The Queen’s Jewels – Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Tribute

Occasionally these are private presents, like the emerald necklace given to her by the spinster Godman sisters in the 1960s. But mostly they are the kind of State Gifts that a Prime Minister would be obliged to declare publicly. It started at the Coronation, when a parure, or jewellery set, of aquamarine pendant and earrings was given to the Queen by the President and people of Brazil.

Queen Victoria received great bounty as Empress of India and Queen Mary was overwhelmed with gifts at the 1911 Delhi Durbar. The last vestige of that era of the Indian Maharajahs was the flower tiara that the Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar gave Princess Elizabeth on her wedding. (It was later broken up to make the 1973 Garrard wreath-of-flowers ruby tiara.)

The most impressive gifts during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II have been from oil-rich nations. Princess Diana gasped, saying, ‘And I don’t even know this man,’ when she received a Gulf sheikh’s gift. The Queen has three major pieces from the Gulf: a diamond fringe necklace from King Faisal of Saudi Arabia given on a State Visit in 1967; another Saudi gift of a sunray diamond necklace from King Khalid in 1979; and pearls from both Bahrain and Kuwait during the same tour. If a modern audit of the royal jewels were made, these are pieces that would surely be considered as gifts from Heads of State – although they could more accurately be described as personal gestures from absolute monarchs.

History

And that is how it used to be for all the royal families of Europe. When Queen Alexandra’s sister was the Empress of Russia, who was to say if a gift was public or private? Although the Queen herself, with her sense of history and family duty, certainly considers the major royal pieces as destined for William’s bride (and therefore a future Queen), no-one since Queen Mary’s time has broached the delicate subject of whether some more of the existing collection should now be specifically designated Crown Jewellery.