The Greville Festoon necklace was from the collection of Dame Margaret Greville, the wife of the Hon. Ronald Greville. Margaret and her husband had had no children, and she bequeathed all her jewellery to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother upon her death in 1942.
The Greville Festoon necklace was one of the most impressive pieces from Margaret’s collection. The original necklace, made in 1929 by Cartier using Margaret’s own diamonds, consisted of two rows with 17 plaques and a back chain. It was altered in 1938 when the 17 plaques were expanded to 21 plaques, and a separate three-row necklace with 18 plaques was fitted inside the necklace. This necklace was detachable and could be worn separately as well.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother preferred to wear the three-row necklace, and she only wore the complete necklace for special occasions, such as the State Banquet for President de Gaulle in 1960. She is wearing the three-row necklace below during the state visit of the Emperor and Empress of Japan in 1998.
Her daughter Queen Elizabeth II inherited the necklace in 2002, and she loaned it to the Duchess of Cornwall, now Queen Camilla. Queen Elizabeth II never publicly wore the necklace. The then Duchess of Cornwall wore the complete necklace in Kampala in 2007, together with the Greville Tiara. 1
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