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Christmas gifts. QEII New Zealand Fern brooch Posted by Beth on December 23, 2018, 3:53 pm On Christmas Day 1953 the Ladies of Auckland presented Queen Elizabeth II with a diamond encrusted silver fern brooch, this being a floral emblem of New Zealand. The brooch, which was not a gift of the government but financed by funds raised by a group of women in Auckland, was presented to HM by Lady Allum, wife of the Mayor on Christmas Day. Since then HM has consistently worn the brooch when in New Zealand and to events associated with New Zealand. I am not sure, however, that it is a favourite as it is rarely seen otherwise. But what a lovely, sparkling Christmas gift! As the saying goes - good things come in small boxes. The Duchess of Cambridge wore the brooch several times while touring New Zealand. Did the Duchess of Cornwall ever wear the brooch? Edit: I forgot to add this news item from a New Zealand paper https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11237678

Re: Christmas gifts. Queen Mary to George V Posted by Beth on December 23, 2018, 4:04 pm, in reply to "Christmas gifts. QEII New Zealand Fern brooch" For Christmas 1913 Queen Mary gave George V a gold and enamel gem studded snuff box with their miniatures. I haven't found an entry for this on the Royal Collection site. I hope that someone has better luck than I had as it would be delightful to see a colour image of this. Can we identify Queen Mary's jewels?

Re: Christmas gifts. Prince Albert to Queen Victoria Posted by Beth on December 24, 2018, 5:07 am, in reply to "Re: Christmas gifts. Queen Mary to George V" For Christmas 1841 Prince Albert gave this unusual brooch, depicting their first born child, Victoria, Princess Royal, to Queen Victoria.

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