Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Brooch

Today marks the 95th Anniversary of the Death of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, who passed away on this day in 1928! The Danish Princess who married the Russian Tsar and became the mother of the tragic last Tsar, the Empress possessed a spectacular collection of jewels, with one of the most iconic pieces being her Sapphire and Pearl Brooch!

When Princess Dagmar of Denmark married the future Tsar Alexander III of Russia in 1866, she received this cabochon Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl Brooch as a wedding gift from her brother-in-law and sister, the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, which was described as:

‘A cabochon sapphire brooch surrounded by two rows of diamonds with a pearl drop hanging from a collet diamond.’

Empress Maria Feodorovna wore the Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl Brooch throughout her life, including while playing cards with her father, King Christian IX of Denmark, and sisters, Queen Alexandra and Crown Princess Thyra of Hanover, in Copenhagen in 1905.

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 cabochon Sapphire and Diamond Brooch with the Pearl drop for £2,375, among a series of Sapphire Jewels, in 1930.

Queen Mary wore Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Brooch on a few occasions through the 1930s, most notably on a visit to the new Albert Dock Hospital in London in 1938. When Queen Mary passed away in 1953, she left the Sapphire Brooch to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, at the time just a few weeks away from her Coronation at Westminster Abbey.

Queen Elizabeth II began wearing Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Brooch soon afterwards and it made several appearances in her annual Christmas Speeches, as well as important occasions like the British State Visit to Denmark in 1957, the State Visit to Paris in 1957, the British State Visit to the Netherlands in 1958, the French State Visit in 1960, on a Tour of West Africa in 1961, the State Visit to Ethiopia in 1965, in additional to less formal events like Royal Ascot and Church Services.

The Queen also wore the Sapphire Brooch without the Pearl Pendant on several occasions through the years, though appearances were much more rare than seeing the full Brooch.

More recently, the late Queen wore Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Brooch for Audiences and Investitures, as well as for Engagements, with a handful of occasions every year. One of the most notable appearances of the Brooch was at the Royal British Legion’s Together at Christmas Initiative, ahead of the Queen’s final Christmas Lunch at Buckingham Palace.

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In 2021, Princess Anne wore an almost identical Sapphire and Diamond Brooch with a Pearl Pendant for the Team GB Ball, which led many to speculate that it was a loan from the Queen, though the quality of the image was not clear enough to tell with certainty.

Just a few weeks later, we saw the Queen wearing Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Brooch for a final time when hosting the Sultan of Oman for an Audience at Windsor Castle in December 2021.

Then last year, a month after the Queen’s passing, Princess Anne wore the Sapphire and Pearl Brooch for a dinner at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Kampala with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, when it was paired with the late Queen’s Three-Strand Pearl Necklace.

Later that year, Princess Anne wore the Brooch again when she attended a reception in Belfast to mark 50 years since Lady Mary Peter’s iconic Olympic Gold medal win at Munich in 1972.

Since Princess Anne already owns Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Choker, it would not be unusual for her to have inherited Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Brooch, though we await a reappearance with better pictures to confirm!