Sophie, Countess Of Wessex Jewellery

[Josefine]

pictures from www.corbis.com; www.ibl.se and Polfoto.

[bweir]

According to Buckingham Palace, the Countess of Wessex's tiara was formerly owned by Queen Mary.

[Alexandria]

Pearls for Sophie ...

[Alexandria]

Countess of Wessex

[A.C.C.]

The Countess of Wessex attending a state banquet for the Jordanian monarchs at Windsor Castle.
Corbis

[micas]

A ne jewel??????????????????????
Is from the banquet from the Polish visit

http://pro.corbis.com/images/DWF15-705353....d-e5a5e826c279}

[Fireweaver]

That's a very pretty necklace. I think the glittering royal forum said it was sapphire and diamonds.

[Josefine]

sorry to have to post this picture as a attach but its to good to be vasted it will soon be gone.

[Emma Catherine]

I had read somewhere that the Queen Mother left Sophie a sapphire and diamond brooch (or maybe two)...perhaps these are the clips that she is wearing on her gown.

[Torkel]

Originally posted by Emma Catherine@May 15th, 2004 - 6:41 pm
I had read somewhere that the Queen Mother left Sophie a sapphire and diamond brooch (or maybe two)...perhaps these are the clips that she is wearing on her gown.

The brooches worn by the Countess for the wedding were a gift to her from the Queen Mother on her own wedding. They are diamond clip brooches in art deco style, and can be worn as two brooches or as one large brooch. Sophie has worn them several times since her marriage, including at the Queen Mother's funeral.

The Countess also now has a diamond and sapphire brooch (probably the one you were refering to), in the shape of the crowned initials ER (Elizabeth Regina). It isn't very big, also in art deco style, and probably made for the Queen Mother in the late 1930s after her husband became King . Sophie started wearing this brooch in early 2003, and it was written that it was a gift from the present Queen in memory of the late Queen Mother. (the present Queen Elizabeth inherited all the jewels of her late mother)

[wymanda]

If you have a look at the pictures in Hello Magazine (Print edition) from the Danish wedding there is a much clearer picture of Sophie which has much sharper detail of the tiara.

I had a hunch that it might have been one of Princess Alices pieces as it is apparently the greek tradition to leave more to sons who will pass them on to their wives rather than to daughters whose husbands should provide for them. Even though the Queen had inherited so much from Queen Mary, Alice would have seen that much of the English jewellery would go to Charles as future king and that there would be very little that could be passed on to Andrew & Edwards wives.

The fact that HM has so many pieces is probably why this tiara & others owned by Princess Alice have remained out of sight for so long. The only one of her tiara's which has been constantly in use is the Meander which is owned by the Princess Royal.

[tiaraprin]

The tiara Sophie wore to the Danish wedding looks similar to the one she wore at her own wedding. The Queen seems stingy with tiaras. Diana had to borrow one from her family to use in addition to the lover's knot tiara (it has been said the lover's knot tiara gave Diana headaches) Sarah Ferguson was only given one. No one truly knows what the Queen has in her jewelry vaults, but it has been said there are great jewels from Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, and Queen Mary that have not seen the light of day in decades.

[wymanda]

Diana had to borrow one from her family to use in addition to the lover's knot tiara (it has been said the lover's knot tiara gave Diana headaches)

I think it was more a choice to borrow the family tiara so that she honoured her own family. I can imagine that the Lovers Knot is heavy. The Queen only seems to have worn it a couple of times after she inherited it from Queen Mary.

Sarah Ferguson was only given one.

As the wife of a younger son it was probably thought that she could borrow others if she needed them but with Andrew serving in the Navy......

Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, and Queen Mary that have not seen the light of day in decades.

Queen Victoria had at least 6 children who outlived her plus the children of the other three to whom she left jewels.

Queen Alexandra died without a will and so her jewels were divided between her 4 living children. Queen Mary retained only what had been given to Queen Alix as wedding presents.

Queen Mary gave each of her daughters in law and her daughter vast amounts of jewellery as wedding gifts. With the exception of what the Queen Mum had all of this has passed away from the main royal family.

Is it also possible that Sophie was given Princess Alice's tiara as a wedding present and the tiara she wore to her wedding was made from the stones not contained in the tiara she wore in Denmark?????

[kelly9480]

BP said that Sophie's wedding tiara was from the vaults, an old one of Queen Mary's. But people have always commented on how strange it was the QM had something so small and dinky when she was so grand, so there's thought that part of the tiara had been dismantled.

I think the new tiara is something Edward bought her, rather than something EIIR gave her.

[tiaraprin]

According to Leslie Field, there are jewels in the vaults that have not come out in decades up to a century--how much and what they are is a mystery--Ms. Field was not permitted to see.

[tiaraprin]

Originally posted by kelly9480@Jun 7th, 2004 - 11:25 pm
BP said that Sophie's wedding tiara was from the vaults, an old one of Queen Mary's. But people have always commented on how strange it was the QM had something so small and dinky when she was so grand, so there's thought that part of the tiara had been dismantled.

I think the new tiara is something Edward bought her, rather than something EIIR gave her.

You are right, Queen Mary never did anything on a small scale!! Maybe this tiara was a gift at the time of her wedding in 1893 and she didn't use it because it was too dinky to look royal!! :P

[wymanda]

The June issue of Majesty magazine has some interesting photo's of the Greek royals including one of Princess Alice wearing the tiara we suspect was broken up to make Sophie's new tiara. It details the fact that the parure was a wedding gift from her aunt Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Given the fact that the jewel was obviously russian it would be anticipated that the stones were of excellent quality. To me it looks as though the stones across the top were aquamarines with the rest of the piece being diamonds.

http://img71.photobucket.com/albums/...anda/Alice.jpg

[tiaraprin]

Originally posted by wymanda@Jun 11th, 2004 - 11:57 pm
The June issue of Majesty magazine has some interesting photo's of the Greek royals including one of Princess Alice wearing the tiara we suspect was broken up to make Sophie's new tiara. It details the fact that the parure was a wedding gift from her aunt Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Given the fact that the jewel was obviously russian it would be anticipated that the stones were of excellent quality. To me it looks as though the stones across the top were aquamarines with the rest of the piece being diamonds.

Princess Andrew worshipped her Aunt Elisabeth and was a major inspiration for her to become a nun. I am glad these jewels are still in the Royal Family being used.