Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who was born on this day in 1848! The fascinating artistic daughter of Queen Victoria who became the popular Viceregal Consort of Canada before becoming the illustrious Duchess of Argyll, Princess Louise possessed some splendid jewels, which included her Emerald Brooch/Pendant!
Princess Louise’s Daisy Brooches | Emerald Brooch
Princess Louise received this Emerald and Diamond Brooch as a wedding gift from her mother, Queen Victoria, for her marriage to the Marquess of Lorne, heir to the Dukedom of Argyll, in 1873. However, Princess Louise was not photographed wearing the Brooch thought her long life, but it remained in her possession until her death in 1939.
50 years agao-in 1968 August 27th Princess Marina Duchess of Kent died!
see her with #emeraldbrooch a present from Queen Victoria to her daughter #PrincessLouise #DuchessofArgyll #royaljewels #jewelry #princessmichael #uk #britishroyalfamily #britishroyalshttps://t.co/rDt4kDQmqD pic.twitter.com/eyVUQKrbjE
— royal_jewels (@royal_jewels) August 26, 2018
Embed from Getty Images
50 years agao-in 1968 August 27th Princess Marina Duchess of Kent died!
see her with #emeraldbrooch a present from Queen Victoria to her daughter #PrincessLouise #DuchessofArgyll #royaljewels #jewelry #princessmichael #uk #britishroyalfamily #britishroyalshttps://t.co/rDt4kDQmqD pic.twitter.com/eyVUQKrbjE
Princess Louise had no children, and after her death, the Emerald and Diamond Brooch was inherited by her great-nephew, Prince George, Duke of Kent, along with Princess Louise’s Daisy Brooches and reportedly the Kent Festoon Tiara. The Brooch was worn by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent on a couple of occasions through the 1960s, with one of the Vladimir Pearls as a pendant.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
After Princess Marina’s death in 1968, the Emerald Brooch was inherited by her younger son, Prince Michael, and has been worn in a variety of versatile ways by his wife, Princess Michael, as a Brooch, a Pendant, and even the clasp of a Choker, both with and without the Vladimir Pearls andalso with an emerald pendant, for daytime and evening events. Notable appearences included Wedding of Lord Romsey in 1979, the French State Visit to Britain in 2008, and most recently, the Queen’s 90th Birthday Thanksgiving Service in 2016. There is no doubt we will continue to see Princess Louise’s Emerald Brooch for years to come!
Princess Louise’s Daisy Brooches | Emerald Brooch
Pss. Michael really takes the best of jewels and makes them look like they are faux.
Princess Michael may not be a diplomat by any stretch of the imagination, but she wears jewels with panache. Sometimes her inventiveness works and sometimes it doesn’t, but she does wear this beautiful brooch well. I especially like it when she wears it alone with a pearl as a pendant. I think its original owner, Princess Louise, was a gifted artist who never had the chance to develop her full potential. But I guess that’s what happens when you’re the daughter of the Queen, and you have to take the good along with the bad.