Queen's jewels and diamond brooch at Cartier Polo Queen's Cup
What jewels the Queen
wears is also a matter of interest to me and the jewels usually
have some significance. Favouring a diamond brooch and pearl
necklace and earrings combination once again, The Queen looked
elegant for the the polo last Sunday. Following on from her Diamond
Jubilee weekend of celebrations, The Queen wore a diamond brooch
for the Cartier Queen's Cup 2012 at the Queen's Ground at the
Guards Polo Club in Windsor on Sunday 17th June.
For this event, the
Queen chose to wear the Flame Lily diamond brooch made in
Johannesburg in 1947. According to the Hugh Roberts who wrote
the book "The Queen's Diamonds" in the year of the Diamond
Jubilee when all eyes are on the Queen and of course her
magnificent collection of diamond jewels, this brooch was a 21st
birthday present to Princess Elizabeth from the school children of
southern Rhodeisa. According to the Daily Telegraph (17 May 2006)
each child donated a tickey or three old pence to fund the
gift. Here is the extract from Mr. Roberts' description of the
piece.
"It was designed
by Len Bell of the Salisbury (Harare) jeweller, H.G. Bell and made
by the Cartier-trained jeweller Eric H.S. Kippin (1912-98) at
Sidersky & Son in Johannesburg. The stones, which came from De
Beers, were set by H. Michel. Two flame lilies were sent from
Salisbury to Johannesburg to assist the craftsmen in realising
Bell's design. The brooch was given to the Princess during her
parents' tour of Southern Africa in 1947. Five years later,
on her return to London from Kenya after the death of King George
VI, The Queen wore this brooch as she alighted from the aircraft.
In June 1953, two more brooches of this design, also made by Eric
Kippin, were presented to Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in
Bulawayo, on Queen Elizabeth's first Commonwealth tour as Queen
Mother. Queen Elizabeth's brooch was inherited by The Queen in
2002."
In other words, the
brooch belonged to Queen Elizabeth II's mother who loaned and then
inherited the brooch to her. The significance of this brooch will
be evident to royal watchers as this was the first jewel the new
Queen was seen wearing in her new role of monarch following the
death of her father. She perhaps took the brooch with her for her
African trip as a mark of its African origin and on alighting in
the United Kingdom wore it, maybe as a symbol of continuity of the
Royal Family. This is mere speculation but I do know that the Queen
chooses her jewels carefully depending not just on her outfit but
the occassion and its symbolism.
As to be expected, The
Queen wore the pearl button earrings and a three strand pearl
necklace, of which she owns three. The pearl button earrings
were presented to Queen Mary in 1893 on behalf of the "Ladies of
Devonshire" and each has a small diamond on top. They are known as
the Devon earrings and were presented alongside a pearl and diamond
necklace on behalf of 650 "Ladies of England" for her wedding.
