Following her Engagement to the Prince of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer wore an antique Diamond Suite on loan from Collingwood Jewellers for her Engagement Portraits 45 years ago, but after she declined it as a wedding present, it was later sold as a supposed Spencer Heirloom by a jeweller in Dusseldorf.
A magnificent antique Diamond Necklace and a pair of Diamond Girandole Earrings, the exact origin of these jewels is unknown but they date from the 19th-century and were in the collection of Collingwood Jewellers by early 1981.
For the Engagement Portraits taken by the Earl of Snowdon at Highgrove House before the official announcement, Lady Diana wore the striking Diamond Necklace and Girandole Earrings paired with her Engagement Ring.
Lady Diana Spencer was only nineteen when she became engaged to the Prince of Wales in February 1981 and had very little jewellery of her own. Lady Diana borrowed an antique diamond necklace and matching chandelier earrings from Collingwood to wear with an emerald-green taffeta evening dress for the official engagement photographs taken by Lord Snowdon at Highgrove House.
Collingwood wished to present the Diamond Suite as a wedding present to Lady Diana, but that was deemed inappropriate by Palace officials, so they instead offered her a pair of antique Pearl and Diamond Earrings which were a lifelong favourite and are now worn by the current Princess of Wales.
Collingwood, who have been the Spencer family jewellers since Lady Diana was a girl, had wanted to present her with the diamond set as their wedding gift, but Palace officials ruled that such a valuable present would be improper.
Lady Diana wore the Pearl Earrings with the antique Diamond Necklace for a Banquet at Claridges Hotel during the Saudi State Visit to Britain in June 1981, just a month before the Wedding.
Not long afterwards, the Diamond Necklace and Girandole Earrings were sold to a private dealer and then to an Iranian jeweller in Düsseldorf, Genio Hakimi, who claimed they were supposed Spencer Heirlooms which had been sold off to pay for the Royal Wedding. The subsequent fate of the Diamond Suite is unknown.
The necklace and earrings were subsequently offered for sale by an Iranian jeweller in Düsseldorf, Genio Hakimi, who claimed they were Spencer heirlooms that had been sold to pay for the wedding. He had bought them from an unscrupulous dealer who offered the engagement photograph as proof that the jewels were Spencer property.
That necklace actually reminds me a bit of the convertible necklace/tiara privately purchased by the now Queen Mary of Denmark.
I was thinking that too. In recent months, I’ve discovered the original designs for Queen Mary’s Tiara and that was created in the UK.
A shame such a lovely set was deemed “inappropriate” as a wedding gift. To me it looks like a perfect wedding gift to someone who would become Queen one day had the marriage lasted. Though it also has to be said that the earrings she eventually got are more wearable at any type of engagement and not just grand State affairs.
I do agree though those girandole earrings are just spectacular and it would have been amazing to see them with full gala!
After reading other articles about the matter, the word “inappropriate” was used to indicate that such a substantial gift from a business would have raised eyebrows, to put it mildly. Accepting gifts seems to be a delicate matter for royals. There are probably many rules and guidelines in place. Otherwise, if the king of Greece or the queen of Denmark had suggested to gift this to her like in the olden days, it probably would have been a different matter. This would have been a fine suite to have, especially if the necklace indeed can be converted to a “low-key” tiara as I suspect.
It does indeed make sense for the Royals to be careful with attaching themselves to certain businesses and a grand gift like this set could be seen as a way for somebody to get special favour from the receiver. So in a way I do understand the position taken by the Royal Household. Still, I think it would have been a splendid addition to the collection of the late Diana as she didn’t really have that many grand pieces in her personal collection.