Thank you so much for that information Merlin. I always learn so much from your posts. I hope that Her Majesty gets another evening gown of a similar shade so we can be treated to seeing these beautiful jewels again. I think they would also look superb against white, black or green fabric, but that is not HM's normal style.
--Previous Message-- : OK, the two events in 1990 when the Queen wore : the Kent Amethyst necklace were a dinner at : Holyroodhouse to celebrate the Queen : Mother's birthday in June. The birthday girl : wore Mrs Greville's Emerald necklace, : neither wore tiaras. This was shown in a : special TV programme on 'The Queen in : Scotland and Iceland'. : The other occasion was The Gentleman at Arms : dinner at St James's Palace the same summer. : This time worn with the full Garter kit, : Family Orders and Girls of GB&I tiara. The : effect was magnificent....I saw it. : Both times the same mauve dress from : Portugal in '85. : This dress was hardly ever worn without the : Amethyst and when it was retired so were : they ! : About the wearing in 1972 I will go into : that later as I would like to make some : other points as well. : : : : : --Previous Message-- : Christina, I have the same pictures as you, : so : I can not provide pictures enabling us to : compare the versions of the necklace. : : Merlin, your information is very : interesting, but totally new to me. Do you : have pictures of the events you mention? Can : you identify the two events in the 1990s? : : : --Previous Message-- : : As far as I know the first time the Queen : was photographed wearing the large Kent : Amethyst necklace was in 1972 while in : mourning for her Uncle, the Duke of Windsor. : She wore it twice more in 1990, once with : the Girls of GB&I and another time with no : tiara. : : : : --Previous Message-- : Arthur thank you very much for your post and : picture of the Mexican visit, its totally : new to me. : : Your hypothesis on the two remaining : brooches is very interesting. It does seem : that the elements can be worn as an : extension of the necklace. It would be very : interesting if there were previous times : where this necklace was worn so it could be : compared. : : Are there any portraits/ pictures of the : previous owners of the demi parure since the : Duchess of Kent wearing this necklace? : : I'm puzzled because I only know a picture of : QEQM wearing the large Kent brooch, and I : believe a portrait of the original owner : also wearing the brooch but none with the : necklace. : : : : : : --Previous Message-- : According to Leslie Field's book The : Queen's : Jewels , the Kent Amethyst demi-parure : consists of a necklace, three brooches, a : pair of earrings and a pair of hair combs. : As far as I know, we have never seen the : hair combs. : : As for the three brooches, I have the : feeling that the solution is just under our : eyes... i.e. on the pictures of the Queen’s : State visit to Portugal in 1984. : : : : If you look closely at the necklace, you can : see that most of the elements of the : necklace are large oval-shaped amethysts : surrounded by a thin line of round brilliant : diamonds and separated by small diamond : stars. But if you look more closely, you can : see that the two amethysts on the left and : on the right of the central amethyst are : smaller and hexagonal, with a wider diamond : surround in a sunray design... like the : brooch! : : So my guess is that the three brooches are : identical, and that two of them have been : integrated into the necklace, probably to : increase its length. : : As it was frequently the case with jewels in : the 19th century, I guess that all the : elements of the necklace are detachable and : can be hitched and unhitched at will, thanks : to small hooks and loops cleverly hidden in : the metal frame (it is the same, for : instance, with the Cambridge sapphire and : diamond parure, whose necklace and brooches : were worn in several shapes and lengths by : Queen Mary and by Marina and Katherine, : Duchesses of Kent). The three pendants on : the necklace and the three ones on the : brooch are probably removable too. : : I agree it is a beautiful parure – and : definitely a historical one, since it is one : of the few pre-Victorian jewels in the Royal : collection. I would love Queen Elizabeth to : wear it occasionally. A State Visit from (or : to) King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of : Belgium could be a nice opportunity, as the : amethysts would match perfectly with the : purple colour of the sash of the Belgian : Order of Leopold. : : As for the tiara, I would personally prefer : to see this amethyst demi-parure worn with : Queen Alexandra’s Peeresses’ Kokoshnik, or : with Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara. But any : diamond tiara will be welcome, actually! : : The pictures of the State Visit to Portugal : are the most famous, but Queen Elizabeth II : also wore the Kent Amethyst Demi-Parure : (again with the Girls of Great-Britain and : Ireland Tiara) in 1985 during the State : visit of the President of Mexico. As far as : I know, these are the two only occasions : when the Queen wore the full parure (minus : the hair combs). Note that for the Mexican : State Visit, the Queen did not wear the : brooch (but still had two of them included : in the necklace), and had only one pendant : hooked to the central amethyst of the : necklace. : : : : (sorry, I do not remember who posted this : picture on this board first! Maybe Nellie? : Marianne?) : : : --Previous Message-- : : : --Previous Message-- : : It looks to me like one of them. I think : there is more than one. : : : Nellie, do you happen to have a picture from : the other brooche(s)? Are they similar in : shape and size (like the Q Victoria Bows) or : are they entirely different? : : I know, there's this picture of HM where she : wears something below the 'main-brooch'. But : I'm not sure wether it's a pendant or : another amethyst pinned on HM's sash... : : : : : : : : : : : : :