Re: Greville bequest - a question raised - Archived Message
Posted by Franck on February 1, 2016, 3:43 am, in reply to "Re: Greville bequest - a question raised - "
Cher Arthur, Merci beaucoup pour vos commentaires des plus avisés ! Franck --Previous Message-- : Franck, : : I am not sure to agree entirely with your : comments. : : That a lot of jewels of the British Royal : Family are not worn is a fact that everone : can see: several jewels have resurfaced : after decades in the vaults. For example, : when I listed the emerald necklaces in the : British collection, I realized that the : Cambridge emerald choker, made for Queen : Mary, was never seen between the late 1930s : and 1981, when it was presented by Queen : Elizabeth II to Princess Diana. And even : several jewels which are worn on a regular : basis may even appear publicly only once in : two or three years (in other words, they : appear regularly, but not frequently). : : Yet, I remain suspicious about book-writers' : comments about the extent of Buckingham : Palace's jewel vaults. How do they know? Did : they visit these vaults? Leslie Field : stressed that she had only minimal support : from the Royal Household in her research for : her book; Andrew Morton, who wrote the : sensationalistic Diana: Her True Story , : was certainly not welcome at Buckingham : Palace; and our fellow poster Vincent made a : very serious work thanks to his access to : the archives or Boucheron, Van Cleef and : Arpels and Mellerio dits Meller, but I would : be surprised if he could get first-hand : report about jewel storage at Clarence House : (unless I underestimate Vincent's royal : connections, who knows... ). I think that : these comments sound more like rumours : repeated again and again, but who lack solid : and proven background. : : Regarding the historic jewels which have : resurfaced again in the recent years (the : diamond cockade, Queen Mary's Trophy-of-love : dog collar, Queen Alexandra's amethyst, : pearl and diamond sautoir...), it is easy to : write retrospectively that we were : "almost certain" that these jewels : were in the vaults. Personally, until I saw : these jewels, I had absolutely no certainty : about their whereabouts. They could also : have been dismantled, or bequeathed outside : the main line of the Royal Family. : : Finally, we should also refrain from hasty : conclusions about the attributions of : "new" jewels worn by Camilla. As : far as I know, no connection has been : established between Camilla's sapphire : pendant or aquamarine set (whose designs : look quite modern, by the way) and Queen : Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The citrine (or : orange topaz?) brooch worn once by Camilla : in Ascot looks more antique, but no : connection is proven with the Queen Mother : either. All these jewels could be gifts to : Camilla (private or official gifts), or : personal purchases. So far, no option can be : excluded. : : Only one thing is sure: the British jewel : collection IS enormous! May be more or less : enormous, but enormous anyway! : : :
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