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Are some of the Queens jewels are kept permanently in certain places
Posted by MarcA on July 13, 2019, 5:20 pm
Hi,
On the Sarah Ferguson parure thread lower down there was a brief coverage of loans by the Queen in which the DoY was seen at Balmoral wearing the bow brooch that had belonged to Queen Victoria.
This has made me wonder whether anyone has ever noticed that certain pieces (probably only identifiable as brooches externally) were exclusively kept at certain residences i.e. Windsor, Sandringham or Balmoral.
It has been said that the Queen has a separation between her work jewels and more personal pieces. So are particular pieces for want of a better expression tied to particular residences i.e. always kept in the safe there because that is where they are used or kept on hand for use.
Any thoughts or perhaps even proof?
Re: Are some of the Queens jewels are kept permanently in certain places
I think it’s unlikely that some jewellery permanently resides in Norfolk or Aberdeenshire as it would be unavailable for ten months of the year, but perhaps when she is packing certain pieces are chosen with an eye to where she is going. Balmoral might get more items from Queen Victoria and Sandringham items connects to Alexandra, Mary and Elizabeh.
There have been several mentions of jewellery she wears in private but I doubt it is a concrete division, more that she favours items she has been given for personal milestones opposed to state gifts. It seems to be accepted that she is not as jewel centric as her female ancestors so I would ask what do we really know about her jewellery wearing in private. The pearls she wears on her day engagements are very valuable very precious jewels and I don’t think that we should assume that she thinks of them as dressing down.
Re: Are some of the Queens jewels are kept permanently in certain places
MarcA has raised some very, very interesting questions.
My apologies Marc that I could not post until tonight. That little glitch did, however, give me time to rethink my initial, instinctive reply when I read your post.
My initial instinct was to take one jewel -- Queen Victoria's bow brooch, which was lent to the Duchess of York, as an example-- and then argue that the jewels had to be kept in a central location as a collection because QEII has been photographed wearing that brooch in numerous locations both in the UK and overseas.
Then, I wondered if all of HM's jewels would be kept in one central location. Would that not be akin to a normal person investing all their life savings in one particular set of shares on the stockmarket? The prevailing wisdom is that investors should spread the risk and invest in different shares. Could that be how HM's advisors see the location/s of where her jewels are stored?
I certainly don't know, and I suspect that no one outside of HM's Household officials does, but it would make sense if some jewels were stored in one place and others in another.
Having said that, there is the question of logistics. How would that be arranged? Again I don't know. But if some jewels were stored at Buckingham Palace and some at Windsor (or any other secure vaults in the region) then having jewels available at various times would not be an issue. But perhaps, as a means of long term storage, places such as Sandringham and Balmoral might be problematic for anything other than very privately worn jewels. As 9922343177 said, we don't have any verifiable evidence about what HM QEII wears in private.
When I thought about what might be kept permanently in Scotland the only jewel I could think of which is only worn in Scotland is the Braemar brooch.
Re: Are some of the Queens jewels are kept permanently in certain places
It's a it of thinker as you think that it's almost odd to think of the safe at Balmoral or Sandringham stripped bare.
If I remember there was either a thread on here or RJWMB in which someone analysed that brooches that the queen wore and it seemed to indicate that a group were worn for a period time and then they changed. Indicating that perhaps a selection was made every now and then.
I would suspect that a group of jewels albeit perhaps being changed over every few months stays at Windsor as she spends so much time there and her dresses do the same.
I think in the end it could depend on the private jewels of the queen which may also contain some of the state visit gifts we rarely see.
Previous Message
MarcA has raised some very, very interesting questions.
My apologies Marc that I could not post until tonight. That little glitch did, however, give me time to rethink my initial, instinctive reply when I read your post.
My initial instinct was to take one jewel -- Queen Victoria's bow brooch, which was lent to the Duchess of York, as an example-- and then argue that the jewels had to be kept in a central location as a collection because QEII has been photographed wearing that brooch in numerous locations both in the UK and overseas.
Then, I wondered if all of HM's jewels would be kept in one central location. Would that not be akin to a normal person investing all their life savings in one particular set of shares on the stockmarket? The prevailing wisdom is that investors should spread the risk and invest in different shares. Could that be how HM's advisors see the location/s of where her jewels are stored?
I certainly don't know, and I suspect that no one outside of HM's Household officials does, but it would make sense if some jewels were stored in one place and others in another.
Having said that, there is the question of logistics. How would that be arranged? Again I don't know. But if some jewels were stored at Buckingham Palace and some at Windsor (or any other secure vaults in the region) then having jewels available at various times would not be an issue. But perhaps, as a means of long term storage, places such as Sandringham and Balmoral might be problematic for anything other than very privately worn jewels. As 9922343177 said, we don't have any verifiable evidence about what HM QEII wears in private.
When I thought about what might be kept permanently in Scotland the only jewel I could think of which is only worn in Scotland is the Braemar brooch.
Re: Are some of the Queens jewels are kept permanently in certain places
I personally believe all jewels are kept in a central location but when HM is moving court to Balmoral, Sandringham, Windsor or Buck House, her courtiers/ jeweller/ dresser/ lady in waiting selects and takes certain jewels.
Its like when my family from overseas visit for holiday, they always pack some attire just in case there is a funeral they may want to attend while on holiday.
But it is possible that the locations for jewel storage are split between buck house and Windsor, i.e. it was pointed out in a documentary that the state jewels were hidden at Windsor Castle during WW2 and that deep below Buckingham Palace lies a great vault the size of an ice rink where jewels are stored.
But a collection such as historic, and just so beautiful I believe would be more sensible to have in one central place. To add here, the old Tower of Loddon holds the primary pieces of the Crown Jewels.
Regards,
Dave.
Previous Message
Hi,
On the Sarah Ferguson parure thread lower down there was a brief coverage of loans by the Queen in which the DoY was seen at Balmoral wearing the bow brooch that had belonged to Queen Victoria.
This has made me wonder whether anyone has ever noticed that certain pieces (probably only identifiable as brooches externally) were exclusively kept at certain residences i.e. Windsor, Sandringham or Balmoral.
It has been said that the Queen has a separation between her work jewels and more personal pieces. So are particular pieces for want of a better expression tied to particular residences i.e. always kept in the safe there because that is where they are used or kept on hand for use.