One possibility is that the jewel came from Mrs Greville.
The other is that this necklace is the one referred to as Queen Adelaide's fringe tiara/necklace.
I think that I had been lured into ignoring that possibility by concentrating on photos which show the jewel in a more rigid formation. Clearly, when worn as a tiara by Queen Victoria and Queen Mary the frame kept the individual fringes upright and rigid.
When Queen Alexandra wore the jewel at her waist for her coronation the jewel also appeared rigid in most photos. (I have no doubt that, to keep it in place, it was sewn onto her dress at strategic intervals)
Nevertheless, a high resolution photo of Queen Alexandra seated suggests that the individual elements (the bars and spikes) could move independently -- that is they were not soldered to one another forming a rigid whole. I wonder if the bars and spikes were threaded onto silk?
Similarly, when Queen Victoria wore the jewel as a border to the neckline of her gown, the jewel looks relatively flexible.
When looking at the left hand side of the photo below the individual elements give the impression of being at different angles, which I think would be possible if the elements were threaded on silk.
If, when worn as a necklace, the elements were threaded onto silk, it might be possible that QEQM wore it like that in 1947, and that would explain why the elements appear almost as a jumbled mess, the elements having been disarranged by movement.
Later photographs showing QEQM wearing the jewel suggest that the necklace was more rigid and shorter, as it sits closer to her neck.
Although Hugh Roberts in The Queen's Diamonds does not provide a date, at some time the necklace was shortened by 6 graduated diamond bars and 5 spikes. Could it be that QEQM did this at some time after 1947 and before the first photos we are aware of showing her wearing the necklace? And at the same time had the individual elements adjusted to form a more rigid necklace?
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