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Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels which were worn in South Africa. Cartier Lily brooch Posted by Beth on January 14, 2020, 1:56 pm During the South African tour of 1947 QEQM began to wear some of the jewels which disappeared from public view during the war period. Among these was her Cartier Lily brooch which she wore to a Garden Party in Pretoria. As far as I can ascertain this was the first public wearing post WWII. Detail Later in July 1947 HM again wore the brooch at a service for the Mothers' Union at Westminster Abbey. And later that month for a service at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels which were worn in South Africa. Oriental circlet. Posted by Beth on January 15, 2020, 8:29 am, in reply to "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels which were worn in South Africa. Cartier Lily brooch" Another jewel, closely associated with the public persona of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, is Queen Victoria's Oriental circlet and the "ruby" parure. I have never seen any reference to HM wearing them during WWII. When Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Queen Mary commenced wearing grand jewels after the end of the war, the press kept referring to their wearing "small" tiaras. In QEQM's case that meant either the Teck circles necklace/tiara or Queen Mary's Fringe tiara. But in South Africa, QEQM re-introduced Queen Victoria's Oriental circlet and the "ruby" parure. HM wore the jewels at least three times for Civic Balls. 1. In Pretoria at the end of March 1947 when HM also wore Queen Victoria's Fringe brooch in the centre of her gown. 2. On 18 February 1947 for a Civic Ball at Cape Town. I found this photo interesting as when I zoomed in I could see how deep the top ruby in the brooch is. Normally, we see this brooch photographed from the front and the depth of the ruby is not apparent. Detail 3. On 21 April 1947 QEQM selected these jewels for the Civic Ball in Cape Town when QEII was presented with her 21st birthday diamonds by the government of South Africa. Detail

Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral brooch Posted by Beth on January 16, 2020, 6:52 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels which were worn in South Africa. Oriental circlet." Another jewel which made a spectacular appearance in South Africa was the large diamond floral brooch which Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother later gave to Princess Margaret. I suspect that this brooch was part of Mrs Greville's collection. In the brighter sun light of Cape Town this brooch would have ensured all eyes were focused on HM. I would be tempted to say that HM wore this brooch for the first time in public in South Africa -- except that this photo from Getty is dated by them as 12 December 1946. I feel that the photo below shows HM wearing the large diamond floral brooch. What do others think? Was HM wearing the large diamond floral brooch?

Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels worn in South Africa. Emerald Palm tree brooch Posted by Beth on January 16, 2020, 7:09 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral brooch" As far as I am aware the brooch I have dubbed the emerald palm tree brooch and the wide emerald and diamond bracelet were first worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother during the South African tour in 1947. So far I have spotted the jewels on HM on two occasions: a Garden Party at Bloemfontein and a Garden Party at East London. At Bloemfontein Later during the tour, HM wore these jewels for a Garden Party at East London. As I have argued previously, these jewels were not a Silver Wedding gift from the King. Once again I strongly suspect that these were part of Mrs Greville's collection. Franck has previously noted that the bracelet was from Mrs Greville.

Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large sapphire petal brooch Posted by Beth on January 16, 2020, 6:17 pm, in reply to "Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels worn in South Africa. Emerald Palm tree brooch " Her Majesty does not appear to have worn this brooch for any of the "official" engagements, but kept it for informal stops during the trip they made on the White Train. Another view from the same occasion.

Re: QEQM. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral was worn was worn in 1946 Posted by Beth on January 16, 2020, 6:24 pm, in reply to "Re: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large sapphire petal brooch " Apart from the photo I posted above where I thought that Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was wearing the large diamond floral brooch in December 1946, a quick check showed that she had worn it even earlier in 1946 to the wedding of Patricia Mountbatten on 26 October 1946. So I was mistaken in thinking it may have been worn initially in South Africa. Patricia Mountbatten's wedding in 1946

Re: QEQM. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral was worn was worn in 1946 Posted by Franck on January 16, 2020, 9:26 pm, in reply to "Re: QEQM. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral was worn was worn in 1946" I also think that QEQM was wearing the diamond bracelet worn only once by the Duchess of Cornwall for the wedding of the duke and the Duchess of Cambridge. What do you think ? This large diamond floral brooch is one of my favorite brooch. I do hope it is in the main branch....it would be very sad to see this beautiful brooch sold. Franck Previous Message Apart from the photo I posted above where I thought that Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was wearing the large diamond floral brooch in December 1946, a quick check showed that she had worn it even earlier in 1946 to the wedding of Patricia Mountbatten on 26 October 1946. So I was mistaken in thinking it may have been worn initially in South Africa. Patricia Mountbatten's wedding in 1946

Re: QEQM. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral was worn was worn in 1946 Posted by Beth on January 17, 2020, 6:08 am, in reply to "Re: QEQM. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral was worn was worn in 1946" What an eagle eye you have Franck! I think you might be correct. Does anyone have photos with better resolution? I will have a hunt through my photos today, but there is no guarantee that I will be able to post an image. Last night I tried to do 3 separate posts but the images would not upload properly -- some more problems with Photobucket!!!

Re: QEQM. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral was worn was worn in 1946 Posted by Beth on January 17, 2020, 6:42 am, in reply to "Re: QEQM. Jewels worn in South Africa. Large diamond floral was worn was worn in 1946" When I zoomed in on other photos from the wedding of Patricia Mountbatten, even though the photos lack high definition, it looks as if Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was wearing her sapphire and diamond bracelet. Detail The bracelet which the Duchess of Cornwall wore is so close in design to the circles section of this bracelet that there was considerable discussion as to whether she was wearing QEQM's bracelet. If I remember correctly, it was decided that they were two different bracelets. Have I remembered correctly? For the wedding of Patricia Mountbatten QEQM also wore the diamond floral earrings which I think came from Mrs Greville.

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