And a few weeks after Eddy's [her father-in-law] death, Moucher [her mother-in-law] handed me an old Elastoplast tin fastened with a rubber band. When I opened it I was amazed to see some family jewels, including row upon row of pearls. The pearls were such an inseparable part of my mother-in-law – I had seldom seen her without them, town or country, day or night – that I could not imagine wearing them and gave them straight back to her. But I kept the other pieces, including a star ruby brooch which I had made into a clasp for my own cultured pearls. This necklace, together with a high-collared shirt that appears in many portraits and photographs of me, became my uniform.
Here are some of those images mentioned above showing the ruby clasp, including the Anniongi portrait:
After her husband's death, the dowager duchess handed over the family jewels to her son's wife Amanda. The current duchess was photographed wearing the clasp a few years ago.
I think the Evelyn, wife of the ninth duke and Queen Mary's Mistress of the Robes, is shown wearing the brooch below.