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Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain. Posted by Beth on July 7, 2021, 3:32 pm Amongst the many gifts to honour her Golden Jubilee, Queen Victoria received a long diamond chain with a crown and the years 1837 and 1897 in diamonds from her younger children and their spouses. These were the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Edinburgh); the Duke and Duchess of Connaught; Prince and Princess Christian; Princess Louise and the Marquess of Lorne; Princess Henry of Battenberg and the Duchess of Albany. In her diary Queen Victoria recorded that she wore the chain for the drive through the city and the Thanksgiving Service. In a photo taken on the day, a little part of the chain can be seen on either side of the Queen's neck. Unfortunately, Queen Victoria did not record which brooch she wore but, as it is obviously a cabochon, I wonder if it might be the star sapphire brooch set in diamonds which Queen Alexandra gave her. Without additional information, I doubt if this can be verified. Thank heavens for the sparkle of diamonds otherwise it would be impossible to identify the chain.

Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain. Posted by Knightship on July 7, 2021, 9:11 pm, in reply to "Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain." A wonderful find - thanks for sharing the photo! Previous Message Amongst the many gifts to honour her Golden Jubilee, Queen Victoria received a long diamond chain with a crown and the years 1837 and 1897 in diamonds from her younger children and their spouses. These were the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Edinburgh); the Duke and Duchess of Connaught; Prince and Princess Christian; Princess Louise and the Marquess of Lorne; Princess Henry of Battenberg and the Duchess of Albany. In her diary Queen Victoria recorded that she wore the chain for the drive through the city and the Thanksgiving Service. In a photo taken on the day, a little part of the chain can be seen on either side of the Queen's neck. Unfortunately, Queen Victoria did not record which brooch she wore but, as it is obviously a cabochon, I wonder if it might be the star sapphire brooch set in diamonds which Queen Alexandra gave her. Without additional information, I doubt if this can be verified. Thank heavens for the sparkle of diamonds otherwise it would be impossible to identify the chain.

Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain. Posted by Crowne on July 8, 2021, 7:18 am, in reply to "Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain." Thanks Beth for the pictures. I'm interested in what happened to this necklace. It is not in the list I have of crown jewellery that came from the Twinning papers which is a bit odd as a number of other jubilee jewels are included. The last wearing I am aware of is by Queen Alexandra: Queen Alexandra George V and Queen Mary seem to have kept other commemorative jewels that Queen Alexandra had as personal property (for example leek and PoW feathers brooches), so it seems logical that they would have obtained this for the crown collection. But I don't recall seeing a photo of QM wearing it, and we know QEQM and QEII didn't really wear / favour sautoir style of necklaces as Queens, so it could have been locked away unworn all this time. I would have thought that it would have been a suitable candidate for Hugh Roberts to include in his The Queens Diamonds book but he didn't, although other historic jewels also weren't included like the cockade brooch. I'm hoping this jewel is locked away safely in Buckingham palace waiting for a future wearer!

Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain. See Correction below Posted by Beth on July 8, 2021, 7:31 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain." Edit: Please see Correction below. It seems to be generally accepted that the chain went eventually to Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (Princess Arthur of Connaught) and then to Lady Patricia Ramsay, Princess Patricia of Connaught. Vincent Meylan discusses this in his book on Christie's. Alexandra, Duchess of Fife.

Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain. Posted by Crowne on July 8, 2021, 7:41 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain." Thanks for that information. It's a shame when historic items leave the main line!

Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain. Posted by Beth on July 8, 2021, 9:09 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain." IN Christie's Vincent Meylan revealed an interesting piece of information about this chain: it can be divided to form 4 bracelets. Whether Queen Alexandra gave this chain to her daughter, Princess Louise, Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife who later gave it to her daughter, Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, or if the Queen gave it directly to her granddaughter is unknown. It was worn by Queen Alexandra to her granddaughter's wedding in 1913. Then, by 1920, five years before Queen Alexandra's death, it was being worn by Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, Princess Arthur of Connaught.

