The Duchess of Teck’s Collet Necklace

The Duchess of Teck’s Collet Necklace, or at least part of it, was gifted to Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, by her aunt, Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester. In 1856, Princess Mary Adelaide recorded the gift of “the promised necklace from dear kind aunt Mary.”¹

When the Duchess of Gloucester died the following year, she received another gift of a “single row of diamonds” and other jewellery.¹ The necklace was later inherited by the Duchess of Teck’s daughter, Queen Mary, who had another eight collet diamond necklaces, excluding the coronation necklace. She sometimes wore several at once, sometimes as many as seven.

The necklace was bequeathed to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and was later inherited by Queen Elizabeth II.

1. The Queen’s Diamonds by Hugh Roberts p.126