Princess Margaret’s Floral Spray Brooch

Happy Birthday to Lady Sarah Chatto, who turns 59 today! The only daughter of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones, Lord Snowdon, she was born during the Royal Baby Boom of 1964, and is the only niece of Queen Elizabeth II. Inheriting the bulk of her mother’s jewellery collection, Lady Sarah wears quite a lot of special heirloom pieces, which include Princess Margaret’s Floral Spray Brooch!

Snowdon Floral Tiara | Greville Pearl Earrings | Sapphire EarringsEmerald Earrings | Diamond Star EarringsQueen Mary’s Diamond and Pearl Riviere | Ear-of-Wheat Brooch | Star Brooch | Floral Spray Brooch

When Princess Margaret launched the Carinthia for the Cunard Steamship Company December 1955, the wonderful Beth revealed that she received a spectacular Diamond Brooch presented by Lord Aberconway, on behalf of the builders, which was described as: 

The brooch, a diamond spray, was of 19th-century origin, consisting of a large diamond set in the centre of a flower motif with leaves and stalks set with diamonds in silver on gold. 

One of the earliest appearances of the Floral Spray Brooch came just a few months later, when Princess Margaret joined the Queen and Queen Mother for a Gala Performance by the Sadler’s Wells Ballet at Covent Garden in March 1956.

The Floral Spray Brooch soon became a favourite of Princess Margaret, being worn later that year on a Tour of Tanganyika, and the following year, it was worn for the Premiere of ‘Island in the Sun’.

In 1958, Princess Margaret wore the Floral Spray Brooch with Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Bandeau and her Sapphire Earrings for a Banquet in Trinidad during a Commonwealth Tour of the Caribbean. 

A few weeks later, the Floral Spray Brooch was also worn with the Cartier Halo Tiara for the Banquet marking the 40th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force.

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Princess Margaret continued to wear the Floral Spray Brooch into the 1960s, with a notable appearance paired with the Teck Diamond Hoop Necklace and her Diamond Earrings, though like many of her other brooches, including the Ear-of-Wheat Brooch and the Cartier Rose Brooch, the Spray Brooch does not seem to have been publicly worn after the 1960s, except for a notable appearance at a Ball in 2000 .

After Princess Margaret’s death in 2002, while many of her jewels were sold by her children at the famous 2006 Christie’s Auction, the Floral Spray Brooch was inherited by her only daughter, Lady Sarah, who wore it later that year with Princess Margaret’s Diamond Star Earrings for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Service at St. Pauls Cathedral.

A few years later, Lady Sarah wore the  Floral Spray Brooch with the Greville Pearl Earrings and Queen Mary’s Diamond and Pearl Riviere for the Queen’s 80th Birthday Service at St. Pauls Catehdral. With so many Royal Occasions coming up in the next few weeks, lets hope this Brooch makes a reappearance soon and we continue to see this beautiful heirloom for years to come!

Snowdon Floral Tiara | Greville Pearl Earrings | Sapphire EarringsEmerald Earrings | Diamond Star EarringsQueen Mary’s Diamond and Pearl Riviere | Ear-of-Wheat Brooch | Star Brooch | Floral Spray Brooch

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