Greville Festoon Necklace

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 NecklaceDiamond Peardrop Earrings, the Diamond Chandelier EarringsEmerald Earrings, the Ruby Necklacetwo Emerald NecklacesIvy Leaf ClipsDiamond Bow Broochand a pair of Pearl Earringsalongside 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.

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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 Tiara

Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara

Greville Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace

Greville Pearl Earrings

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