Correction Posted by Beth on July 8, 2021, 6:48 pm, in reply to "Re: Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain." When I looked at Christie's. The jewellery archives revealed by Vincent Meylan a few minutes ago, I saw that he does not state that the chain worn by Queen Alexandra in the 1913 photos of her was the same as the one given to Queen Victoria. My apologies to Vincent Meylan for my mistake, and to everyone else. Vincent Meylan says that the chain went from Queen Alexander to her daughter, the first Duchess of Fife. It was then inherited by Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife who left it to her cousin, Lady Patricia Ramsay (Princess Patricia of Connaught) The chain was sold in 1974 by Christie's in an auction of Lady Patricia Ramsay's jewels.

Re: Correction - question ? Posted by Franck on July 8, 2021, 7:06 pm, in reply to "Correction" Are you sure that the chain given to Queen Victoria is the one worn by the Duchess of Fife ? Not the same shape and the one worn by QV seems smaller to me ? No time....but I do raise the question. Best regards Previous Message When I looked at Christie's. The jewellery archives revealed by Vincent Meylan a few minutes ago, I saw that he does not state that the chain worn by Queen Alexandra in the 1913 photos of her was the same as the one given to Queen Victoria. My apologies to Vincent Meylan for my mistake, and to everyone else. Vincent Meylan says that the chain went from Queen Alexander to her daughter, the first Duchess of Fife. It was then inherited by Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife who left it to her cousin, Lady Patricia Ramsay (Princess Patricia of Connaught) The chain was sold in 1974 by Christie's in an auction of Lady Patricia Ramsay's jewels.

Re: Correction - question ? Posted by Beth on July 9, 2021, 5:00 pm, in reply to "Re: Correction - question ? " I am not sure (nor do I think) that the two chains are the same. In my initial reply I said "It seems to be generally accepted ..." I did a correction because I had referred to Vincent Meylan. Later, when I checked, I realised he had not said that. I was correcting my inaccurate reference to Vincent Meylan.

Re: Diamond Jubilee Chain. Posted by The Royal Watcher on July 8, 2021, 7:07 pm, in reply to "Queen Victoria wearing her Diamond Jubilee diamond chain." What an amazing find Beth! Ever since I wrote my article on the Diamond Jubilee Chain, HERE, a few years ago, I have been intrigued by the versatility of the piece and the possible combinations created from it. It looks like Queen Victoria was wearing the 'smaller' version, though it seems like the four bracelets were created from the additional pieces rather than the main piece because chain eventually sold for £12,480 while the four bracelets sold for £10,080 I was not able to find an image of the chain among my pages of the auction catalogue of Princess Patricia's jewels, but Ursula has a picture on her site.

Re: Diamond Jubilee Chain. Posted by Beth on July 9, 2021, 7:29 pm, in reply to "Re: Diamond Jubilee Chain." I think that a number of people have realised over the years that, where possible, I like to use empirical evidence. This case is no exception. I would like to have access to the catalogue for the auction of the jewels of Lady Patricia Ramsay to see the precise description of the jewels and, where possible, the photos of those jewels. Obviously there are some photos as Vincent Meylan has published some in his book, Christie's As I have not been able to find a copy of the catalogue, I have relied on some of the press descriptions of the auction of the jewels of Lady Patricia Ramsay. Some do not mention the diamond chain or the matching bracelets at all. None mentions the brooch, which Ursula appears to be saying was made from part of a bracelet. In the newspaper reports of Queen Victoria's Jubilee presents I have seen mention of only one bracelet with a crown and the years 1837-1897. That is the one given to Victoria by her Household. That does not bear any resemblance to the bracelet Ursula depicts, nor do I think it could form part of a totally different looking chain. Certainly, the sketch of the chain of diamond links given to Queen Victoria by her younger children and their spouses does have a segment which looks like the bracelet in Ursula's site. At the time of the auction in 1974 The Times had a reputation for accuracy. According to that newspaper the bracelets and the chain, which were sold as separate lots, fetched 9,400 pounds sterling. Vincent Meylan gives the same value in his book on Christie's. As he has obviously had access to the archives at Christie's I am relying on his research.

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