While most eyes were on the Princess of Wales wearing Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet Tiara at the German State Banquet at Windsor Castle, Queen Camilla also debuted a magnificent heirloom that has only been worn once before in over eight decades, by the late Queen for her last Gala Appearance; the Greville Emerald Necklace!
A magnificent Emerald and Diamond Necklace set with large square emeralds and with pear-shaped emerald pendants, the necklace is reputed to come from the collection of either Empress Joséphine or Queen Marie Antoinette, which is quite hard to authenticate, though it was in the collection of Dame Margaret Greville, the Hon Mrs Greville by the interwar era, when she was frequently described wearing her ‘famed’ emeralds, including the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, in contemporary reports.
Dame Margaret Greville seems to have worn both Emerald Necklaces with the Greville Emerald Tiara and Emerald Earrings for a Concert at the Austrian Embassy in London in 1937, during the Coronation Festvities for King George VI.
On the death of Dame Margaret Greville, the Hon Mrs Greville in 1942, the majority of her magnificent Jewellery Collection, all pieces valued over 100 pounds, was inherited by Queen Elizabeth. In 1942, the Queen wrote to Queen Mary:
I must tell you that Mrs Greville has left me her jewels, She has left them to me ‘with her loving thoughts,’ dear old thing, and I feel very touched, I don’t suppose I shall see what they consist of for a long time, owing to the slowness of lawyers & death duties etc, but it is rather exciting to be left something, and I do admire beautiful stones with all my heart.”
When the jewels arrived to the Queen a few months later, there was much unwanted press attention on the contents of the initialled black trunk, which included the Greville Diamond Tiara, an Emerald Tiara, the Festoon Necklace, the Diamond Chandelier Earrings, Emerald Earrings, a Ruby Necklace, two Emerald Necklaces, Ivy Leaf Clips, Diamond Bow Brooch, and a pair of Pearl Earrings, alongside several spectacular Diamond Earrings, Necklaces, Brooches and Bracelets, the true extent of which has never been publicly revealed.
The Queen Mother frequently wore the other Greville Emerald Necklace over a period of 50 years, but the other one remained in the vaults.
After almost eight decades, the late Queen wore a magnificent emerald necklace of unknown provenance at her last Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace, and it was quite likely that the piece originated from the Greville Bequest.
Now, Queen Camilla wore the mystery Greville Emerald Necklace without the large pear-shaped emerald pendants and with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara for the German State Banquet at Windsor Castle in 2025.
Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara
Burmese Ruby Tiara
The Belgian Sapphire Tiara
Greville Tiara
Delhi Durbar Tiara
Cubitt-Shand Tiara
Greville Emerald Tiara
Queen’s Five Aquamarine Tiara
George IV State Diadem
Queen Mary’s Crown
Greville Emerald Necklace
Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara
King George VI Festoon Necklace
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