Secrets Of The Crown: The Controversial Story Of The Royal Jewels | Perspective

[Music] on a chilly November morning a royal procession leaves Buckingham Palace on a journey to Westminster Her Majesty the queen is on her way to open her Parliament following behind in another coach is one of the greatest symbols of her Reign the Imperial State Crown the Pomp and ceremony of her arrival at Westminster is matched only by other images of her monarchy throughout her long range she has welcomed many kings and queens presidents and foreign guests this is the mystery and magic of monarchy on display the least known part of these occasions are the Queen's Jewels which far far outshine any other collection in the modern world the story of fabulous diamonds and shimmering Tiaras worn by beautiful princesses provides a glimpse into the fascinating world of the Queen's personal jewelry collection on display the queen is supported by a dazzling array of glittering Tiaras rubies and emeralds the Majesty of monarchy encompasses Priceless diamonds and other precious stones which Adorn the Royal Treasures for centuries kings and queens have worn these symbols in pursuit of their Royal Birthright and [Music] Heritage centuries ago when the St Edward's Crown was used for coronations the jewels were hired in nowadays they are real and when Prince Charles wears the crown for his coronation it'll be a heavy moment as it weighs nearly 4B made of gold it contains 444 precious stones and when Prince Charles's grandfather was crowned in 1937 the Archbishop of Canterbury had to have a very steady hand to place it over the king's head to make it easier to wear the crown is cushioned on a band of velvet a royal custom introduced by King Henry I 4th 500 years ago following his coronation the King's family assembled wearing an array of Many Crowns these are symbols of monarchy they are to be worn and to be seen that they are symbols of monarchy in 1937 Queen Elizabeth wore her crown which contained the legendary coor diamond in 192 the wife of king Edward iith Queen Alexandra had a crown which contained the coor diamond the queen consort's crown today is set with diamonds which belong to Queen Victoria but it's the legend of the coor diamond which makes it so outstanding at the coronation in 192 the crown contained the coor and 3,688 diamonds if Charles and Diana had stayed together Diana would have worn the queen consort's crown at her husband's coronation the coor diamond which means mountain of light has a long and dramatic history surrounding the male owners of the precious [Music] stone the diamond itself has a horrendous history of really murder Mayhem and mystery because it is throughout ages been sought after by various potentates Kings Shah Jian owned it who built the Taj Mahal for his wife mumas Nadia sha ransacked New Delhi and took it back to to Persia then it became part of the Afghan royal family where brother blinded brother so he wouldn't see it so in folklore there's been this myth that every male owner comes to a sticky end so therefore just to be on the safe side it has always been worn by women this diamond is the largest modern cut top color diamond in the world its estimated value today is50 million it's one of the precious stones cut from The cullinan Diamond which was a present to King Edward iith as a token of loyalty by the trans vile people at the end of the B War the raw diamond weighed a staggering one and A2 it was gifted to the nation by the government of transval it was found in 1905 cut up in 1907 and added after that to the crown jewels to enhance its value this immense Diamond had to be carefully cut into as many pieces as possible The Cutting of it was given and entrusted to Yosef Asher of Amsterdam who was then probably the best Diamond Cutter in the world to cut it into several large stones and then smaller ones and he studied the stone for 3 four months and before he decided to cut it of course he invited the Dutch royal family the English royal family and various others and then he struck the first blow and of course if he misjudged it would have just shattered like a car windscreen but as it didn't it fell perfectly perfectly in two pieces and apparently he painted after [Music] that the largest piece cleaved from the mighty kalinin diamond is the pear-shaped star of Africa weighing 530 karat it's the most valuable stone jewels and as part of the coronation regalia it is held in the sovereign's right hand as a gift to the nation it has to be shown to be seen somewhere and so that was the it was decided to put in the scepter of the crown jewels the second largest diamond to be cut from the cinin is in the Imperial State Crown it was made in 1838 for the coronation of Queen Victoria and is set with gems of striking magnificence the queen wore it on her coronation day in 1953 the Imperial State Crown contains the black prince Ruby brought back to England in 1367 and later added to