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Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein Posted by J-F on April 9, 2019, 9:17 am Hello, Browsing at Princess Helena photos, I've found that she seemed to have worn one of the King William IV / Queen Adelaide buckles at least on two occasions. First, as a bracelet buckle or clasp: photo found at : https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/1/collection/441542/william-ivs-family-order-william-iv-buckle-possibly-belonged-to-augusta-duchess-of And at a later date as a headpiece. The only thing The Royal Collection Trust site said about its provenance, is the buckles #Possibly belonged to Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge# I had a look at the princess' wedding presents and no trace of the buckle. Can it be given to Helena by her mother, Queen Victoria, at some point ? As we know that Princess Marie Louise, Helena's daughter, left some of her jewels to member of the Royal family, maybe it came back to the Royal collection through her ? Just some ideas. Have a great week all ! J-F

Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein Posted by Dave on April 9, 2019, 1:14 pm, in reply to "Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein" An interesting analogy J-F. Regards, Dave. Previous Message Hello, Browsing at Princess Helena photos, I've found that she seemed to have worn one of the King William IV / Queen Adelaide buckles at least on two occasions. First, as a bracelet buckle or clasp: photo found at : https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/1/collection/441542/william-ivs-family-order-william-iv-buckle-possibly-belonged-to-augusta-duchess-of And at a later date as a headpiece. The only thing The Royal Collection Trust site said about its provenance, is the buckles #Possibly belonged to Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge# I had a look at the princess' wedding presents and no trace of the buckle. Can it be given to Helena by her mother, Queen Victoria, at some point ? As we know that Princess Marie Louise, Helena's daughter, left some of her jewels to member of the Royal family, maybe it came back to the Royal collection through her ? Just some ideas. Have a great week all ! J-F

Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein Posted by Beth on April 10, 2019, 6:43 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein" What an interesting find J-F!! It certainly looks as if the bracelet contains one of the buckles. It is a shame that the Royal Collection site does not contain more information about the provenance of the buckles/brooches. I had hoped to find time to look through my notes from Queen Victoria's journals as I have a feeling that the Duchess of Cambridge gave Queen Victoria some items when the Duke died. There is nothing in the Duchess' will about jewels The other possible source I thought of was Mary, Duchess of Gloucester who left jewels to Queen Victoria and her daughters as well as the Queen of Hanover and her daughters. But any jewels which might match with the bracelet worn by Princess Helena had portraits, not cyphers. It is also probable that Queen Victoria and her mother, the Duchess of Kent, each had a set of these buckles/brooches.

Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein Posted by OmerH on April 11, 2019, 12:47 am, in reply to "Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein" These buckles are fascinating but its soooo frustrating at the lack of better info from the Royal Collection. On a side note is Princess Helena wearing the buckle as centerpiece to this tiara?? The general shape seems to match.

Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein Posted by Beth on April 11, 2019, 6:37 am, in reply to "Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein" When I enlarged various photos, I thought that the centre piece to the tiara/bracelet in J-F's photos had a more angular shape. I wonder what is in the centre of the bracelet/tiara OmerH posted? A dark pearl or perhaps a turquoise? I am inclined to the latter because we know that Princess Helena had a parure of turquoises from Queen Victoria. But it is just a guess.

Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein. One bracelet may be identified Posted by Beth on April 11, 2019, 8:04 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein" While I was looking through my notes from Queen Victoria's journal I noticed that, in the entry for 25 May 1862, HM recorded that she gave Princess Helena (Lenchen) a bracelet with a miniature of Prince Albert for her 16th birthday. I wonder if that might be the bracelet Princess Helena can be seen wearing in the portrait below, which the Royal Collection dates as March 1863. RCIN 2900697 Detail of bracelet The central element definitely contains a portrait of someone. The question is who?

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