Re: Marchioness of Cambridge | Teck Jewels the brooch Archived Message
Posted by Arthur on May 7, 2015, 1:56 am, in reply to " Marchioness of Cambridge | Teck Jewels the brooch "
Thank you very much, Ursula, for this fantastic detective work! It now seems clear that, at some time, Queen Mary acquired a lot of jewels from her sister-in-law: the Teck crescent tiara, the Teck loop necklace, the diamond corsage brooch (now turned by Queen Elizabeth II as earrings, see my post at http://members2.boardhost.com/royal-jewels/msg/1417016494.html), the enamelled bracelet with Queen Adelaide's portrait (now in the Royal collection). Regarding the pearl and diamond choker (transformable into a pair of bracelets) presented to Margaret Grosvenor on the occasion of her wedding to Prince Adolphus of Teck by her father the Duke of Westminster, I think it must NOT be the one worn by Queen Mary (and possibly later as a bracelet by Queen Elizabeth II). My reasons for this supposal are the following: - Queen Mary acquired jewels which were related to her own parents (Teck), or to her own ancestors (Cambridge, Gloucester), but she would have had no obvious historical or sentimental reason to buy a jewel coming from the Westminsters - Queen Mary wore, as soon as the early years of her marriage and throughout her life, her pearl and diamond choker/bracelet. Unless she regularly exchanged this particular choker with her sister-in-law (which I think is highly unprobable, as both women had quite a large jewel collection on their own, and Queen Mary does not seem to have loaned jewels to or borrowed jewels from anyone else), we should conclude that these are two different chokers/bracelets (though of strikingly similar design) - as shown on the picture posted by Nellie, Dorothy, wife of the 2nd Marquess of Cambridge, wore for the 1953 Coronation one half of the choker (as a bracelet, on her right wrist) (possibly the second half on the left wrist, but it is not visible on the photo). So, unless Queen Elizabeth II loaned her choker/bracelet to her cousin in 1953 (also quite unprobable...), we should conclude that Margaret Grosvenor, Marchioness of Cambridge's choker/bracelet was inherited by her son, the 2nd Marquess, and worn by his wife Dorothy - we should not forget that Princess Marie-Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, owned a similar-looking choker/bracelet, that she bequeathed to the Queen. Marie-Louise also wore this choker bracelet from her early marriage years to her late life. So we should conclude that this design of choker/bracelet was quite popular at the end of the 19th century, and that there were at least 3 examplars of this jewel in the extended British Royal Family (Queen Mary's, Marchioness of Cambridge's and Princess Marie-Louise's) - including two which are probably now in Queen Elizabeth II's possession (Queen Mary's and Princess Marie-Louise's).
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