For a Service on the Occasion of the 90th anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli and ANZAC Day in Westminster Abbey, Her Majesty The Queen wore the Empress Eugenie's Feather Brooch.
Empress Eugenie was the last Empress of France, the consort of Napoleon III. The family moved to Farnborough in England to live in exile. I know that the empress commanded for a chapel to be built. And the monks there still pray at her grave and the burial place is precious to them, so think that she left a huge amount of money. But what is the origin of this brooch: I don't think it came in possession of the British Royal Family after Empress Eugenie of her family had to sell jewellery to survive or to pay taxes. Is it perhaps a gift because she is godmother to Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Beatrice's daughter; or was the brooch a gift for the hospitality of the British Royal Family.
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