Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
Happy Independence Day to my fellow American magpies! To celebrate the national holiday, I’ve got some classic American jewelry for you to enjoy: the diamond waterfall earrings worn by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Some famous diamonds are set in pieces of jewelry, while others reside in museums. And then there are the really fascinating gems that have been stolen, lost, or otherwise disappeared into the mists of time. Today’s gem, the Florentine Diamond, belongs to that roster of gone-but-not-forgotten stones.
The Duchess of Gloucester, wife of a cousin of the British monarch, has a jewelry collection that outshines those of some entire royal families. Many of her pieces came from Queen Mary via the current duke’s mother, Princess Alice. But today’s jewel, the Cartier Indian Tiara, arrived in the Gloucester collection from a different, lesser-known branch of Queen Victoria’s family tree.
When regular television programming gave way to a message from Her Majesty the Queen on Sunday, Elizabeth II appeared on screens across the globe. In a video that had been filmed a few days earlier, she sat in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle and delivered a message of support and reassurance in the face of global crisis. With only one other person in the room–a camera operator who was dressed in full protective gear–she spoke with measured strength, recalling her wartime childhood and encouraging people around the world that they, like the people of the 1940s, would indeed meet again.