the crown jewels by King Henry VII beneath it is the huge second star of Africa with emeralds and sapphires for her coronation the queen Bears the mighty weight of the Imperial State Crown despite being altered to reduce the height the crown still contains 2,800 diamonds every year the queen wears it for the state opening of parliament my Lord pray be seated it's been traditionally used throughout the centuries the Monarch has always opened Parliament since Victoria the same Crown in essence has been used it's been modified been renewed but in essence the State Crown has been the same for the last 150 160 years which require the withdrawal from her throne in the House of Lords the queen outlines her government's legislation Independence and legitimate government the third and fourth Diamond to be CAU from the cinin has tradition traditionally been part of the queen consort's crown known as the Lesser stars of Africa the gems can be removed from the crown and worn separately they were brought by King Edward iith and to this day they are the Queen's personal property in 1911 the Queen's grandmother Queen Mary wore them on her dress as a brooch their estimated value today is12 million in 1937 Queen Mary wore the pinned to the front of her dress at the coronation of her son King George V 6th beside her were her grandchildren princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret the queen often wears the Lesser stars of Africa as a brooch together with another Stone cut from the cullin and Diamond which she wears as a ring one of the Queen's favorite Jewels is the heart-shaped Diamond brooch cut from the color two more cullinan diamonds were used to create another magnificent brooch they were taken out of the crown jewels and they are in Royal possession because they always were personal pieces of the Monarch in 1897 Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee and was photograph wearing her collet diamond necklace and earrings the estimated value today is1 and2 million the queen often wears the collet necklace to the state opening of parliament it was made in 1858 and the pendant stone is known as the laor diamond the diamond drops that are on the earrings and the drop and the bottom of the CET necklace did actually come from the teore ruby necklace it was given to Queen Victoria in 1851 by the East India Company they now form part of the crown Jews these early images from the turn of the century capture Queen Victoria at Bal moral in Scotland in 1911 her life was commemorated with the unveiling of a memorial statue in front of Buckingham Palace sitting on her throne the old Queen is depicted wearing one of her favorite crowns when she succeeded her uncle King William IV to the throne in 183 37 her crown was set with stones from the reign of her ancestor King George I these included the black prince Ruby and many brilliant pearls and fine sapphires later she ordered a new smaller Crown to be made by gards the crown Jewelers it weighed Just 4 o and sat neatly on the top of her head Queen Victoria suffered migraines in in later life and she she found that the the crowns far too heavy that's why we at Gad made the small very very small crown for her to wear it's always word of the top of the head or the back on the bun with or without the archers her beautiful little Diamond crown made in 1870 became the trademark for her Reign made Stronger by her marriage to Prince Albert of sax Coba Goa the couple were deeply devoted to each other and their marriage was an extremely happy one sadly when Albert died the queen was only 42 and for the rest of her life she cherished his wedding present to her a big Sapphire brooch clasped by a dozen diamonds Queen Victoria called it Albert's brooch and more than 100 years later her great great granddaughter the queen regularly wears it on her lapel the Albert bro which is a very Charming piece which Prince Albert had made for Queen Victoria and gave to her on the night before the wedding um when they were betro here in London and it's a it's a wonderful Sapphire and it's beautiful piece and I think very romantic princess Elizabeth wore Albert's brooch for princess Anne's christening at Buckingham Palace her mother and her grandmother Queen Mary had also worn it on many occasions during a visit to her Estates in the northwest of England the Queen's tenant Farmers had a close-up view of one of the most precious personal Treasures from the Royal jewelry collection its estimated value today is £150,000 a cherished memory of her great great grandmother another momento from Queen Victoria's era is her golden jubilee necklace from 1887 containing Circles of Exquisite diamonds around Pearl centers with a drop Pearl pendant 50 years ago the queen was filmed wearing it at a film Premiere Queen Victoria's ancestor King George IV owned a diamond Crown decorated with Shamrocks thistles and rented gemstones the hanovarian king did not in fact wear this diadem