Dear all, we have to bear to mind that in her will, Sophie, Countess Torby (wife of Grand Duke Michael of Russia) left Queen Mary, 'in grateful and devoted remembrance', the following: 'my ruby brooch with ruby pendant, given to me by my brothers-in-law and originally chosen for the Empress Alexandra'.
In the 1930's Queen Mary was painted wearing the brooch in a portrait exhibited at the RA..I
Franck
--Previous Message-- : What a good knowledge (and memory) of the : British royal jewels you have Arthur! : : The similarities between the jewel which : Princess Helena (Princess Christian) wore in : the 1875 Angeli portrait and that of Queen : Mary in the 1928 Taylor portrait are : striking. : : From the Royal Collection (Princess Helena : by Angeli) : https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/search#/5/collection/405364/princess-helena-princess-christian-of-schleswig-holstein-1846-1923 : : : Edit: to include Queen Mary's portrait : : : I initially thought it might be possible : that there were two similar but different : jewels, as the style reminded me of the : necklace which Queen Victoria gave to her : daughter, the later Empress Frederick, as a : wedding present. According to the Royal : Collection site that jewel was given to QV : by the Queen of Oude. (Probably during the : Indian Queen's visit to Britain in 1856-7.) : As the Queen of Oude was on a "begging : mission" politically, I strongly : suspect that a significant amount of : jewellery was given by her to Queen : Victoria, and so it is not only possible, : but probable, that several jewels in a : similar style exist or existed. : Empress Frederick with her necklace from the : Queen of Oude. : : : On the spur of the moment I decided to see : if I could find any photos of Princess : Helena with this jewel. Luckily, I found one : on my initial search in the National : Portrait Gallery, UK. : : http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw167537/Princess-Helena-Augusta-Victoria-of-Schleswig-Holstein?LinkID=mp02122&search=sas&sText=Princess+Helena&wPage=2&role=sit&rNo=55 : : : In the photo above the jewel appears to be : worn as a brooch (but I could be wrong : again!) : : Although the details of the brooch/pendant : in the photo are indistinct, I think the : jewel in the photo shows a very similar : outline to the pendant worn by Queen Mary. : : : I think that Arthur is correct and that : Queen Mary was depicted with the jewel worn : by Princess Helena (Princess Christian), : although it is always possible that 2 very : similar jewels existed. : : Has anyone read any of the biographies : available? They may shed some light on : whether such a jewel was left to Queen Mary. : I did a quick check on the UK wills site : but, despite searching under several : possible surnames, I didn't find anything, : so probably Princess Helena's (Princess : Christian) will was sealed like others since : the death of Queen Mary's brother, Francis : of Teck. : : : : :