Posted by Janet B on March 9, 2013, 11:06 am, in reply to "Queen Mary amethysts"
I am certain that the royals had a suitable array of mourning and half mourning jewels (pearls, amethysts, jet, cut black glass I believe) but I believe it was in "The Queen's Diamonds" that the author shared that queen Mary an intense dislike of mourning jewels and gave many of her pieces away ( I don't have my book readily available to verify for certain). While I don't believed Mary loved amethysts, I can believe that she wore them during mourning for a little color. I would like to see this amethyst tiara--actually, I would love to see the Kent amethyst trotted out more frequently. The Swedish family has that amazing set of amethysts--I wish the British would show off their pieces more.and, The Duchess of Cornwall appears to rather like the stone. --Previous Message-- : The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall of York : (later King George V and Queen Mary) toured : the Commonwealth for six months March to : October 1901, visiting Gibraltar, Malta, : Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, Australia, New : Zealand, Mauritius, Natal and Cape of Good : Hope, and Canada. : : The highlight of the tour was the opening of : the first Australian Federal Parliament in : Melbourne 9 May 1901. On the evening after : the formal opening there was a gala : reception, and the dress of the duchess was : described thus in The London Times: : ´The Duchess of Cornwall, who was dressed in : black, wore a tiara and a necklace of : amethysts, which belonged to Queen : Charlotte´. : : The royals were still in mourning for Queen : Victoria, who had died the previous January, : which explain the sombre colour of the dress : and the appropriate amethyst jewels. : : I wonder, however, if you have previously : read of an amethyst tiara (or other amethyst : jewels) from Queen Charlotte? There are not : many amethyst jewels in use today except the : Kent demi-parure. There was an amethyst : tiara which belonged to Queen Mary and was : later sold by a descendant (sometimes : wrongly described as sold by the late Queen : Mother). Others? :