Queen Camilla wore a striking Topaz and Diamond Raspberry Pip Brooch for Christmas at Sandringham yesterday, which had been inherited by the Queen Mother from her own mother, the Countess of Strathmore.
When Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck married Lord Glamis, the Heir of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, in 1881, she received a Diamond Cross from F. Lyons, likely her brother-in-law, Hon. Francis Bowes-Lyon. While the Countess believed that the Cross contained yellow diamonds, it actually has yellow topazes, and is also sometimes known as the Raspberry Pip Brooch.
The Countess of Strathmore was pictured wearing her Diamond Cross Brooch on numerous occasions over the years, including a notable photograph with her infant granddaughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, at St Paul’s Walden Bury, a seat of the Strathmore Family in Hertfordshire, in 1927.
Upon the Countess’ death in 1938, she left her Diamond Cross Brooch to her youngest daughter, Queen Elizabeth, and stated in her will:
To my youngest daughter, H.R.H. Elizabeth Angela Marguerite (Queen Elizabeth). my diamond snake bracelet, my yellow diamond cross, half of my china at 84 Eaton Square, also the picture now hanging in the morning-room at 84 Eaton Square and said to be a copy by Pietro Di Cosimo of the original painting by Raphael,
The Queen Mother was never pictured wearing the Diamond Cross Brooch nor was it publicly worn by her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, though it was cleaned up by Fine Lines Jewellers in Australia in the 2010s.
Queen Camilla debuted the Countess of Strathmore’s Diamond Cross Brooch for Christmas at Sandringham in 2023.
Over the past year, Queen Camilla has worn the Diamond Cross Brooch on numerous occasions including a Service at Sandringham, Reception at Buckingham Palace, visit to Canterbury, to unveil the Coronation State Portraits, and also at Royal Ascot.
Now, Queen Camilla wore the Countess of Strathmore’s Diamond Cross Brooch for the Christmas Service at St. Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham in Norfolk yesterday and there is no doubt we will see it worn for years to come!
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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