In the personal collection of the late queen there are over 300 jewels with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, estimated in the hundreds of millions
Diamond tiaras and diadems, strings of pearls, brooches and rings with diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires: Queen Elizabeth II owned one of the most incredible jewelry collections in the world, valued in the hundreds of millions, but for which the word did not price fits perfectly. That is why many people today ask themselves: who will the jewels go to after her death, how will they be distributed among her heirs?
Since after the death of the monarch there was not a detail without attention, it is clear that Buckingham Palace has thought about this issue for a long time, writes the magazine “Madame Figaro”. Before that, however, it is necessary to clarify that royal jewels must be divided into two categories. One is the crown jewels, which are kept in the Tower of London and belong to the state. They are used by the royal family on various occasions, but in fact use them on loan. These jewels will now be delivered to King Charles III and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla.
The second group is the personal property of the monarchs. These are personal purchases and gifts, much of the jewelry
handed down by inheritance from grandmothers and mothers to daughters and grandchildren
According to some experts, the royal collection began to accumulate during the time of Queen Victoria, who collected precious stones as the British Empire expanded rapidly. She loved giving extravagant and incredibly expensive gifts to her children and their spouses.
Many argue that today it is very difficult to distinguish exactly what belongs to the Crown and what belongs to the Royal Family, as many personal items have become part of the Crown collection over the years.
Most of the tiaras and tiaras Kate Middleton has appeared with so far have been provided by Buckingham only for certain events. The queen herself preferred to wear her personal ornaments in her everyday life, and for official occasions she used the most dazzling tiaras and necklaces from the palace collections.
Many of Queen Elizabeth II’s jewels were given to her by her grandmother Queen Mary, the wife of her grandfather King George V, and by her mother, Queen Elizabeth, the wife of her father King George VI.
Some were made to order by the same owner of London and Paris jewelers, or presented to her as gifts for anniversaries and other holidays. On occasion
at her wedding to Prince Philip, Elizabeth II wears the diamond tiara of her grandmother, Queen Mary
and two pearl necklaces, one belonging to Queen Anne, the last of the Stuart dynasty, and the other to Queen Caroline, wife of George II.
However, the most expensive possession of the late Elizabeth is considered to be the necklace given to her by the Nizam of Hyderabad in India (at the time one of the richest men in the world) for her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947. The necklace was made by Cartier ”And contains 300 diamonds arranged in an abstract floral pattern. According to royal experts, it is now worth about $ 82 million. It is said to be the most expensive piece of jewelry belonging to royal families around the world. The queen was photographed with her a few days after her coronation in 1952. In 2014 the Duchess of Cambridge Kate, wife of Prince William, also appeared with the necklace.
Among the legendary ornaments of Elizabeth II is the “Cullinan III and IV” brooch, worn by the monarch twice – during the visit to the Netherlands in 1958 and during the diamond jubilee. It features the 94.4-carat pear-shaped Cullinan III diamond and the 63-carat square Cullinan IV.
The brooch is worth nearly $ 60 million
One of the jewels of the greatest sentimental value, however, is the sapphire tiara given to her at the wedding by the queen’s father, George VI. With it, Elizabeth appeared for the last time in 2019. The tiara contains 18 sapphires between 8 and 30 carats.
Among the emblematic royal brooches is the one given to Queen Victoria by her husband, Prince Albert, in 1840 and inherited from the last British monarch. It is made up of diamonds and sapphires. Also interesting is the story of the ruby tiara, worn by the queen only once. It is studded with 96 rubies combined with diamonds. The tiara was a gift from the people of Burma (modern day Myanmar) and was believed to have healing properties. Now it is even speculated that
The 96 rubies kept Elizabeth II healthy until her death at the age of 96.
There are suggestions that much of the royal personal collection (around 300 precious jewels, of which at least 98 brooches – the queen was a huge fan of these ornaments and used them to send various messages to her subjects through them) will go to the new princess. of Kate of Wales, wife of Crown Prince William, but for now there is no official decision on the matter. Princess Anna, the queen’s only daughter, and her children, as well as the families of her other two children, Andrea and Edoardo, also have the right to inherit. According to the media, however, it is not excluded that the heirs refuse to receive the treasures to which they are entitled, because
the huge inheritance tax – 40% of the value of the jewelry
Thus they will pass into the collection of the crown and can still be used by the family when needed.
According to Newsweek, King Charles III will soon have to address the jewelry issue, as there have long been requests from India for the country to return some jewelry acquired by Britain during the colonial era. The subject of the greatest controversy is the Kohinoor diamond, which Delhi has been claiming for decades but now hopes to be claimed by the new king. Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan also claim the diamond, which after grinding has reduced its weight from 186 to 105.6 carats.
In Britain it was never worn by men because, according to legend, they died a violent death.
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