Next week, the Duchess of Kent will be celebrating her 90th Birthday! The Baronet’s daughter who married the late Queen’s first cousin and was a working royal for over 40 years before retiring from royal duties, the Duchess possessed some spectacular heirloom Jewels, many of which we have featured over the years, though we reserved some special heirlooms for her 90th Birthday, beginning our series by featuring Empress Maria Feodrovna’s Sapphire Brooch!
Pearl and Diamond Fringe Tiara | Cambridge Sapphire Parure | Aquamarine Tiara | Diamond and Pearl Suite | Pearl Earrings | Art Deco Brooch | Girandole Earrings | Diamond Flower Suite | Queen Victoria’s Gold Brooch | Empress Maria Feodrovna’s Sapphire Brooch | Princess Marina’s Black Pearl Brooch | The Duchess of Kent’s Tiaras | The Jewels of the Duchess of Kent | 90 Facts about the Duchess of Kent
Featuring a large sugarloaf cabochon Sapphire surrounded by four square Diamonds, it is unknown when this Brooch was acquired by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, but she was notably pictured in the pice in a series of portraits with her sister, Queen Alexandra, at their Danish home, Hvidore, in 1911. The Brooch was one of the few jewels that the Empress escaped with from Russia and retained the piece until the end of her life.
After the Dowager Empress’ death in 1928, her daughter, Grand Duchess Xenia and Grand Duchess Olga, sold several of her jewels to Queen Mary, which included this sugarloaf cabochon Sapphire and Diamond Brooch for £2850, among a series of Sapphire Jewels, though she does not seem to have been pictured wearing the brooch.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Shortly before Queen Mary’s death in 1953, the sugarloaf cabochon Sapphire and Diamond Brooch was given it to her widowed daughter-in-law, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, who was pictured wearing the piece on a couple of occasions through the 1950s and 1960s. Princess Marina was a great niece of the Dowager Empress through her grandfather, King George I of Greece, and her mother, who was Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.
In turn, Princess Marina left the Dowager Empress’ sugarloaf cabochon Sapphire Brooch to her elder son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and it began to be worn by his wife, the Duchess of Kent, soon afterwards, for a variety of daytime occasions, including when it was worn on her hat.
The Duchess of Kent continued to wear the Dowager Empress’ sugarloaf cabochon Sapphire Brooch into the 1980s, most notably for the unveiling of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma Statue in London in 1984. The Duke and Duchess hit a series of financial difficulties in the 1990s, when several jewels were sold, not long before the Duchess retired from royal duties, and it is unknown if the Sapphire Brooch still belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Kent, though lets hope it makes a reappearance again soon!
Pearl and Diamond Fringe Tiara | Cambridge Sapphire Parure | Aquamarine Tiara | Diamond and Pearl Suite | Pearl Earrings | Art Deco Brooch | Girandole Earrings | Diamond Flower Suite | Queen Victoria’s Gold Brooch | Empress Maria Feodrovna’s Sapphire Brooch | Princess Marina’s Black Pearl Brooch | The Duchess of Kent’s Tiaras | The Jewels of the Duchess of Kent | 90 Facts about the Duchess of Kent
