Posters of original research, analyses, insights etc retain all rights to their work.
Such research etc cannot be used in any format without the written consent of the author.
Royal Jewels during WWII
Posted by The Royal Watcher on September 16, 2020, 12:07 am
Continuing from the thread below on Queen Mary's Jewels during WWII, I wanted to talk about the location of other Royal Jewels during the War, especially of those royal family's who escaped into exile in the UK for the during the war, especially the Luxembourg and Dutch Royals! Were they hidden or were they smuggled out into exile?
There are reports of crates of Dutch diamonds being taken on to the British ships and also Crown Princess Juliana arriving in London with a few trunks full of diamonds. I wonder if they were stored with the Crown Jewels in the vaults of Wolverhampton Town Hall (where a Dutch Regiment was stationed nearby).
At least the Dutch Royals had a fairly simple path from The Netherlands to London, while the Luxembourg Royals went to France, Portugal, the US and Canada as well as London, often escaping quite harrowingly, so I wonder how they would have taken their quite extensive collection along with them!
Some of the Norwegian royal jewels were at Windsor and Crown Princess Martha was given the Emerald Parure to sell (I wonder if she had her personal jewels, the Vasa Tiara, Diamond Bandeau and Turquoise Necklace etc.., with her or if they were buried with other treasures by a court official). The Balkan Royals (Albanian and Yugoslavian before/during and the Romanians and Bulgarians after the War) managed to take most of their jewels with them.
Also, I'd like to know about the fate of the Greek Royal Jewels during the war, as I have a feeling that some jewels were sold to make ends meet (Queen Frederica was not pictured wearing her diamond wedding necklace and a grand ruby necklace after the war).
The war was certainly a tough time for royals, especially as they knew their jewels were really their only security for a life in exile, but they also had to keep some heirlooms intact for an eventual return. Also, while probably most royal families probably did not dine in White Tie and Tiaras every night (like Queen Mary), I wonder how any still tried to maintain standards and still wore their jewels for some occasions (I'm sure there must have been a few) during the war.
Thank You Al13, Dave, and Ashdean for contributing below and I hope we get to learn more!
It's interesting because both Princess Alice and also Princess Elena (I believe) who both spent the war in occupied Athens had substantial jewellery in their possession after the war.
Princess Alice had a tiara she gave to the Queen now worn by Princess Anne (the Greek Meander) and a bracelet that was apparently broken up or altered to give up the diamond for the then Princess Elizabeth's engagement ring. She was also very respectively jewelled at the wedding - though these could have been borrowed.
Previous Message
Continuing from the thread below on Queen Mary's Jewels during WWII, I wanted to talk about the location of other Royal Jewels during the War, especially of those royal family's who escaped into exile in the UK for the during the war, especially the Luxembourg and Dutch Royals! Were they hidden or were they smuggled out into exile?
There are reports of crates of Dutch diamonds being taken on to the British ships and also Crown Princess Juliana arriving in London with a few trunks full of diamonds. I wonder if they were stored with the Crown Jewels in the vaults of Wolverhampton Town Hall (where a Dutch Regiment was stationed nearby).
At least the Dutch Royals had a fairly simple path from The Netherlands to London, while the Luxembourg Royals went to France, Portugal, the US and Canada as well as London, often escaping quite harrowingly, so I wonder how they would have taken their quite extensive collection along with them!
Some of the Norwegian royal jewels were at Windsor and Crown Princess Martha was given the Emerald Parure to sell (I wonder if she had her personal jewels, the Vasa Tiara, Diamond Bandeau and Turquoise Necklace etc.., with her or if they were buried with other treasures by a court official). The Balkan Royals (Albanian and Yugoslavian before/during and the Romanians and Bulgarians after the War) managed to take most of their jewels with them.
Also, I'd like to know about the fate of the Greek Royal Jewels during the war, as I have a feeling that some jewels were sold to make ends meet (Queen Frederica was not pictured wearing her diamond wedding necklace and a grand ruby necklace after the war).
The war was certainly a tough time for royals, especially as they knew their jewels were really their only security for a life in exile, but they also had to keep some heirlooms intact for an eventual return. Also, while probably most royal families probably did not dine in White Tie and Tiaras every night (like Queen Mary), I wonder how any still tried to maintain standards and still wore their jewels for some occasions (I'm sure there must have been a few) during the war.
Thank You Al13, Dave, and Ashdean for contributing below and I hope we get to learn more!
Re: Princess Alice and Princess Elena's Jewels during WWII
I believe that most of Princess Alice and Princess Elena's jewels were not in Greece during the occupation!
We know that Princess Alice's Aquamarine Tiara was in a bank vault in London when Prince Phillip broke it up for the engagement ring and bracelet. Princess Alice went through some serious hardships during the war, and had she had her jewels, I'm sure they would have been sold. On a similar note, I haven't ever found the original source that says that Princess Alice gave her Meander Tiara as a wedding gift to the Queen, and a new theory of mine is that she kept it with her (wearing it at the wedding too) until she came to live with the Queen and Duke in 1967, around the same time Princess Anne started wearing the Meander Tiara.
By the time of the occupation, Princess Elena had two main Tiaras left: the Vladimir Fringe and Queen Olga's Ruby Parure, which were both worn by Princess Olga and Princess Elisabeth during the Yugoslavian State Visit to Germany in June 1939, and I thought that both Tiaras were with both daughters respectively for the duration of the war, but it seems Princess Elena wore the Rubies in Italy in July 1939, and now I'm not sure if the jewels were with her in Greece for the duration of the Nazi occupation.
Re: Princess Alice and Princess Elena's Jewels during WWII
I think that new information in Once upon a diamond by Prince Dimitri may change some of our ideas.
He states (page 83) that the Vladimir fringe tiara was given by Princess Nicholas to her daughter, Princess Elizabeth, in 1934 as a wedding present when the latter married.
Do we have any photos of the Grand Duchess/Princess Nicholas wearing the tiara after 1934?
I'll attempt a mini review of the book in a new thread.
Re: Princess Nicholas and the Vladimir Fringe Tiara
This is really interesting The Royal Watcher! We will have to keep hunting for more information.
Even though Prince Dimitri said that Princess Marina wore the City of London fringe for her wedding, I am still curious. We should do a separate thread on it to see (again) if we can resolve the issue.
Re: Princess Olga wearing the Vladimir Fringe Tiara
Yes, I'd love to learn about about the Vladimir Fringe and I thing a separate thread wold be a wonderful idea.
I've just made an exciting discovery of what appears to be Princess Olga wearing the Vladimir Fringe Tiara at the Wedding of Prince Philipp of Hesse and Princess Mafalda of Savoy (on this day) in 1925 . I believe that was the only time she's been pictured in the piece!
on September 16, 2020, 12:07 am
Previous Message
