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Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by J-F on June 21, 2019, 3:24 am Hello, I think the Princess is wearing at least at two occasions a brooch that belonged to her grand mother, Princess Helen of Greece. Princess Helen wearing it on her corsage in 1934 Princess Alexandra wore it on her lapel in 1961 The Princess wearing it on her hat I've never seen Marina, Duchess of Kent with that brooch. Maybe a direct bequest from Helen to her granddaughter Alexandra ? I'm curious to know the color of the stones... J-F

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by JR76 on June 21, 2019, 3:46 am, in reply to "Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" I'm trying to think of what kind of brooch it is. Is it made to look like a ribbon? I wonder about the date of the pic when the Princess wears it in her hat. If after her wedding we can be almost sure that it was her personal property and not a loan from her mother. Great find! I'd never have noticed it on Princess Helen had you not pointed it out. Previous Message Hello, I think the Princess is wearing at least at two occasions a brooch that belonged to her grand mother, Princess Helen of Greece. Princess Helen wearing it on her corsage in 1934 Princess Alexandra wore it on her lapel in 1961 The Princess wearing it on her hat I've never seen Marina, Duchess of Kent with that brooch. Maybe a direct bequest from Helen to her granddaughter Alexandra ? I'm curious to know the color of the stones... J-F

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by Beth on June 21, 2019, 7:39 am, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" What an interesting discovery J-F! Congratulations! The brooch is so difficult to spot until images are enlarged that I am amazed at how you spotted it. It is an unusual design. I wonder if it might have originally been meant to carry pendants? If you have a date guide for any of the photos, I'll check to see if the media mentioned anything about her jewels -- although the chances are slim. Congratulations again! What a charming way to start my day!

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by Beth on June 21, 2019, 7:13 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" J-F's marvelous find has captured my interest and so I did some hunting in the press. Alas, I have found nothing more than the occasions when the photos were taken and reports on the colour of Princess Alexandra's ensemble on one occasion. None of what I found gives us any real clues, so I wondered if the earrings Princess Alexandra wore on Ladies' Day (J-F's first photo) might give us some clues. Is anyone familiar with them? Re J-F's first photo. It was taken on Ladies Day, Ascot, 1961. According to the press Princess Alexandra wore a deep blue or royal blue off the peg dress and coat with a white hat. Re J-F's second photo. It was taken when Princess Alexandra visited the British Industries Trade Fair at Stockholm at the end of May 1962.

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by J-F on June 21, 2019, 11:51 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" Wow ! Thanks Beth for all these infos ! You are so good at finding information and descriptions in old newspaper ! I had no date for the picture with the brooch worn on the Princess' hat. Both events were before her wedding in 1963. So the brooch can't be a wedding gift. It's maybe a bequest from her grandmother who died in 1957, just few years earlier, or a loan or gift from her own mother Princess Marina. As Marina wed in 1934, and her mother, Princess Helen, wore the brooch that same year (my first photo), I don't think she gave it to her as a wedding gift but I can be wrong of course. Regarding the stones in the brooch, I guess it can be sapphires. 1-They look dark on the b&w photos, as emeralds, rubies and sapphires do. 2-If the Princess wore a deep blue outfit on the 1961 photo, I can't imagine her wearing rubies or emeralds with that color... (but not impossible: I think of Queen Anne Marie of Greece wearing her emeralds with a blue gown) Thanks again. J-F Previous Message J-F's marvelous find has captured my interest and so I did some hunting in the press. Alas, I have found nothing more than the occasions when the photos were taken and reports on the colour of Princess Alexandra's ensemble on one occasion. None of what I found gives us any real clues, so I wondered if the earrings Princess Alexandra wore on Ladies' Day (J-F's first photo) might give us some clues. Is anyone familiar with them? Re J-F's first photo. It was taken on Ladies Day, Ascot, 1961. According to the press Princess Alexandra wore a deep blue or royal blue off the peg dress and coat with a white hat. Re J-F's second photo. It was taken when Princess Alexandra visited the British Industries Trade Fair at Stockholm at the end of May 1962.

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by Beth on June 22, 2019, 6:50 am, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" Oh! To solve this mystery! Princess Alexandra wore the same coat as in the Stockholm photo when she met the Emperor of Japan in December 1962, but with a different hat. I'll see if I can find a description of her clothes for that meeting, as colour can sometimes give us a clue. But just to make sure that we do not rule anything out, Princess Alexandra has previously worn rubies with a deepish blue outfit -- as for this christening.

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by J-F on June 22, 2019, 9:11 am, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" Hi, You are right ! Rubies can also be worn with blue So, I guess we will never know for sure until we see a color photo of it worn ;o) Have a good week-end ! Previous Message Oh! To solve this mystery! Princess Alexandra wore the same coat as in the Stockholm photo when she met the Emperor of Japan in December 1962, but with a different hat. I'll see if I can find a description of her clothes for that meeting, as colour can sometimes give us a clue. But just to make sure that we do not rule anything out, Princess Alexandra has previously worn rubies with a deepish blue outfit -- as for this christening.

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. In Japan Posted by Beth on June 22, 2019, 4:35 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" I mentioned above that Princess Alexandra had worn the same outfit in Japan to meet the Emperor and Empress in November 1961 as she did in Stockholm when she wore the brooch in her hat. In Japan the Princess wore a different hat and this time wore Princess Nicolas' brooch on the shoulder of her coat. Detail The press described the coat as "Prussian blue", so on all occasions the Princess wore the brooch with blue. Frustratingly, there was no indication of her jewels in any of the reports I saw. Could Princess Alexandra's bracelets give some indication of the possible gemstones? Does anyone recognise them? The video below has some glimpses of the Princess on the way to the palace, but all that I can see is a white area from light bouncing off the diamonds. Views begin at .40 seconds.

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch Posted by mauriz on June 22, 2019, 5:49 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" Previous Message But just to make sure that we do not rule anything out, Princess Alexandra has previously worn rubies with a deepish blue outfit -- as for this christening. ...and the emerald centre piece of one of her pearl chokers as brooch with a light blue outfit - as for the wedding of her son James Ogilvy with Julia Rawlinson.

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. Rubies?? Posted by Beth on June 24, 2019, 9:43 am, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch" I am beginning to lean toward the notion that the brooch contained rubies, but I stress that it is not a definite conclusion. Why possibly rubies? During the visit to the Emperor of Japan, Princess Alexandra was photographed without her gloves, allowing us to see 2 bracelets. Detail of bracelets During the same overseas trip on her visit to Myanmar (Burma as it was then called) Princess Alexandra was presented with a suite of ruby jewellery some of which she immediately donned. The bracelet Princess Alexandra wore on her left wrist is the same as one she wore in Japan. Detail of bracelet worn in Myanmar. Comparison Although the Burmese gift was said to include a bracelet, this bracelet had been part of the Princess' existing collection. According to Alamy images the photo below (where it can be seen on the Princess' left arm) was taken circa 1956. Because of the appearance of this bracelet in the photos of Princess Alexandra wearing the Burmese gift, I am inclined to think that the bracelet contains rubies and, if Princess Alexandra wore matching gemstones with Princess Nicholas' brooch, then it contained rubies. But did it? We know that Princess Alexandra frequently wore a necklace containing multiple coloured gemstones during this period -- as for example so I am still keeping an open mind I wonder what happened to this brooch? PS I wonder if others noticed that in the photos taken in Myanmar (Burma) Princess Alexandra was wearing thongs? I suspect that this is the only occasion on which a royal has been photographed wearing thongs for an official engagement. How many hours of angst took place before the British officials agreed that the Princess would wear thongs? [I know a cultural translation is necessary!! Thongs is the term used in Australia and Asia for what others call flip flops.]

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. Another sighting of brooch Posted by Beth on June 24, 2019, 2:33 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. Rubies??" Princess Alexandra wore Princess Nicholas' brooch on one of her first engagements in Canberra in 1959: at a church service at St John's, Canberra. See this British Pathe video The brooch can also be seen on an AP video I haven't seen it worn on other occasions but I confess I have not checked all available images. For much of the trip Princess Alexandra wore the ruby, tourmaline and diamond brooch presented to her by the Commonwealth government.

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. Colour finally! Posted by Beth on June 24, 2019, 6:30 pm, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. Another sighting of brooch" The beginning of this video has some interesting colour imagery of the dress and the brooch. What do others think? I keep inclining towards sapphires, but then wonder if I can see some red!!! I urge everyone to watch the entire video. There are some superb views of various jewels!

Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. Colour finally! Posted by Beth on June 25, 2019, 7:49 am, in reply to "Re: Princess Alexandra of Kent's grandmother brooch. Colour finally!" J-F posted some stills from this video in a thread above. See http://mb.boardhost.com/historyroyaljewels/msg/1561390996.html As I noted yesterday I am still undecided. The shade of the Princess' dress is so dark that I wonder if sapphires would look as dark against the material? What do others think?

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