to his coronation because it was considered too effeminate to be worn on such a Grand Occasion the force coronation the new Crown was made and he was under strict orders from Parliament what he could have in his crown so he then decided that he would have flower bouquet between the malse crosses the flower bouquet represent um England Scotland and Ireland he didn't actually wear it for his coronation because it was considered to be too feminine originally it would have been set with uh semi-precious stems that would have been hired from the Jewelers for the coronation cuz in those days they couldn't afford to have crowns and dims set with real stones and keep them so the Jewelers came in and they were um all the jewels they were hired and sent back afterwards if the jewels were left in the crowns The Sovereign would have pawned them hocked them to pay gambling debts or has turned out Mistresses in those days as a precaution against theft Queen Victoria solded her Jewels onto the hanovarian diadem and to this day most of them are still in place at the annual state opening of parliament the queen arrives wearing the hanovarian diadem she wears it leaving Buckingham Palace traveling in the coach to the House of Lords she then walks up the grand staircase into the the robing room where that Crown the dim is removed and she then puts on the more important Imperial State Crown on her wedding day in 1947 princess Elizabeth wore another Rel from her German ancestors The hanovarian Fringe Tiara The Tiara that princess Elizabeth wore is known as The hanian Tiara and it was in fact uh designed and made in 1830 for Queen Victoria it was made of old diamonds from the time of George III and it was created this wonderful quite spiky Tiara quite High which can also be worn as a necklace interestingly enough the royal family are very very very good with their jewelry they can be worn for lots of different things anyway Queen Victoria had it made in 1830 and left it to the crown and Queen Mary wore it there are pictures of Queen Mary wearing it and then um princess Elizabeth wore it for her wedding because it was lent to her by her mother um on princess Elizabeth's wedding day two um unforeseen things occurred one was that the beautiful hanian Tiara Diamond Tiara actually the frame broke which is a nightmare situation for anybody but of course unlike anybody she did in fact have the court Jeweler standing by but in his workshop and he had to be sent for double Swift to come and mend the thing and I think she was very very nervous and had to be reassured by her mother and also she wanted to wear the double row the famous double row of pearls which had been given to her by her parents by her father I think particular on her wedding day and they were on display with the rest of the royal presence which was extremely awkward so in a London which was paralyzed with traffic problems her newly appointed private secretary John cville was dispatched across London to get this priceless priceless pearls um and somehow get them back to Buckingham Palace but he couldn't get back once he'd actually persuaded them to give him the pearls I imagine sharp words were spoken he had to Commander one of the royal limousines belonging to King Harkin of Norway to somehow get through and and give them to the bride to be [Applause] on her wedding day in 1973 Princess Anne wore The hanovarian Fringe Tiara which had been lent to her by her grandmother it had adorned many Royal heads since it was originally set in diamonds more than 15 years ago at another royal wedding in 1893 Princess Mary of tech married the Future King George the fth later as Queen Mary this woman would have a devastating effect on the history of the royal Jewels this Tiara a gift from the girls of Great Britain was one of her favorite wedding presents bought for £5,000 its estimated value today is half a million light on the head it's easy to wear inherited from her grandmother the queen uses it constantly on official occasions affectionately known as Granny's Tiara it has nine large Oriental pearls on diamond spikes set on a bandal base of 27 brilliant diamonds enclosed in a metal band Tiaras are a symbol of authority a symbol of power um that's why when the Queen's wearing her crown it it makes a fact I am the queen I am the head and when a lady wears a hat she must feel must feel very important or a gentleman wears a top hat for instance it's it's it's symbol of authority of of um class perhaps Queen Mary's obsession with the Family Jewels reflect in the images of the monarchy in recent times early in her marriage Princess Diana transformed some Royal emeralds into an eye-catching headband the emeralds belonged to Queen Mary who left them to her granddaughter the queen known as the Cambridge emeralds their history is an intriguing one Queen Mary's mother The Duchess of Cambridge and her husband Adolphus acquired them in Germany in a rather unusual way they went to Frankfurt on a tour and there was a um a lottery for for a charity and The Duchess of Cambridge decided that yes she would buy some tickets and actually won and was presented with this brown box full full of these emeralds The Duchess of Cambridge gave the globular green cabachon gems to her son Frank who gave them to his mistress when he died suddenly his sister Mary wasted no time in retrieving them he was a real Naro well he was a great Gambler you know he had a bit of this Irish blany in him and he showered jewels on his mistress and queen Mar Mary his sister wasn't having any of that he died rather suddenly and she was horrified to find that the Cambridge emeralds the family emeralds had been given to his Irish mistress off she went can't you just imagine her tiara on her head the grand Queen Mary and she got those emeralds back years later the queen wears the Cambridge emeralds suspended in a very valuable Russian Tiara her guests unaware of the history attached to the contents of her headgear the Africa 95 Festival Princess Diana proved that she was not a prisoner of the past transforming her emeralds into a necklace and earrings again Diana was very inventive very original in the way she used these um beautiful emeralds um historic Stones um and she had great courage she wasn't in in awe of them and she took the Cambridge emeralds and turned them into again a choker quite fairly narrow choker which she also wore again as a bando very 20 style um was a very young and exciting look and she wore the Bando around her head uh during the tour of Australia when she took to the floor swept off by Prince Charles and and again it's a very memorable image of the young princess of [Music] whale in 1911 King George and Queen Mary were crowned Emperor and Emperor of India the queen was showered with gifts of Indian Jewels which she mixed with the Cambridge emeralds to create a Peru worth2 million at today's prices for the occasion a crown was specially made for the king it contained a fabulous array of remarkably fine emeralds sapphires rubies and over 6,000 diamonds sent from India the the Imperial Crown was created specially for the deli durba in 1911 George V was the first and only British monarch that actually was crowned emperor of India in India in November 1911 and it was just the most amazing event of the day and so therefore a new Crown had to be made because the crowns of England May Never Leave the shore of this country by Act of parliament so therefore we have a new Crown can you imagine one of those Indian celebrations when people aring elephants on Howers when I say people I mean Maharaja kind of people and when there's somebody Fanning you from behind on this hot day and you're sitting under some extraordinary Throne probably the throne itself is studded with jewels this is what Queen Mary and King George V went through at the beginning of their reign when India was the most important part of the future Commonwealth and the maharajas came up to them carrying these incredible jewels as presents Queen Mary received emeralds in her own right from the Indian people and she had those made up into fantastic Jewels she mixed them with the Cambridge emeralds to make different parur Diana was given one of the emerald sets and Prince Charles bought her an art deco emerald and gar and bracelet to go with it like so much he didn't know about his young wife he didn't know she didn't like emeralds elsewhere a whiff of the Cambridge emeralds is in the air pinned to the Queen's lapel is an emerald brooch surrounded by two Circles of diamonds off duty and on the queen wears a Duchess of Cambridge brooch with 14 cut diamonds at the turn of the century the Russian royal family was very interwoven with its British counterparts Zan Nicholas II was married to Queen Victoria's granddaughter Alex and the young Zar Nicholas and King George were cousins on holiday as young men they spent many happy times together during a trip in Russian Waters in 1908 they were filmed aboard the Royal yacht in the company of other members of their families but the storm clouds of Revolution were blowing and with the murder of the Zar and his family by the Bolsheviks in 1918 the Royal relatives escaped to all corners of Europe Grand duess Vladimir fled to Switzerland carrying her Jewel members of the Russian royal family who were down on their lck and had nothing but their jewels to support themselves sort of sold them privately they weren't very practical people the grand duchess olgo she was a woman who' never had to deal with money and of course it seems like a godsend when Queen Mary comes along saying let me sort it out for you I know this Jeweler and of course I'd love to have them and she took the pick of the Russian Jewels whether she ever paid for them in fall at the proper price is very doubt ful although I think a lot was given in kind to these exiled Russian relatives they had grace and favor homes rather as some of the minor Royals due today so perhaps there was a trade-off there but in real jewelry terms Queen Mary did not pay the full whack among the jewels acquired by Queen Mary was Grand Duchess Vladimir's Tiara the queen inherited it in 1951 and has worn it on many state occasions comprising of 15 interlaced Diamond circles with an interchangeable swinging Pearl in each it's estimated to be worth £2 million at today's prices other Russian Jewels bought by Queen Mary included a kashon sapphire brooch surrounded by two rows of diamonds with a pearl drop hanging from a collet diamond in 1929 Queen Mary purchased a diamond chainlink choker necklace belonging to The Dowager Empress Marie of Russia the downfall of the Russian royal family helped to fuel Queen Mary's obsession with jewels her passion for jewelry was unsurpassed and she expressed herself through her Mania for collecting when she died in 1953 she handed down her jewels to her children and grandchildren her fourth son George the Duke of Kent married Princess Marina the granddaughter of grand duchess Vladimir the Duke's family inherited a iety of valuable Russian Jewels including a spiky Russian Tiara the princess Michael of Kent inherited from her mother-in-law Queen Mary's third son Henry Duke of gler and his family inherited an Exquisite Diamond Tiara once belonging to The Dowager Empress Marie of Russia the young Duchess of gler wears it for official functions on other occasions she's photographed wearing diamonds and pearls passed down from distant Russian relatives the Russian kosnik Fringe Tiara comprises of 61 platinum bars encrusted with 488 diamonds made in the shape of a peasant headdress this was a present to princess Alexandra from the ladies of society on her silver wedding anniversary in 1888 a similar one was worn by Alex the Zarina of Russia princess Alexandra is photograph wearing one for her wedding anniversary at mbra house to accompany it she wore two Exquisite floret earrings with large Center diamonds surrounded by slightly smaller [Music] ones Queen Mary inherited The kosnik Tiara from her mother-in-law and passed it on to the queen who wears it on formal occasions when she entertains other heads of state we do not always see eye to eye in 1995 the Queen's State visit to Russia posed the very delicate problem of What jewels she should wear if any how awkward that she was scheduled to visit the tombs of her royal cousins the Zars for the first time when thanks to her grandmother Queen Mary she had The Pick of their best Jewels at home in Vault her Russian trip included Moscow and a visit to a Gala performance at the baloy ballet during the stopover it was a deliberate choice to wear the sapphire and diamond paru that she had received as a wedding present from her father rather than choosing any of her inherited Russian Jewels the queen didn't really want to offend anybody by not by wearing something that could have upset them so the jewel collection was looked at very very carefully it's the same wherever she goes and if she goes off to Canada Australia it's always nice to to on that occasion to wear something that has been given from that country but as the jewels had come from Russia under sort of slightly perhaps mysterious circumstances the queen didn't want to upset anybody so she kept away completely from all the Russian jewels and in fact wore the sapphire and diamonds at the bolai ballet when I was actually there at the um B Theater when the queen walked into the box and it was a 10minute standing ovation and she could not believe that people were were appreciating her in this way she was absolutely overwhelmed inspired by the design of a Russian lovers Bon not Tiara Queen Mary had a similar one made comprising of 19 Diamond arches the Oriental Pearl drops hang from a Diamond lovers bow knot with single diamonds and upright Pearl spikes the queen inherited it from her grandmother and gave it to Princess Diana as a wedding [Music] present in the 19 century a Lover's Bon not Tiara was a popular design you know Queen Mary had all these relatives strung out through Germany and Russia and she used to go in the summer it was called the Gathering of the royal mob they used to kind of go on their summer holidays together a very upmarket Butlins or club mediterrane with just members of the royal family and then of course they all dressed for dinner in those days Tiara's the whole bit and Queen Mary then would have seen jewels that she loved and the bone knut Tiara was something that she had copied by Gad just before the first world war and the Russian Revolution 1914 using jewels that pearls especially that she had been given as a wedding present but had it made for herself gave it to the queen who has hardly worn it and then it's the queen gave it to Princess Diana as the future Queen the lovers bonut Tiara is one of only two pieces of Royal jewelry which Diana owned outright it is part of her Legacy she used her own personality um to make the tiara a part of her of her image and the lovers not Tiara which was a wedding present to her from her majesty the queen I think has created some of the most dramatic images of of Diana that we will all remember and cherish it is too much a part of of Diana's Legend in 1843 Queen Victoria appointed gards as the crown Jewelers many of the royal Jewels have had been made by gards and when the Future King Edward iith married Princess Alexandra in 1863 he gave her a brilliant necklace of feston Diamonds and Pearls made by gards it has eight circular clusters of diamonds with large Pearls at the center of each the matching earrings are owned by the queen today and The Oblong Diamond brooch belongs to the Queen Mother since the accession of her husband to the throne in 1936 Queen Elizabeth the queen mother has often worn Queen Alexandra's necklace here at a film Premiere 50 years ago her elegant manner reflects the Majesty of the occasion the queen personally pays gads to look after her personal collection of jewels in their workshop highquality gems are delicately crafted into stunning jewelry worth thousands of pounds Prince Charles paid gard's £28,000 for Princess Diana's sapphire and diamond engagement ring which has been inherited by her son Prince William in 1936 the future of the British Monarchy was threatened when the Queen's Uncle King Edward VII abdicated to marry the twice divorced Mrs Wallace Simpson this constitutional crisis also led to Royal Jewels being taken over by an outsider from the start Wallace Simpson received in her engagement ring a Flawless Stone which was half of one of the greatest emeralds in the world King Edward had ordered the Jeweler Cartier to make the ring and as a regular customer was quoted a special price £10,000 the equivalent of half a million today throughout his marriage he celebrated their relationship by giving his wife numerous jewels to create a Priceless collection most of the jewels she had were either bought for her by the boted future Duke of Windsor or otherwise they were made out from jewels that he had been given in India that is raw stones but they weren't actually jewels that say Queen Victoria had worn this was the collection to rival even the Queens when the Duke of Windsor died it went uh to The Duchess and thereafter the bulk of it as far as I understand went to charity for AIDS research uh they fetched a phenomenal price something like 10 times more than was expected because they' been owned by The Duchess of Windsor because it been all the this Royal romance connected to them one of Wallace's favorite Jewels her ruby necklace fetched over a million and a half from a mystery buyer at the Geneva auction in 1987 when the whole collection was sold for a total of27 million buyers included the dress designer Calvin Klein who bought four items for over 870,000 Aaron Spelling the TV producer of Dynasty purchased a necklace for his wife and Elizabeth Taylor bought the Prince of Wales Diamond brooch for 350,000 now worth an estimated £1 million The Duchess of Windsor's jewels of course were sold up for charity now that's something that I don't think we'll be seeing for other members of the royal family but some pieces did manage to sneak their way back into the royal family you know princess of Michael of Kent who um befriended The Duchess before she died I think maybe she felt a little bit of an outsider and therefore they had something in common and she received as a gift a pair of Panther earrings those famous Cartier earrings and she wears them very occasionally but not I would imagine in front of the queen one of the queen mother's favorite pieces of jewelry is a Regal Indian Tiara and necklace made by gards for Queen Victoria in 1853 originally it contained 2,000 678 diamonds and 70 Opals but Queen Alexandra had the Unlucky Opals removed and replace with rubies from an Indian necklace The Tiara and necklace belong to the state and are technically on loan to the queen mother in the course of Duty but her daughter the queen is quoted as saying mommy will give them back one day [Music] at princess Margaret's wedding in 1960 the crowning Glory of her dress was an unusual Tiara Margaret's Tiara was interesting because it wasn't a piece of jewelry that had sort of been hand down from generation or mother to daughter or anything like that it was a tiara which actually had been bought at sbis by the royal family for 5,500 for those who want to know um from Lord pmore and it was it was it is I'm sure still a very very beautiful Tiara totally different from The hanian Tiara which is quite spiky and quite almost graphic looking princess Margaret's hair was rather modern I think it was called the crysanthemum cut which is rather devastating dating today and being so tiny or perhaps I suspect also to give the Tiara she wore some depth some kind of um presence she had a hairpiece and this is the first time ever that we know that a royal bride has worn a hairpiece on her wedding day one of Princess Margaret's favorite possessions is the Tiara in the 1920s style which she handed down to her future daughter-in-law Serena stanh hope at her wedding to princess Margaret's son Lord David Linley Serena was stylish in her choice of jewelry and wore this simple hand me- down Royal [Applause] Tiara it's very interesting how often all Brides do tip a nod to something that's gone past sort of it's a little tribut as if you like something like that but it also gave her height and presence on her wedding day in her early years a young princess m Margaret was the Princess Diana of her day years later this darling of the media was replaced by another beautiful young woman Princess Diana had arrived on a visit to Australia in 1983 she wore a glittering diamond necklace lent to her by the queen who had received it as a gift from King fisel of Saudi Arabia back in Britain at a banquet hosted by the queen at Hampton Court Diana wore a large ice blue sapphire brooch surrounded by a double row of diamonds a wedding present from the Queen Mother later Diana redesigned the brooch to create a stunning Diamond Sapphire and pearl choker more in keeping with her modern image at the beginning she wore that huge sapphire and diamond cluster in a rather conventional way rather traditional way and then um as her style developed she began began to impose her own personality her own style to wear her jewelry in in very new and fresh and original ways and it became one of her signature pieces particularly towards the end of her life when she began to wear those uh spectacularly sexy evening gowns with just one huge piece of jewelry another of Diana's wedding presence this time from the Saudi royal family was a magnificent Suite of sapphires and diamonds one of the most important of her wedding gifts came from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and it was a whole sweet of of jewels but her favorite piece from this Suite was a necklace um of a necklace of diamonds on which was hung a huge Burmese Sapphire surrounded in a much more modern style with baguette diamonds in a setting that we call a ballerina setting the most dramatic change she made to that set was to create for herself uh a choker with the sapphires on a band of velvet which she wore not only as a choker but also as a bando around her head around her forehead very 20 style um and this was something that she did was great fun she did it on on several occasions on another occasion during an official visit to Germany in 1986 Diana wore a fabulous Suite of jewels a gift from the Sultan of Oman comprising a modern diamond necklace and matching earrings it was known as the cresant set valued at1 million it became one of Diana's favorites and she wore it with historic and contemporary Jewels Diana was very clever and mixing old and new as I said this was a very contemporary design and she wore it very well with with the Spencer family Tiara or with the uh love knot Tiara and so she created a very special very Royal very Regal look for herself by combining the old and the new in this way a royal wedding and the family bring out their heirlooms for the queen it was her magnificent flower brooch made from the world's largest pink [Music] diamond the world's most perfect pink diamond was made into a daffodil flower brooch by Cartier and given to the queen as a wedding present from a Adan millionaire its estimated value today is3 million in 1893 the Queen's grandmother Queen Mary received from the ladies of Kensington a wedding present of a bow-shaped diamond brooch with a large Oriental Pearl drop to celebrate her wedding ladies from various British towns presented their gifts at 30 minute intervals and bow broaches were popular offerings at her daughter's christening in 1950 princess Elizabeth wore a bow brooch given to her grandmother by the ladies of Dorset Bo broaches have been popular with royalty since the 17th century and gards made a set of three from diamonds supplied by Queen Victoria Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary wore them at their coronations and the queen is regularly seen wearing bow brooches inherited from her grandmother Queen Victoria was given a bow brooch for her golden jubilee now her Jubilee brooch is one of the queen mother's favorite pieces of jewelry incorporating a bold Pearl and Diamond flower with a distinctive Loop of diamonds and a teardrop pearl wearing costume jewelry distan Princess Diana from other members of the royal family she frequented many fashionable stores in search of ideas on on one occasion Diana bought an imaginative jeweled snake to wear at a pop [Music] concert she went for very classic things but then she would try something like the snake she would wear things that were quite adventurous but she always bought very classic things too that she would that you would see her wearing all the time she bought a little pair of earrings that were french glass earrings black French glass earing she wore them all the time were £5 so it wasn't intrinsic things it was because it went she things cuz it actually fitted with what she was wearing another famous pair of earrings that she wore all the time were silver girl earrings just a plain gold so she accessorize herself do was so she would try things from the very simple to the move very exciting things you a big star necklace or a wonderful star pinned on the back of her hair Tiaras were a problem it's a long time to put on the to put on a tiara you need a lot of help with it it's heavy you have to have your hair done Diana complained that it gave her headache and a neck ache um and I think at times when she had to prepare for her evenings out very early in the day uh she said that she had to wear it all through Nursery tea with her with her boys which uh must have been a little bit uncomfortable Diana wore fashion jewelry for fun to compliment her high fashion wardrobe she possessed few fine jewels to her taste and during her life she was never given a diamond necklace so fake pearls were a convenience way of expressing herself I think it's hard to talk about Diana's Jewels or any Princess of Wales Jews without talking about pearls um she wasn't frightened by the by the heritage of pearls in in Royal Jewels she wasn't frightened by protocol to experiment with wearing pearls in in different ways but they're so bound up with with the legend of royalty in particularly with the Princess of Wales that again they became part of her they became her her trademark and there's one memorable occasion when again Diana using her famous wit and her great sense of humor which which we know about she wore um a long rope of of beautiful Sumptuous pearls just knotted very casually um down the back of of a dress with a V she would have had a soulmate in Queen Alexandra who herself can you believe in spite of her great collection of jewels had for pearls and a lot of false stones to make amusing things for herself and there's a funny story about how when she was riding one of those coaches her Pearl choker suddenly split and the courtious in panic scrabbled and tried to pick up every single Pearl that was rolling away Queen Alexandra sat there very serenely as well she might have done because they were all fakes the crown jewels of England belong to the state and are kept in the Tower of London their value is in calculable they represent far more than gold and precious stones they stand for hundreds of years of English History and have been used by kings and queens since the 17th [Music] century the Queen's Jewels are her personal property and their value is almost incalculable too at today's prices she would realize an estimated £45 million not counting their historic Providence at auction May be300 million using the yard stick of the Duchess of Windsor's jewelry auction in Paris since the days of Queen Victoria's Empire and Queen Mary's Mania for collecting Royal Jewels the royal family has amassed one of the greatest Fortunes in the world Tiaras diadems and crowns have become their trademark we have too much already the queen told the marchess of Cambridge maybe she feels that her Jewels like other Royal Treasures are something that she is Guardian of while she is Queen until they are passed on to the next generation of future Royal Brides it all started out so well on Diana's wedding day the new princess had to borrow her sister's Pearl choker to leave on her [Applause] honeymoon and at another Royal Wedding the future for the Royal Jewels looked Rosy what went wrong I often think about the wisdom of the queen as a mother and a grandmother and a head of the family it always puzzled me that Diana wasn't given more Royal jewels and certainly Sarah The Duchess of York got nothing I she got a pieces that were bought at gard's I think she didn't give them because she suspected right from the start maybe that these marriages were going to be be difficult and The Jewels perhaps were held back to be given for 10th wedding anniversaries or 20th or 25th wedding [Music] [Music] anniversaries [Music] today more than ever Jewels spell Majesty when royalty is on display they shine jewelry speaks an international language it it generates for the people who wear them a sense of overwhelming opulence social Supremacy and confidence Jewels are indeed the true currency of [Music] royalty [Music] la

Channel: Perspective

Views: 23,011

Keywords: British heritage, Suzannah Lipscomb, antique artifacts, crown jewels, documentary series, exclusive documentaries, historic gemstones, historical artifacts, historical objects, history hit, imperial riches, jewelry collection, majestic artifacts, modern royals, movies, painting, past, perspective arts, royal family, treasure trove

Id: tihi9FxMAcY

Length: 51min 3sec (3063 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 26 2023