I do not think that the Queen-Mother is wearing the Greville Diamond Necklace on the picture of the 1950 reception at the French embassy. The rows of diamonds look too thin, when compared with the Greville necklace.
--Previous Message-- : I think this could be the Greville 5 row : necklace that QEQM had altered to 3 rows. : This necklace was last seen on Camille, : Duchess of Cornwall in the original 5 row : version. : : --Previous Message-- : Hello, : : It is commonly accepted that the “King : George VI’s Festoon Necklace”, so often worn : by Queen Elizabeth II, was made for her, on : her father’s request. : : : : In The Queen’s Diamonds , Hugh Roberts : writes (page 292): “ The necklace was : commissioned by King George VI for Princess : Elizabeth in 1950, using a total of 105 : loose collets that had passed to the King as : heirlooms of the Crown. They were among the : 154 loose collets that Garrard had marked : with a ‘C’ (for ‘Crown’) in 1911, and which : Queen Mary used for extending existing : collet necklaces ”. Significantly, this : necklace appears in the chapter dedicated to : Queen Elizabeth II’s jewels, and not in the : chapter dedicated to Queen(-Mother) : Elizabeth’s jewels. Roberts also mentions : that Garrard shortened the necklace in 1953 : by removing ten diamonds (which means the : initial necklace had 115 collets, since in : its current form it has 105 collets which : can be easily counted on the HQ picture : published in the book). : : The list of the jewels designated as : “heirlooms of the Crown” by Queen Victoria : (as published in Lord Twinnings’ Crown : Jewels of Europe , later copied in the : appendix of Vincent Meylan’s Bijoux de : Reines ) indeed included 154 unmounted : collet diamonds. : : I have nevertheless come to the conclusion : that Roberts is probably wrong when he : writes that the necklace was made “ for : Princess Elizabeth ” (i.e. the future Queen : Elizabeth II). : : First of all, I find it strange that the : King would present his daughter with a jewel : made of stones explicitly identified as : “heirlooms of the Crown”, which should : consequently be worn exclusively by the : Sovereign or the Queen Consort. When the : necklace was made in 1950, Princess : Elizabeth was only the heir apparent, and : she could have theoretically stepped back in : the order of succession, had the King : fathered a son. : : Second, I do not remember of pictures of the : then Princess Elizabeth wearing this : necklace under her father’s reign. I think : that Queen Elizabeth II wore this necklace : for the first time during her Royal Tour of : the Commonwealth (New-Zealand, Australia, : Ceylon...) in 1953-1954. Please, correct me : if I am wrong on this point. : : And finally, we have a picture showing Queen : Elizabeth (later the Queen-Mother) wearing : the necklace in 1950. The picture was taken : on March 8, 1950, during the Return Dinner : given at the French embassy by the French : President Vincent Auriol at the end of his : State Visit to Britain. Though the : characteristic triangular diamond motives : are hidden under the Queen’s fur stole, we : can clearly see the three rows of diamonds : at the front, and one single row at the : back. I am 99% sure the Queen is wearing the : Festoon Necklace on this picture. Next to : it, I post another picture of Queen : Elizabeth II, in the same angle, for a : better visual comparison. : : : : So my guess is that this Festoon Necklace : was not made for the then Princess : Elizabeth. It is rather an “heirloom of the : Crown”, like the stones it is made of, at : the disposal of all Queens (whether Queens : Consort or reigning Queens). : : What do you think? : : Arthur : : : : : :
on July 23, 2014, 2:00 pm, in reply to "