Greville Ruby Necklace

This week marks the 160th Anniversary of the Birth of Dame Margaret Greville, the Hon Mrs Greville 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, getting close to the Queen Mother, to whom she left her enormous Jewellery Collection, so we are featuring several of her jewels, continuing with the Greville Ruby Necklace!

In 1907, Hon Mrs Greville commissioned this spectacular Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace at Boucheron in Paris, consisting of large rubies set in a a delicate floral design, shaped in a distinctive triangle, with a large pear-shaped diamond pendant.

Dame Margaret Greville, the Hon Mrs Greville was not pictured wearing the Boucheron Ruby Necklace, and on her death 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 Necklace, the Diamond Chandelier Earrings, Emerald Earrings, the Ruby Necklace, two Emerald Necklaces, Ivy Leaf Clips, Diamond Bow Brooch, and a pair of Pearl Earrings, alongside several spectacular Diamond Earrings, Necklaces, Brooches and Bracelets, the true extent of which has never been publicly revealed.

When Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1947, she received the Greville Ruby Necklace, along with the Greville Diamond Chandelier Earrings, as a wedding present from her mother, Queen Elizabeth, which were also among the jewels on display at St James’s Palace.

It took a few years for Princess Elizabeth to debut the Greville Ruby Necklace, which was worn with the Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara for a Banquet at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in 1951, as well as being worn for a Flower Ball and a Ball at the Savoy Hotel in 1951.

Following her Accession to the Throne, the Greville Ruby Necklace was worn by the Queen for a Banquet held by the Foreign Office at Lancaster House in London, to celebrate the Coronation, paired with the Vladimir Tiara, and was later worn with the Lover’s Knot Tiara for a State Reception at the City Hall in Hobart during the 6-month Commonwealth Tour.

In the mid-1950s, the Queen usually wore the Greville Ruby Necklace with Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara, for the Royal Variety Performance in 1955, the British State Visit to Sweden and the Iraqi State Visit to Britain in 1956, as well as a Tour of India and State Visit to Iran in 1961.

The Queen continued to wear the Greville Ruby Necklace through the 1960s, being worn for the Royal Variety Performance in 1962, a visit to New Zealand and Australia in 1963, the Greek State Visit to Britain in 1963, and a visit to Canada in 1964.

The Greville Ruby Necklace then disappeared from public view for almost two decades, until appearing at the State Opening of Parliament in 1983, being worn also worn with the George IV State Diadem for an Official Portrait in 1987, when it again disappeared.

Three decades later, the Greville Ruby Necklace appeared on the then Duchess of Cambridge, paired with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara and Princess Diana’s Collingwood Pearl Earrings, at the State Banquet for King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain at Buckingham Palace.

The following year, the Queen wore the Greville Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace for the first time in over 30 years, along with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, at her Commonwealth Dinner at Buckingham Palace in April 2018. The necklace has not yet been worn again publicly since, but lets hope we see it worn again soon!