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    Re: Duchess of Cornwall Diamond Rosette Brooch Archived Message

    Posted by Arthur on October 17, 2014, 7:42 am, in reply to "Duchess of Cornwall Diamond Rosette Brooch"

    It is a possibility that Camilla's brooch is the same as the Queen-Mother's wedding gift brooch, but I am not totally sure. Actually, there are several similar brooches, in the shape of a heraldic rose of England, which can bring some confusion.

    According to Ursula's website ( http://www.royal-magazin.de/england/diamond-rose-brooch-queen-mary.htm ), Queen Mary received at least two brooches in the shape of an heraldic rose as wedding gifts:
    - the Duke of York (later King George V) presented a diamond rose brooch in the style of the "Rose of York"
    - the West Yorkshire Regiment presented a diamond rose brooch, designed and executed by the Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' Company.

    Still according to Ursula's website, the brooch presented by the Duke of York was mounted by Queen Mary on a bracelet that she wears on this picture. The West Yorkshire regiment brooch is pictured on the right:



    Ursula's website also mentions that the West Yorkshire regiment's brooch was presented by Queen Mary to her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) as a wedding gift:



    We have never seen Queen(-Mother) Elizabeth wearing this brooch, nor Queen Elizabeth II. But Princess Margaret wore a similar Rose of York diamond brooch, of which Ursula's website says it is the West Yorkshire Regiment's brooch. It was part of the jewels sold at auction after Princess Margaret's death, but Christie's notice gives no precise information about the origin of the brooch:
    http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/an-antique-diamond-rose-of-york-brooch-4717994-details.aspx?from=salesummary&pos=5&intObjectID=4717994&sid=19f5cb35-c5dd-4391-a716-fc5d415cab23



    Here worn by Princess Margaret at Princess Eugenie of York's christening, in December 1990:



    So, these factual elements let the following hypotheses opened:
    1) Queen Mary's, QEQM's, Princess Margaret's and Camilla's brooch are one and the same, which implies that Prince Charles (or the Queen) bought back Princess Margaret's brooch at the auction;
    2) Princess Margaret's brooch is not the same as Queen Mary's and QEQM's (which implies that Ursula's website's information would be erroneous on that point); that also implies that Camilla's brooch could be QM's and QEQM's West Yorkshire Regiment's brooch
    3) QM's and QEQM's West Yorkshire Regiment's brooch went to Princess Margaret (and was sold at auction), and the brooch worn by Camilla is another brooch, of unidentified origin
    4) QM's/QEQM's West Yorkshire Regiment's brooch, Princess Margaret's brooch and Camilla's brooch are three different brooches.

    Personally, I tend to lean in favour of the second option (without excluding the third one):
    - on QEQM's wedding gifts picture, we can see that the outer petals of the rose are (slightly) curved inwards, while on Princess Margaret's brooch, they are curved outwards; Camilla's brooch petals seem to be slightly curved inwards too;
    - it seems that Camilla's brooch has, between the rose petals, tiny diamond "leaves", which can not be seen on Princess Margaret's brooch. These tiny leaves are possibly visible on QEQM's wedding gifts picture ("possibly" because the picture is a bit blurry to be sure) and are visible on Ursula's website's picture (the engraving on the right, just behind the photographic picture of Princess Margaret's brooch).



    To conclude, I must say honestly that I have no sure and absolute opinion. But these are the elements I wanted to share with you.


    --Previous Message--
    : I have a question relating to a brooch worn by
    : the Duchess of Cornwall on the back of dress
    : to hold her sash of the Royal Victoria
    : Order.
    :
    : It is a small diamond rosette style brooch.
    :
    :
    :
    :
    :
    :
    : I am not sure if it has been discussed
    : before but I thought that it might be the
    : brooch shown below at the left from the
    : gifts to the then Duchess of York (QEQM)
    : from Queen Mary.
    :
    :
    :
    : I was reminded of this when earlier today,
    : Arthur posted the Sotheby’s catalogue page
    : showing the pink topaz brooch and earrings
    : and I noticed a similar brooch on the same
    : page – seen below top.
    :
    :
    :
    :
    : Could Charles have bought more that one lot
    : that day??
    :
    :
    : Cheers!
    : Bryce
    :

    Message Thread: