Today, accustomed as we are to images of the Queen in lighter looking, diamond encrusted jewels, these jewels are largely forgotten, and many are unlikely to be in the Royal Collection. The number of jewels in this style which she received suggests that, although we rarely see images of such jewels being worn by royal ladies, they were the height of fashion in the 1860s.
Some of the jewels
Some British subjects living in Rome also gave the then Princess a parure of gold jewels.
Queen Alexandra was photographed and painted wearing bracelets similar to those in the images of the wedding presents, and some may be the same.
To date I haven't seen any images showing her wearing the gold necklace or the tiara, although it is possible that she wore the latter in public, as for one Drawing Room in 1866 she was reported to have worn a gold tiara; however, the report also mentions a star so I am not certain if this was the gold tiara in the illustrations of the wedding gifts.
206
Responses
« Back to index | View thread »