Fascinating discussion! I also think that Queen Mary would have had most of her jewels with her, not just for insurance, but also for safety (from the bombs in London) and for daily use (there are a few stories of her sitting in the air raid shelter at Badminton with a tiara on)!

This also brings me back to the jewels of other Royal Families that were actually exiled during the War. The Balkan Royals (Albanian and Yugoslavian before/during and the Romanians and Bulgarians after the War) managed to take most of their jewels with them.

Some of the Norwegian royal jewels were at Windsor and CP Martha was given the Emerald Parure to sell (I wonder if she had her personal jewels, the Vasa Tiara, Diamond Bandeau and Turquoise Necklace etc.., with her or if they were buried with other treasures by a court official).

What really intrigues me is what happened to the massive collections of the Luxembourg and Dutch Royals during the war? Were they hidden or were they smuggled out into exile?

Also, I'd like to know about the fate of the Greek Royal Jewels during the war, as I have a feeling that some jewels were sold to make ends meet (Queen Frederica was not pictured wearing her diamond wedding necklace and a grand ruby necklace after the war).

The war was certainly a tough time for royals, especially as they knew their jewels were really their only security for a life in exile, but they also had to keep some heirlooms intact for an eventual return. Also, while probably most royal families probably did not dine in White Tie and Tiaras every night (like Queen Mary), I wonder how any still tried to maintain standards and still wore their jewels for some occasions (I'm sure there must have been a few) during the war.