Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Dame Margaret Greville, the Hon Mrs Greville, who was born on this day in 1863. The illegitimate daughter of a brewery millionaire, she married the son of a Baron, and became a noted Society Hostess, from her magnificent home at Polesden Lacey. To mark the Anniversary of her birth, we are taking a look at one piece from her enormous collection of jewels, the magnificent Greville Festoon Necklace.
Greville Tiara | Greville Emerald Tiara | Greville Festoon Necklace | Greville Ruby Necklace | Greville Emerald Necklace | Diamond Peardrop Earrings | Greville Emerald Earrings | Greville Diamond Chandelier Earrings | Diamond Bow Brooch | Pearl Earrings | Greville Ivy Leaf Clips
Featuring five rows of diamond plaques set in platinum, the longer two strands were initially made by Cartier for Mrs. Greville in 1929 using her own stones, and the three smaller stands were added by Cartier later.
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Queen Elizabeth wore the Greville Tiara and the Greville Festoon Necklace for a Banquet hosted by French Foreign Office during a State Visit to France.
On the death of Dame Margaret Greville, the Hon Mrs Greville in 1942, the majority of her magnificent Jewellery Collection, all pieces valued over 100 pounds, was inherited by Queen Elizabeth. In 1942, the Queen wrote to Queen Mary:
I must tell you that Mrs Greville has left me her jewels, She has left them to me ‘with her loving thoughts,’ dear old thing, and I feel very touched, I don’t suppose I shall see what they consist of for a long time, owing to the slowness of lawyers & death duties etc, but it is rather exciting to be left something, and I do admire beautiful stones with all my heart.”
When the jewels arrived to the Queen a few months later, there was much unwanted press attention on the contents of the initialled black trunk, which included the Greville Diamond Tiara, an Emerald Tiara, the Festoon Necklace, Diamond Peardrop Earrings, the Diamond Chandelier Earrings, Emerald Earrings, the Ruby Necklace, two Emerald Necklaces, Ivy Leaf Clips, Diamond Bow Brooch, and a pair of Pearl Earrings, alongside several spectacular Diamond Earrings, Necklaces, Brooches and Bracelets, the true extent of which has never been publicly revealed.
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The Queen Mother often paired it with her favourite Greville Diamond Tiara most notably for the Dutch State Visit in 1950, a Tour of Rhodesia in 1956, and the French State Visit in 1960.
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However, while the Queen Mother continued to favour the Greville Tiara, the Greville Festoon Necklace was rarely worn during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, when she favoured Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Gift Necklace, and only reappeared in the 1990s, when the Queen Mother, now in her 90s, frequently wore the three shorter strands at White Tie and Gala events. The Greville Festoon Necklace was also notably worn at her 100th Birthday Concert in 2000 and her 101st Birthday Concert in 2001, just a few months before her death. The Greville Festoon Necklace, like all her jewels, was inherited by the Queen.
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However, like many of the Queen Mother’s jewels, the Greville Festoon Necklace seems to be on long-term loan to the Duchess of Cornwall, wife of the Queen Mother’s favourite grandson, the Prince of Wales. The Duchess first wore the Necklace at the CHOGM Banquet in Uganda in 2007, and then at the Waterloo Bicentenary Banquet in 2015, both times with the Greville Tiara, before wearing it at the Prince of Wales’ 70th Birthday Concert at Buckingham Palace last year. There is no doubt we will continue to see this magnificent piece for years to come.
Greville Tiara
Greville Emerald Tiara
Greville Festoon Necklace
Greville Ruby Necklace
Greville Emerald Necklace
Diamond Peardrop Earrings
Greville Emerald Earrings
Greville Diamond Chandelier Earrings
Diamond Bow Brooch
Pearl Earrings
Greville Ivy Leaf Clips
Crown
Greville Tiara
Oriental Circlet Tiara
Delhi Durbar Tiara
Fringe Tiara
Turquoise Parure
Lotus Flower Tiara
Strathmore Rose Tiara
Cartier Halo Tiara
Teck Crescent Tiara
Cartier Bracelet Bandeau
Aquamarine Pine Flower Tiara
Teck Diamond Hoop Necklace
Queen Adelaide’s Fringe
Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Necklace
Greville Festoon Necklace
Greville Emerald Necklace
The Queen Mother’s Tiaras
Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
Vladimir Tiara
Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara
Belgian Sapphire Tiara
Burmese Ruby Tiara
Brazilian Aquamarine Tiara
Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara
Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara
Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet Tiara
Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara
Plunket Tiara
Five Aquamarine Tiara
Imperial State Crown
George IV State Diadem
Necklaces
Coronation Necklace and Earrings
Other Greville Jewels include the:
Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara