With regard to why they did not bring the jewels back to Norway in 1945 it could have something to do with the state of the country after 5 years of occupation. Both the royal palace and Skaugum had been used by the Germans, something that led to a virtual treasure hunt to find some of the contents. As some of you may know queen Maud’s photo albums were found in Germany by accident for example. They might have deemed it safer to leave the jewels in England for a while. This is pure speculation on my part though.
With regard to why they didn’t divide the jewels earlier that might have to do with the fact that from crown princess Märtha died until crown prince Harald married, there was really only one female representative in the royal family. Princess Ragnhild lived in Brazil. Princess Astrid was the first lady, and had use of her mother’s jewels, among that two grand tiaras.
I agree that it carries a lot of weight that the information comes directly from Princess Astrid. She is known as the family historian and has given valuable insight and corrected a lot of the previously assumed information. But given the sources Thor Bomann-Larsen has used in his work, it seems that at least a great part of the jewels were in Norway when the country was invaded. It’s even mentioned in Broch’s diary that Maud’s lady in waiting Lillian von Hanno was one of the witnesses when the jewels were put in a secret room under the palace laundry in May 1940.
Like Knightship says, some of Maud’s jewels were worn by Märtha. I guess it is impossible to know if these were gift to her in Maud’s lifetime, unless some sort of confirmation from princess Astrid or the royal court or their archives. As far as I remember the mentioned jewels are not mentioned as wedding gifts for Märtha at least. One of the items was Maud’s wedding gift from her husband.
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