Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Earrings

Happy Birthday to Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom, who turns 79 today! The Queen can magnificently carry off some massive Tiaras and has a large collection of chokers and modern jewels among a series of Royal Heirlooms, among which is Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Earrings!

When Princess Alexandra of Denmark married the Prince of Wales in 1863, she received a magnificent Tiara and Parure from her groom, Prince of Wales Feathers Jewels from Welsh organisations, and a Diamond Rivière and pair of Earrings from the Corporation of the City of London.

The necklace . . consists of 32 Golconda diamonds (old English cut), the centre stone, from which the rest graduate, weighing 13 carats 3 1-32 grains. The beauty of this collection of stones was represented to lie in the uniformity and harmony of size, shape and brilliancy.

The earrings are equal in quality to the necklace, and consist of very large brilliant tops and drops with diamonds between, the top stones weighing 12½ carats, and the drops, which are said to be matchless, 17¼ carats, the whole weight of necklace and earrings being 171 ½ ¼ 1/16 carats.

The centre stone of the necklace was valued at £5,000, while the total value of the gift was £10,000. Both items were made by Garrard and Co.

While she was never depicted wearing the full diamond earrings, usually wearing only the upper stud portion, the Princess of Wales wore the pear-shaped pendants of the Diamond Earrings suspended from her Wedding Necklace with her Kokoshnik Tiara for the Wedding of her son, the Duke of York, and Princess May of Teck in the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in 1893.

It is also possible that Queen Alexandra wore the pear-shaped Diamond Pendants suspended from her elaborate Diamond Necklace which was worn from the 1880s up to the mid-1900s, while two of the other Pendants from that Necklace are now worn as Earrings by Queen Sonja of Norway.

In the 1960s, Queen Elizabeth II had a pair of Diamond Earrings created from Family Diamonds, which Arthur on the RJWMB theorized could have been Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Earrings. Composed of two large pear drop diamonds suspended from two smaller diamonds and set in gold, they are similar, albeit a smaller version, to the Coronation Earrings and the Greville Diamond Peardrop Earrings.

The Queen seems to have debuted the Diamond Earrings with the King Faisal Diamond Necklace for the Premiere of Lord Mountbatten: A Man for the Century at the Imperial War Museum in London in 1968.

A few days later, the pear-drop Diamond Earrings were again worn with the King Faisal Diamond Necklace at the Royal Film Premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Odeon in Leicester Square in 1968.

In 1983, the Queen loaned the pear-drop Diamond Earrings to the then Princess of Wales, who paired then with the Spencer Tiara and a polka dot Catherine Walker gown for a Banquet in Auckland, during a Tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The Princess wore the Diamond Earrings again a few days later, with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara for the Return Banquet in Auckland.

After an appearance at a Royal Film performance in 1984, the Queen also wore the Diamond Earrings with her Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and the King Faisal Diamond Necklace for a few official portraits in the late 80s and early 90s, including one by McGregor as Air Commodore-in-Chief.

In later years, the late Queen almost always wore the Queen wore the Diamond Earrings with her South African Diamond Necklace, which included her 1999 State Visit to South Africa, the 2001 Return Visit, and the 2011 State Visit from South Africa.

Last month, Queen Camilla wore the pear-drop Diamond Earrings possibly originating from Queen Alexandra for the first Day of Royal Ascot, paired with the Cullinan V Brooch. Since the Queen’s ears are not pierced, it seems that the Earrings may have been refitted to allow them to be worn as clips.

Two days later, Queen Camilla wore the Diamond Earrings for the third Day of Royal Ascot, this time paired with the Queen Mother’s Shell Brooch. There is no doubt Queen Camilla will continue to wear these heirloom Diamond Earrings for years to come!