The coronation of 1937 saw Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) wear this beautiful piece. The necklace had been given to her by her husband to mark their coronation. It was created in the 1840s by Garrard on Queen Victoria’s order after a large amount of the family jewels were claimed by her uncle, the King of Hanover.
The necklace’s diamonds were taken from “swords and other useless things” in Queen Victoria’s collection. A large diamond, known as the Lahore Diamond, was taken from the Timur Ruby necklace in 1853 and made detachable for use as a pendant on this necklace.
On the day itself, the necklace was worn without the Lahore Diamond, which had been temporarily placed on her new crown. For the occasion, Garrard had recut the Lahore diamond to 22.48 metric carats. Queen Elizabeth also wore two strings of pearl, making the whole thing quite over the top as it should be. After the ceremony, the Lahore diamond was re-attached to the necklace, and a crystal was put on the crown.
The necklace was also worn by Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II for their coronations.
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