Queen Victoria’s Diamond Bow Brooches

In 1858, Queen Victoria’s jewelry box went through a sudden and rather unexpected transformation. All of the jewels that had once belonged to her grandmother, Queen Charlotte, were awarded to her cousin, the King of Hanover, whose father had claimed them following the death of King William IV. She lost numerous pieces, including a set of diamond bow brooches. Today’s brooches are the trio that she had made to replace them.

The three brooches are all made to resemble ribbon bows, and they vary slightly in size from largest to smallest. In 1901, Victoria designated the three brooches as “heirlooms of the crown,” meaning that they pass directly from monarch to monarch, to be worn by queens regnant or consort. When Victoria died, the brooches went to her son, King Edward VII, to be worn by his wife, Queen Alexandra.

Queen Alexandra usually wore the three brooches as a set, often cascading them down the front of her skirt, as she did at her first state opening of parliament as queen consort and at her coronation (pictured above).

After the death of Edward VII in 1910, the brooches passed to King George V and Queen Mary. Each brooch features a tiny loop that allows it to be worn with a pendant, and both Alexandra and Mary used the brooches this way. Mary was even photographed wearing other gems, including some of the Cullinan Diamonds, suspended from the bows.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth received the brooches in 1936, but they were never among Elizabeth’s most-worn pieces of royal jewelry. Unlike her predecessors, she usually only wore one bow at a time. Her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, received the brooches on her accession in 1952, and she wore them regularly for the next 70 years.

Like her mother, Queen Elizabeth II generally wore one brooch at a time. The bows became some of her favorite pieces, suitable for regular daytime appearances as well as more somber occasions. Notably, she chose one of the brooches for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.