I agree with most of what you say MarcA. Apart from the need to "keep up appearances" and what Queen Mary considered normal, the concept of having jewels as insurance was probably a factor.

I don't think that many in the royal family would have considered locking away all their jewels for the duration of the war. For Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to be seen without their usual day time jewels might have given rise to the suspicion that advisers to the royal family thought the country would be invaded, and affected morale.

I suspect that sending jewels to Australia or New Zealand night have been seen as too high a risk because of the distance. But, who knows?

I agree with Marc about a trunk versus a suitcase. I had a laugh when I read the reference to suitcases in the review. I have no doubt that what belonged to Queen Mary were what we would call trunks. And large ones at that!