this British royal universe, she was able to commander one of the Cullinan “chips” for that ring, and that she ordered that knockoff Cartier Tank watch from the Jackie Kennedy jewelry collection on QVC.

More diamonds for daytime, with a necklace that’s reminiscent of the real Queen’s modern fringe, plus a diamond bracelet and earrings like Kate’s Kenneth Jay Lanes (which are not my favorites).

AND THEN we meet Helena’s mother, who is the “Grand Duchess of Oxford.” (Apparently in this alternate universe, Oxford declared independence from the UK and became one of the world’s only remaining grand duchies. Okay, I’ll go with it.) The grand duchess looks to be this show’s answer to Queen Mary, with daytime diamonds and choker necklaces galore. I am intrigued by the brooch.

Next up, we meet Helena’s daughter, Princess Eleanor, whose character seems to be all about any and all forms of rebellion, plus bohemian fringed jewelry.

Helena looks disdainful in her diamonds here because her husband’s just announced that he wants to abolish the monarchy (i.e., the one he is currently reigning in as monarch).

These two are presented, plastic discount store jewelry and all, with no real explanation. Per Wikipedia, I think their names are Princess Penelope and Princess Maribel, and I’m guessing they’re a super mean parody of the York sisters. Come on, show, even the Yorkies wouldn’t do this.

More stern pearl jewelry for Helena, who has added a nice bracelet for expressing consternation at her daughter’s embarrassing activities.

And finally, diamonds and peacock feathers for a day at the races. As One does.

Verdict so far? It’s everything I’d imagine a Dynasty or Gossip Girl version of royal life would be, jewelry-wise. If you’re on Twitter, and you’re ready to enjoy this train-wrecky version of the royal circus, be sure to follow me and join in on the live-tweet of this Sunday night’s premiere! Looks like the official hashtag will be #TheRoyals. See you there!

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.

Commonwealth Day Service Jewels

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The Big Six of the Windsor family — the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — gathered at Westminster Abbey yesterday for the annual Commonwealth Day service. The royal ladies didn’t disappoint, bringing out gorgeous familiar pieces and a bit of new bling, too.

The Queen wore her usual daytime staples: a three-stranded pearl necklace, pearl stud earrings, and a brooch. This time, she chose her round gold brooch with a delicate floral pattern, a piece she’s been wearing since the Diamond Jubilee.

Camilla also wore familiar pieces: her diamond and pearl earrings, plus one of the glitziest of her pearl chokers, with its elaborate diamond clasp.

Kate wore a new pair of earrings from one of her favorite jewelers, Kiki McDonough. The cushion-cut drops are made of soft pink morganite, a variety of beryl. Here’s a closer look at the earrings from Kiki McDonough’s website:

The earrings are currently out of stock, but they retail for £3,400. They were, of course, a great choice for pairing with Kate’s pale pink Alexander McQueen coat … but since they’re new, should I also carefully suggest that they’d have been a great present for a woman who discovered that she’s expecting a daughter?